<p>OK-- I know we’ve discussed all sorts of strange things here. Once again turning to the cc collective wisdom:</p>
<p>We have been remodelling the lower level of our house. This included having it “wilderness treated” several months ago when the removal of the old ceiling showed evidence of, shall we say… past uninvited guests. Got that all cleaned and treated and there was no evidence of any return critters (traps empty for weeks, no new evidence, etc). OK-- fast forward: Job is almost done (looks pretty spiffy) - new ceiling and furniture in, freshly painted, etc. We had the carpet (which is on a foam pad on a cement slab) professionally cleaned about 2 weeks ago and did what we think was a decent job of airing/drying it out, running fans, what have you, to dry it out. All seemed fine for about a week or so, but in the past few days we have smelled an increasingly funky smell down there. Have sprayed febreeze, have been running the A/C, fan and dehumidifier and have opened a window or two. Still smells funky. How can we discern, without pulling up the carpeting (and then having to get carpet stretchers back in here-- we’d like to avoid that if at all possible, especially since we cant yet isolate the source of the smell) whether its a dead critter (no evidence of droppings or anything) or wet pad, or whatever. Someone told us if there had been a dead critter that somehow got “moist” (ugh??) it could cause a stink, but not sure how , even if there was a critter mummy somewhere, how it could get “moist”. We did add some new A/C ductwork, but that was a while ago in this process and the stinko is new. A contractor here yesterday said is smelled more like a critter to him than a wet/mold smell. I asked if it could be sewage. Was told it didnt seem to be.</p>
<p>Ideas, or surefire ways to get rid of/cover up the smell??
Thanks in advance, oh sage ones.</p>
<p>As an aside-- neighbors did mention a change in water pressure and one commented about the smell of the water lately (though we didn’t notice either).</p>
<p>I just googled him. Does he have any tips on a website? Oh DH looked around in the ceiling and at least in the area he could see, which is limited but in the area of a stronger smell, no evidence of any visitors.</p>
<p>Any blowflies? When we had a squirrel climb in our wall and die, there was a sharp, bitter smell, far worse than just musty. We could not figure it out, and then flies appeared a few days later. We had to get a drywaller to cut out the portion of the wall and repair it. Apparently, some people can wait it out for a few weeks, but we could not stand it another day.</p>
<p>What are blowflies? My husband is beginning to wonder if the painter did in the decorator and stuffed her body somewhere :). She and her painter did not get along.</p>
<p>Wet carpeting and padding kinda smells like a dirty wet dog does. Dead body odor after a few days smells like a putrid sweet stink like old chicken parts in your garbage can outside after 3 or 4 days…only worse…you’ll know when you smell it. If the odor makes you sneeze, or makes your eyes water…it’s wet, moldy carpet. If the odor makes you sick to your stomach, or if you’ve got buzzards flying above your house…it’s probably something dead.</p>
<p>I don’t know, but I wouldn’t put carpet in a basement. Concrete is porous and it’s pretty inevitable that anything sitting on it will get damp and moldy.</p>
<p>The carpet has been in the basement for a long time. We’ve not had a problem before. Part of our main floor is built on a slab, and that room has carpet too.</p>
<p>We do not use Fabreeze. It is just a perfume coverup, and really doesn’t eliminate odors caused by anything…and certainly not a dead animal.</p>
<p>How old is the carpet? Any chance this is residual damage from a previous wet issue that is surfacing (sorry for the pun)? Spills of any kind…not necessarily “damage” but any kind of spill…bottle of soda, tipped over water bottle, etc.</p>
<p>Not really relevant, & doesn’t help in your situation, but there was a Sherlock Holmes story about a man coming to Holmes to find the source of an awful smell in his apt. Exccuse me if I don’t get details right, but this man had divorced his wife, and she had to vacate the apt., so he and his new g/f could move in. The wife left and hid a dead fish behind. The husband and g/f couldn’t find the source of the smell, and left. He told the wife she could have the place. The former wife moved back in, and the smell disappeared. </p>
<p>After the hurricane, we had tree rats move in. My exterminator and termite people did a thorough search to find the rats. Now that all my kitchen cabinets are gone, it is clear the rats lived under 2/3 of the cabs.</p>
<p>Seems to be in the storage area. Wasnt there last week when we got a lot of stuff out for neighbors borrowing tables for a garage sale. Maybe we disturbed something/someone? Will wait for DH to get home and look further into it. May have to call the company that we paid $$$$$$ to de-critter the house.</p>
<p>*** And dont think anyone stuck a fish in the wall :). Seems to be more of a urine smell (sorry-- TMI)</p>
<p>Did you have any cats or dogs previously urinate on the carpet? With cleaning agents, the odor disappears, but once the are is wet again, (after the cleaning), it could be detected again, especially if the original urine soaked through to the cement slab.</p>
<p>Thats a thought, EC, but we havent had a dog in many years. </p>
<p>Am thinking we “disturbed” someone/something last weekend when we pulled out tables for the neighbors from the storage area. Then We had some additional lighting put in there. When DH gets home we will investigate further… yuk.</p>