Earthy smell in house panicking it's dry rot

[piphongfdrv]

So we moved house 2 years ago, had all the home owners survey done, all apparently ok. However, we always noticed an old library smell in the hall but the owners at the time hadn't lived there during Covid as the had another property so the house was empty was the best part of two years. We thought it was just normal and once we got in and opened window and got our own smell in, we'd be grand but the smell hasn't gone. Every morning I walk down stairs I smell it once I get half way down the stairs. It's like an earthy mushroom type of smell. I'm now freaking out Incase there's thousands of pounds worth of damage underneath the floor ( it's a suspended floor and the house was built in the late 70s) talk to me about the cost of repair if this is the case 😪

I have a damp smell in the hall, have done for years. It can be worse if it's a rainy cold summer, as the heating isn't on. I don't really give it any thought. There is no damp on the walls.

We don't have any visible damp either but I've just read up on dry rot and now I'm panicking.

We had the exact same smell when we took up the flooring following a very slow leaking pipe that had been leaking for months prior to the leak finally finding it’s way out into the open . Not at all saying you have the same but the smell is very unique . Did you actually get a damp survey done , as a specialist add on to the main survey when you bought the house , might be worth doing now ?

Oh that's a good point on the leaking pipe. I do have a leaking pipe as well, as the boiler pressure used to drop all the time. I got a sealant poured into the water, and the damp smell has actually gone in the last few months. I was just thinking since my last post that I hadn't actually noticed a damp smell for a while.

Hi OP. I began noticing a similar kind of damp earthy smell in our living room last year - I hoped it would disappear with the heat and humidity we're having this summer, but no improvement.
Long story short, I tracked it down to being a large indoor pot plant which I'd unknowingly been overwatering, which I've now let dry out.

I think I'm just worried because it's an older property and water damage / mould is a bloody nightmare to fix 😭