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Housekeeping

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Original poster

Foul smell under floor boards. Probably something died. Can I get rid of the smell?

19 replies

PavlovtheCat · 28/04/2012 15:09

Without having to take up all the floorboards in the area it is coming from, to locate where the smell is coming from and remove whatever it is?

I am guessing something dead, as the smell is pungent, nose curling and getting worse, in one spot, although now emanating into the hallway.

Honestly I got to get rid of it quickly before I start throwing up...

OP posts:
SkinnyVanillaLatte · 28/04/2012 15:11

Sorry but I think you can only remove it if it's something dead or mask the smell.
It'll fade away after a while.

Original poster
PavlovtheCat · 28/04/2012 15:21

How long is a while? Our floorboards are well and truly stuck and there is a good chance if we pull them up they will break or splinter as they are the original floorboards in an old Victorian house Sad

OP posts:
SkinnyVanillaLatte · 28/04/2012 15:23

Couple of weeks probably.Maybe shorter. Hope so for your sake cos it's vile.

I personally would live with it rather than possibly damage the floorboards.

Original poster
PavlovtheCat · 28/04/2012 15:31

I might try to mask it with lots of incense.

OP posts:
SkinnyVanillaLatte · 28/04/2012 16:07

I know I'll get shot on MN for saying this,but if it wouldn't be a child risk in your house,is there a socket nearby where you could put a Febreze plug in air freshener or similar for the duration?

Original poster
PavlovtheCat · 28/04/2012 16:09

Oh do they do plugs? Why would yo get shot? Is febreze a mn no no? Grin I don't care if it is illegal on mn, I will do whatever it takes to get rid of the smell. There is a plug behind sofa so can easily keep it out childrens way.

OP posts:
LargeGlassofRed · 28/04/2012 16:18

Does it smell fishy? Electrics on the go can give off bad smells.

SkinnyVanillaLatte · 28/04/2012 16:28

Pavlov,its just a lot of people don't agree with artificial smells (air fresheners and the like),some on grounds of the chemicals not being healthy and some because it is a poential cover up for slovenliness.

I have just got the Air Wick Green Citrus Basil one and it smells lovely and fresh in my pit of slovenliness.Grin

Original poster
PavlovtheCat · 28/04/2012 16:32

Can they largeglass? I noticed as I used an upside down lamp to peer down the floorboard cracks where I suspect the smell is mocking from there are a couple of cables, and there is a vague dishonest to it. It smells 'sharp', I guess, hard to define for real. What do you mean 'on the go'? We had our electrics checked and certified about 2.5 years ago so should all be ok...

OP posts:
Original poster
PavlovtheCat · 28/04/2012 16:34

skinny that's so funny! I prefer incense and oils, but I am prone to the odd squirt of febreze fro. Time to time to 'freshen' it all up a little! I guess I should whisper that from now on!

OP posts:
MrsMagnolia · 28/04/2012 18:37

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
PavlovtheCat · 28/04/2012 18:55

I got nag champagne incense going, down to last two though and the only place round here I can get then does not open on Sunday's Shock it is definitely sickly sweet. The incense is almost hiding it,but then I get a huge over riding whiff of it. It definitely smells of dead something. Right under the sofa. Of all the places!

OP posts:
ClaimedByMe · 28/04/2012 18:58

We had this, turns out it was the waste (raw sewage) pipe had broke, very nasty, all waste from the bathroom and kitchen was gathering under the house.......

Original poster
PavlovtheCat · 28/04/2012 19:04

Can't be that, we are on the first and second floors of the house and the waste pipes are at other end of the house.

OP posts:
PigletJohn · 28/04/2012 20:17

if it's a Victorian house, the floorboards will be square edged (not T&G) and held down with cut nails. They will not be tightly butted together. Lots of them will have been taken up over the years to run electric power and lighting cables (at least twice) and CH pipes, so if you look carefully you can find the ones that have been up before, and take them up again. They will have been taken up above light fittings, light switches, and beside radiators and sockets, at the very least. If you take up a few you can get an idea of where the smell is coming from.

I recommend that when re-fixing boards, you use countersunk steel woodscrews, driven into a pilot hole, to make it easier to get them up next time.

Original poster
PavlovtheCat · 28/04/2012 21:07

piglet yes that is how they are held down, some have been taken up before, and we can see those, and I have had to take couple up in the past when dd posted her Noddy DVD down there. A distaster. However the ones where the smell is, they seem stuck fast and thir floorboards seem like they might split if taken up. I will investigate further tomorrow and see how easy it will be. Dh is very reluctant to do it but he is absolutely not a DIY man hence his nervousness. He is at work tomorrow and i am ok with that kind of thing is possible but, I am a little afraid of what I might find...

OP posts:
PigletJohn · 28/04/2012 21:53

was DH married before?

Did DW1 "go away" unexpectedly?

Original poster
PavlovtheCat · 28/04/2012 22:13

Haha! We been here years, would think it would be smelling before now if he bumped someone off. And I am his first wife...so he tells me Grin

OP posts:
Chas1203 · 15/09/2023 10:43

I see this is a very old post/ comment. I was hoping to find out who fixed the issue? Plumber, builder, Water company?

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