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?

[Rapidtango]

Weed

[Rapidtango]

Sorry, posted too soon, I think weed smells 'dirty' sweet.

[endofthelinefinally]

Yes. Sounds like weed.

[Inkyblue123]

Just ask thm

[sunsetsandsandybeaches]

Yeah, that's weed OP.

[FuckMyActual]

Sounds like weed. Not a body. Dead body will make you gag, weed is one of those smells that hardly anyone likes. Sweet, sort of earthy- a lot of people have sweat that smells like weed.

[AmbushedByCake1]

Deep fat fryer with old oil in it. The smell permeates everything.

[sjxoxo]

Oh interesting thought @Rapidtango !! But I don’t think it’s that because they’re quite ‘conservative’ - they don’t even drink. She smokes but only outside maybe once or twice a day. They’ve got a baby about 4 months old now so I can’t imagine they are smoking weed!

[JunkIsland]

I thought weed too from some of what you’re saying, but the greasy oven thing sounds like something else. We have had two distinct awful smells emanating from next door - weed and an intensely meaty fug. One makes my house feel unclean and gives me mental images of a filthy student house, the other is just plain disgusting. You have my sympathies.

[sjxoxo]

Interesting so many are saying weed!! I just can’t imagine them smoking weed. They are zero alcohol and yesterday she gave us some homemade jam.. plus tiny baby- I just cannot imagine it being that! She is a doctors surgery receptionist and he works at a shipping dockyard. X

[CoffeeLover90]

If it's earthy and sweet it's weed. Baby or not. Otherwise I've found dirty houses have that unique smell, it's so hard to describe but it's like a mixture of foisty and BO. My neighbours is like that, never been inside but can smell when the doors open. Ex MILs house was the same. Kind of smells like an outdoor bin that's overflowing and never cleaned...

[sjxoxo]

@JunkIsland this is exactly how I feel.. I feel our house is gross when I clean all the time! I have a 6 month old aswell and it makes it feel really unhygienic. I would love love love to open all their windows for a week and disinfect their house- it feels like it’s seeping into ours whatever this smell is. Sorry you are in the same position!!

[Badger1970]

They're smoking weed OP.

It's a disgusting and distinctive smell.... somewhere between sweat, musk and blocked drain.

[crochetmeahat]

Mice?

[rbe78]

@sjxoxo

Interesting so many are saying weed!! I just can’t imagine them smoking weed. They are zero alcohol and yesterday she gave us some homemade jam.. plus tiny baby- I just cannot imagine it being that! She is a doctors surgery receptionist and he works at a shipping dockyard. X

Intruiging rationale - what is it that makes smoking weed incompatible with making jam?

[CoffeeLover90]

Oh, just to add, same neighbour smokes weed too. The kind he has is called blue cheese, because it smells like blue fucking cheese. Honestly, sometimes if you approached my own front door you'd think it was coming from me, it's that strong. I mentioned the smell to him before when he smoked in the back garden. Now he smokes it inside but I can still smell it.

[littlepeas]

I always find it interesting that people who smoke weed seem to think that no one can smell it! It’s so flipping distinctive - you can’t smoke it stealthily. I do think maybe younger people don’t realise that older people know what it smells like, but of course most do 😂. Or possibly they just don’t care, but I see young lads hiding their joints in the street - I want to tell them that everyone can smell it but never do.

[Remainiac]

I’m surprised that people are saying weed. There’s weed everywhere in our village, you can smell it round every bloody corner but it doesn’t smell earthy and sweet, it smells sharp and bitter. It’s very distinctive and DS who lives in a studenty part of the city always laughs when he visits as he says there’s loads more weed here than there.

My money is on cooking smells pervading soft furnishings and dirty carpets. Do they have any pets?

[RocketPanda]

I was going to say weed too. Although dirty houses have weird combinations of smells. I once brought an item I was giving away to an acquaintance house and it was filthy and had a similar sweet and musty overpowering smell. It was like instead of giving the place a good scrub he just sprayed airfreshner around.

[Aposterhasnoname]

LMAO at the idea it can’t be weed because she makes jam and they have respectable jobs. In the nicest possible way OP, you’re being incredibly naïve.

[Workyticket]

Patchouli? Not sure of spelling. It's got a sweet / weedy smell

My husband HATES it!

[Blackdiame]

Everyone who I know that makes jam also smokes weed.

[SalviaOfficinalis]

They might not be smoking weed, but is it possible they’re growing it?

Weed smells so strongly (even when not being smoked). If someone walks past me on the street (not smoking) I can tell they’ve got some on them.

To me it smells almost sour, a bit like old stale beer.

[TooHotToTangoToo]

Previous tenants in the basement?

[cheekychatta]

@FuckMyActual

Sounds like weed. Not a body. Dead body will make you gag, weed is one of those smells that hardly anyone likes. Sweet, sort of earthy- a lot of people have sweat that smells like weed.

What does a dead body smell like ? Genuinely curious .