My neighbours really smell…heeelp

[sjxoxo]

I can see the ridiculousness of my issue BUT the smell is becoming unbearable for me to live with. We are attached on their side so our houses are joined.
The houses are very old- ours is having some renovations done, theirs was done several years ago so they’re not doing any work or anything like that. There is this horrendous stench from their house and I can’t for the life of me understand what it is. They are in their 30s and just had a baby like us, we are friendly. I can tell when their back door is open because I can smell the smell.. I have racked my brains as to the source but I just can’t think what it could be- it is quite a specific type of smell, kind of musty but sweet. Its constant, so not occasionally there- I can smell it any time their doors are open. I don’t think it’s a ‘rotting’ smell but it does make me feel a bit queasy; it’s thick, heavy and smells very very stale. Sort of sweet but not in a nice way. I wondered if they could be cooking with a certain type of oil or a fryer. I’ve never had one so can’t compare. I’ve been into their house before several times and it’s overpowering to me inside - it’s quite dirty (I don’t mean that as in insult) and their kitchen is on our side of the house; I can smell very strongly when she is cooking with her oven and the smell then is like an oven that’s full of grease and never been cleaned. You know when people have ‘their’ smell in their homes - obviously we all do and they are just that - it’s like theirs is really really intense and something is off with it. I don’t know if the smell is related to the oven; i have mentioned to her before that I can smell her oven and she did try and improve that but I just am at my wits end with it & don’t know what to do! I have these horrible thoughts we’ll all be on a Netflix doc in 20 years talking about something very sinister!!!! Heeeelp. Anyone have any similar stories or manky smells? Should I say something? What would you do?

Me too! 😂

Rotting rodents smell sweet with the aroma of cabbage

Everyone is here saying weed and I thought as a postnatal HCP of breastfeeding babies poo 🤣🤣🤣

I was going to say if it's not weed - could be nappies !if they leave a bin by the door etc- babyshit to be frank often smells sweet and rank combined with the 'freshener' smell they use on them- I had a lovely friend who when she had a baby wasn't the most houseproud and her kitchen stank of baby shit a lot!!!

Weed comes and goes in thick wafts.
If others have commented on the house smell, they have pets, the oven is minging, they fry a lot etc it's most likely that they are chronically dirty.
I've noticed that strong but weirdly sweet smell that is seeped in everywhere in a few really grim houses I've had to visit, and on one person at work who had some mental health issues. It can knock you sideways but the 'offenders' don't seem aware, they must become completely immune. Not sure how you move forward with this one, do you go in the house at all? Could you gift her some zoflora and wax lyrical about how it's changed your life?

Nappy bucket
Dirty oven
cat litter tray
Reflux baby puke in furnishings
Covered with a bit of Yankee candle?

somewhat as the OP described. However, as with the other replies’ descriptions of marijuana, individual experiences vary widely with such odours.

Yep, my thought was dead rats... We had dead rat or mouse under our hallway floor which gets a lot of sun and it was disgusting!

Defo weed

Could they be growing it rather than smoking it ? Sorry I’m a big sissy virgin when it comes to drugs .
Also the extractor fan for the cooker , if not cleaned regularly can kick off come god awful smell.

@sjxoxo lives abroad so the usual advice environment health, social services might not help. The local police would be my thought go have a chat with them

Diabetes probably

Do they keep ferrets? Or Tom Cat marking his territory because he is insecure with new baby coming? Maybe they are struggling with keeping the house clean with being new parents. Baby poo, especially if baby is breastfed, does smell sweet, then the nappy sacks which are supposed to cover the smell actually smell even worse, if I remember from my own experience. If they are left in a bin in the hot weather, it soon creates a stench, which is not a sewage smell but has its own distinctive aroma. As does cannabis, but that smells completely different. I think you need to tread carefully here, OP. You are friends and everyone needs a friend when they've got a baby. So don't go behind her back to Social Services. I'd mention it casually, when you are round hers or talking over the fence, like "Have you smelt anything odd recently? I have and was wondering what it could be?" She may get the hint, and no need for any accusations.

Dead noise/rat? Trapped and decomposing in this hot weather… the smell can last for a very long time if you can’t get to it.

Weed smells quite nice! 😬

Dead mouse

Could they be cooking with sesame oil? My husband uses it to season our wok
and I HATE it, it makes me heave.

😁
Whether you like it or not, it can't be compared to either baby poo or dead rats.

Could they be brewing their own beer as well as making jam? Breweries are musty, sweet smelling and does get musty on your nose. Hops are a weird smell that some people dislike.

tobacco indoors

Could it be a mix of strong cooking smells, smoking and generally a bit dirty. I have a really strong sense of smell and a lot of people smell a little (though it's often just a general aroma, not because they are dirty).

Unwashed clothes can smell weirdly sweet if left for ages. Had to break in to a neighbour's house many years ago, she was a hoarder and the piles of dirty clothes had this strange, sickly sweet smell..

Had mice living in the linings of a cooker of a caravan we were renting, the smell of their roasting poo was so overpowering we didn’t cook in it ever again.

Do some people seriously not know what weed smells like to be able to identify it? I've never smoked it but I'm amazed and jealous if people have managed to get through life without coming across the smell at any point.

I managed to reach the age of 48 before I found out. Once I knew, I was smelling it everywhere.

Is it incense? I despise any kind of incense with a passion - have to keep well away from it.

They are in their 30s and just had a baby like us

Was this a problem before you got pregnant and had your baby?

I’m asking because during my pregnancy and for a good couple of years after I couldn’t stand the smell of certain cooked food. Walking past the Chinese, Indian takeaway made me feel physically ill the smell was so disgusting- same applied to a supermarket with a hot food (cooked chicken etc) counter. I could smell it the minute I walked through the door.
If someone had eaten garlic the night before they smelt absolutely awful. Not garlicky, just awful.

I don’t smell any of this now. I love Indian food, garlic and roast chicken…
Maybe your sense of smell has gone crazy like mine did and it’s just cooking smells coming from their house.
can your DH smell it?