How to identify source of smell in house?

[Solly]

There's a strange smell in my parents' house. It comes and goes, but generally stays around for several weeks at a time. We think we need to get someone in to have a sniff and tell us what the problem is! But how do we find such a person? It's so strange. We did think it might be a dead rat under the floorboards as some poison had been put down. But none has been put down for months and the smell is very much there.
It's hard to describe the smell, but it is vaguely a dull achey smell, like a stale fart(!) or sewery smell, and a bit like a dead animal. There are lots of suggestions on the internet for what it might be, but how can we find out for sure?
Has anyone heard of a smell investigator?

[jill]

Dead rats only smell for around 10 days, and I assume the same would apply to any other animal carcase (or even fish?).
So might it be problems with drains? Someone like a surveyor would check the drains for you - I know from some of the tv programmes about renovating houses it isn't impossible for underground pipes to get damaged by tree roots etc. Does it correlate to wet weather at all?

[Hannah]

Do they have a septic tank?

[daisyk]

Jan 12, 2014 17:15:42 GMT 1 jill said:

Dead rats only smell for around 10 days, and I assume the same would apply to any other animal carcase (or even fish?).
So might it be problems with drains? Someone like a surveyor would check the drains for you - I know from some of the tv programmes about renovating houses it isn't impossible for underground pipes to get damaged by tree roots etc. Does it correlate to wet weather at all?

Unless the die in your hot water tank....................Yuck!

How old is your parents house Solly?

S

[Solly]

It's Victorian. Not got a septic tank.
The drains could be damaged - some movement of the paths has happened on the outside rain drains....

Thanks everyone for replies - will think about a surveyor. Not sure if it correlates to the wet weather - will do some more thinking on that one over time....

[kafee]

Is it all over the house or in one room? Could try leaving all the doors shut for 24 hours, and then going into one room at a time and having a big sniff.

[julz]

are you near the sea?

I thought I was far enough from the sea, but on certain days I can smell it... not a nice smell of it, but the sewery yukky smell

[jen1]

I usually follow where ever my teenage son is, n bingo! Lol

[wills]

Jan 12, 2014 16:14:53 GMT 1 Solly said:

Has anyone heard of a smell investigator?

I shouldn't laugh, but the original post really made me lol , how far are you from Scotland, I kid you not my friend is super at locating the source of the smell

Can't really offer any help, maybe they should write down when its noticeable i.e after wet weather or something? Hope you get it sorted soon, can't be pleasant.

[cookie]

Have a look at all your drains yourself. If the water level is unusually high on one of then you could have a blockade or slow draining one. a drains chap will dirt it in a couple of hours. I'd its in your boundary its usually your responsibility

Sent from my GT-I9100 using proboards

[portiabuzz]

i know when someone at work had smell they couldnt identify they got pest control out who found dead rats under floorboards

[portiabuzz]

well not just under floorboards all over the place

[troop]

Dead mice is kind of yukky and sweet but musty so i guess rats or mice could be an issue. Drains sounds likely though.

[Solly]

Do the drains that rainwater goes down link up with sewer drains?

If it would just stop raining for a while I could investigate the timing of the smell!

[ladyndibs]

Ours do, I think most do or they'd need two lots of pipe work