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?

Have you ever smelt powdered yam being cooked? It's got a nasty smell like a sweaty, musty, sweet smell. Could it be that?

Or are they not throwing out the babies nappies quick enough?

Could be dirty nappies outside the back door?

Have you had any friends or visitors come to your house - see if they can smell it?

You mentioned that your neighbours have a baby. Is it possible that they are storing nappies in a bin by their back door?

Or

Do they have cat wee or other pet smells and they are using some kind of insence or wax melts or something to try and mask the smell and it's just making it worse?

‘They just seemed so normal, conservative, made homemade jam…’ Odd smell. I have seen this movie. Only one of two possible scenarios.

They are aliens. The smell is the shedding of the skin.

They are swingers, smoke weed and have a sex dungeon in the attic. The smell is weed and dirty sex. (Do you ever overhear them saying ‘safe word’?)

sounds like weed but on a side note if their oven is full of grease it is a fire hazard. Lived in a house with dirty housemates, I moved in next night of being there I was dealing with an oven fire cause they tried using it and set the tray of sausages on fire cause was full of grease

If it smells like mouldy feet or cats piss, it's definitely weed.

Decomposition smells sickly sweet and peppery, for lack of a better word. It's distinctive and once smelled, you will never forget it. A recently deceased body will trigger the gag reflex. Decomp of an older corpse might not, although the smell is horrible.

I lived in a house that developed damp. I would describe the smell in a similar way, musty, sweet, sometimes almost oily or solventy like stale sweat. It was strong & you could smell it as soon as the door was opened. The smell permeated all the fabric in the house. When I moved out I had to wash some of my clothes 2 or 3 times to get rid of the smell.
There were no outward signs of damp in the walls either.
Any damp issues in your or their house that you know of?

They are growing weed.

Not sure anyone’s already suggested this, but - rancid coconut oil for cooking can smell pretty bad. Otherwise blocked drains can be a bad smell

I am going to guess that it is bin juice- that they remove the bin bag but don’t wash the bin

@Twillow it's called nose blindness - it's quite something isn't it! And I love the idea of waxing lyrical about zoflora 😂

Dead hedgehog in the drains?

Probably a type of cheap weed. A few doors now from me smokes it and it smells completely different to what my sister in law used to get as a teen. It was horrible damp musty smell.
Or could it be fish sauce?

My guess its the dog. Ours bloody stinks if he needs a bath. Ditto dog bedding needs washing at least weekly.

To me weed smells like dog shit

Property developer here. Currently battling a swamp of bad smells at the latest venture. So far dead decomposed rat in boiler cupboard, rats nest in one bathroom, blocked external drain, mysterious internal drain pipe not capped off...wafting gas, assorted bats, mice, snakes on various floors...dormouse ran up my leg on the loo...I moved fast. Old decaying paintwork, and mostly poor ventilation. Old houses have poor air flow. Installing electric extractor fans helped a lot with the smell...so take your pick from that lot in respect of your neighbours. People who lived with odour don't smell it much...but worth a mention as could be something serious like leaking gas pipe...had that in another property...smells sweet and comes/goes.

Could it be Nag Champa inscense sticks? If they burning loads of those it could be that - my fil kept burning one after the other literally one time when they came to stay and it took ages to clear the smell!! And he only did it the one day I was out!
We had an Indian family live next door once and they used to cook late into the evening! The smell literally permeated into our house, even waking me up in the night it was awful!
I don’t really know what you can do about it op 😕

Doesn't sound like weed to me but it's true, everyone smells it differently.

I wonder if they've spilled milk that's gone off and they are now used to it. I was working freelance in an office once where someone had spilled milk on a carpet and it was so rank I nearly though up when I walked in. Sweet and rotting smell that turned my stomach. Everyone else had filtered it out over time and didn't seem to think it still smelled. It lingered for months.

@sjxoxo

what about those inscents sticks that people use, some.can be very potent

Are they cooking weed you know making those cakes or brownies or something

Weed and just like you I absolutely hate it and can smell it a mile away as the smell is absolutely vile , I honestly prefer manure smell than weed

Do they look clean? My ex neighbours were like this and they just stunk of grime and unwashed greasy hair and festering old dinners of mash and gravy. If they opened a door I’d gag. I had to move. It was heinous.

What do you mean it’s not a huge jump from ciggies to weed??

have you any research on this - as far as I am aware cigarettes (not classified with drugs classification) are not a gateway for any drugs.