Why does my house smell of pee?

[AnonEvent]

We have no pets and a toddler in nappies, so there's no obvious reason that there should be actual pee on the floor.

I noticed it when I got home from work, it was quite strong (I've got used to it now). It's largely around the front door, front hall, front room and back hall (imagine a long thin Victorian house, so all the rooms run off the front and back halls, which join in the middle by the utility room).

It's not in the bedrooms, bathroom or kitchen.

That doesn't make a lot of sense as there's a bedroom between the front and back halls, so I'd have thought it should smell pee-y too, but no.

It smells a bit like a mouse cage, slightly sawdusty and a definite whiff of urine. But I can't see any evidence of mice.

Do you have any ideas?

Have u got any lilies about? It aso could be something under the floor...

I know this is going to sound crazy but I once had lightbulbs that smelt terrible. As they heated up, they gave off this ammonia type smell. Took weeks to work out where it was coming from. Although having said that, I know that modern lightbulbs don't heat up as much as the old ones did...

We did have some lillies, in prime position between the front and back halls (all this talk of halls makes it sound MUCH grander than it is, it's just a long corridor). But I got up close to them and they didn't smell particularly pee-y, I've thrown them out anyhow.

I worry its something under the floor (old floorboards, so a bit gappy, easy to imagine critters under there).

I think I'll wait until DD is in bed, stand outside for five minutes to clear my nostrils, then sniff the floorboard gaps. Like some sort of lunatic.

"I once had lightbulbs that smelt terrible" I had that too - but that was more of a hot-poo smell (for me anyway), this is definitely more pee and sawdust - I strongly suspect mice, but can see no evidence (though being in London, I know they're only ever inches away!).

Have you painted recently? I saw someone on Instagram saying some paint made their room smell of cat wee.

Could a cat have sneaked into your house and had a quick spray. Or Sprayed against the front door ?

Could the toddler be taking his/her nappy of and crouching behind things? Or could the nappies be leaking a bit? Where are the dirty nappies being stored?

I used a scented disinfectant when washing my floors with my new spray mop.
It.smelt lovely on the day I did it (gtuity) but the next day it smelt of wee. I 're did the floors minus the disinfectant and the smell went.

I also have had the cat pre paint issue but it also smelt like fitting corpse/dead rat mixed in with the per smell.

First check for a discarded nappy somewhere - it’s fairly easy to bag one up and miss it in a sleep deprived fug

Then go look for mouse signs - pull the fridge/washer etc out and check behind them, they love the warmth,

@Juliecloud no recent painting, more's the pity, the hall could really do with it.

@PrincessJuanita I've never known DD to pee anywhere other than her nappy, and she probably doesn't have the skills to get the nappy and clothes back on post-pee.

@VictoriaBun I did wonder about an itinerant Tom cat, we have one across the road who would LOVE to get in, and we had workmen in today, so theoretically he could have come in, sprayed, and left - but I'd expect the smell to be more concentrated rather than 'general' if it was him (Dexter).

@Cartwheelcath - probably not disinfectant, we tend to just use dilute bleach in the hall, but that makes me wonder if it's something I've brought in on the pushchair, maybe a dog pee'd on my wheel surreptitiously. I'll give that a good sniffing too.

@Bowlofbabelfish - I'm pretty sure a nappy would be at the other end of the house as that's where nappy activity goes-down. I plan to get behind the fridge when DD is asleep too: 1. sniff hall floor, 2. sniff pushchair wheels, 3. check behind fridge...

Damp football boots can smell very much like cat pee. Any of those hanging around?

@HemanOrSheRa no football boots, damp or dry...

I wish it were football boots, that'd be much better than an infestation of toxic rats (as my imagination has concluded it must be).

Do you have a gas hob? I once came home and the hall smelled of cat wee. Turns out someone had knocked the gas hob knobs n gas was leaking

Just to add, we now have those knob covers on

Male cats spraying the doors?

Hmmm. Have you checked outside the front door for Tom cat spray? Even the smallest dribble will absolutely reek!

I would be looking for signs of mice as well. They create a smell like poorly maintained public toilets

So, I threw the lillies away at about 6pm, I've just gone outside to freshen my nostrils (as I can no longer find the smell), come back - no discernible smell so far.

I reckon it was the lillies... if it is a mouse party, it'll still smell tomorrow, so I'll know when I get home from work (if they haven't eaten my face over night). I'm still going to check behind the fridge (I have seen a mouse poo or two there in the past, so I reckon that'd be their optimum hide-out).

We had a strange wee smell in our last house and turned out to be dodgy wiring. It was in the bathroom but not near toilet more in shower area, I accused DH and DSS of wearing in shower ! It only came to light when shower stopped working and electrician came to fix it

I bleached my bathroom two days ago with a new bottle of the usual pink domestos I use and once the bleach smell had died down, it’s left a really weird wee smell that’s really strong. It’s horrible! Never had it before but it’s wafting through the whole house. I’m going to have to zoflora!

If it smells like rodent/sawdust could you have mice somewhere in the area or under the floor?

I hates Lillie's. My mum sometimes has them in her house and it always reminds me of the smell of old persons pee. I'm a nurse so maybe more tunes into it

Dh came home with a bouquet of flowers and some lilies are included and it definitely has a pee scent about it. Funny that I'd already written on this.

Mice smell like basmati rice to me. Is there a basmati element to the smell?

I think you are right about the lillies, daffodils smell of wee too. Took me a while to work it out.