Help! Smelly house!

[Cydonia]

Hi, I could really use some tips on removing underlying smells in my new house.
History - the house ( bungalow ) belonged to my late dad, though he only lived there for 6 months before he passed away. I did think it always had a bit of a smell about it when he first moved in, but then when his illness worsened just put it down to that.
It’s been empty since the end of 2019, we deliberated selling, then decided to keep it and have a loft conversion done. So all rooms downstairs except the bathroom were emptied and have had new carpet or flooring and been repainted. The room which houses the new staircase has also been replastered, upstairs rooms obviously brand new.
I don’t notice much of a smell during the day, but when I first get up in the morning or come in after a day out, there’s an odd smell in the lounge and the dining room ( used to be a bedroom ). It’s hard to describe, sometimes it seems a bit smokey ( dad didn’t smoke, not sure about previous owners but I don’t think they did ), sometimes almost ammonia-y. Maybe a bit musty but not your typical damp smell.
I use wax burners and lots of highly scented cleaning stuff, but it keeps coming back. We did buy a second hand leather suite, which does have a bit of a smell to it, I’m wondering if it could be that? I have cleaned it with leather cleaner, is there something else I could use without damaging it? We’ve got a couple of other bits of second hand or old furniture too, could be that? I try to open windows as much as possible but it’s getting a bit chilly for that. We do have a dog, but it doesn’t really seem like a doggy smell.
Sorry for the essay, any tips ( including the best place to buy white vinegar! ) gratefully received ☺️

If the house has been recarpeted, repainted and has new window treatments then my guess would be that it's either the furniture or possibly mould/mildew

Floorboards.

Sorry. Posted too soon.

im sure it’ll be in the floorboards. Perhaps a previous owner had an animal that was incontinent.

@Cydonia I buy my white vinegar from Amazon; I have it on "Subscribe and Save"
I get 20 litres delivered every 6 months.

I’m not sure there are floorboards? We took up the old carpets and underlay, there were just brown tiles tiles underneath. My partner took them up in one room ( lounge ) and it was concrete underneath.

Could it be any woodwork- not necessarily floorboards but any timbers in the structure. I think our house smells a bit but I reckon it’s a bit of damp and the very old wood timbers that are a few hundred years old! x

It’s a 1960’s build so wouldn’t have thought it would be the timbers. God I hope not! We did paint over the existing wallpaper ( the textured stuff that you can paint on ) perhaps we should have removed it.
I’m thinking I just need to have a really good clean of anything second hand we bought. I did clean everything before it went into the house, but I guess not well enough.

I have a similar issue but the smell in my house is more...stuffy, musty. I notice it when the heating has been on and rooms are warm. It doesn't smell fresh and clean (despite being clean and regularly opening windows).

I feel your frustration as I can't work out what it is either!!

Likeliest culprits are the dog or sometimes, plumbing.

Since having covid, I can't smell nice fragrances but I sure as hell can smell nasty ones.

It’s hard to put my finger on it, it’s not terrible, but it’s just not that nice smell you want your house to have. I don’t think it’s the dog, it’s different to her smell.

As regards cleaning the leather sofa, I'm not sure how damaging it is if it's real leather, but I used to dilute Fabric Conditioner and wipe down the PU leather (plastic really) sofa with the very diluted fabric conditioner. If it's real leather though, it might damage it. I'm not an expert. My mother rarely compliments me but she came in once and asked what the lovely smell was and it was that I had just wiped the PU leather couch down with the diluted (very diluted) fabric conditioner.

I'd have a sniff (depending on who in the family has the best nose lol) at each piece of furniture to narrow it down.

I use Pledge to polish wood. But, I first use (again a very diluted) disinfectant such as this one

astonish.co.uk/products/concentrated-disinfectant-morning-dew?variant=40254047322291

or

www.wilko.com/flash-lavender-all-purpose-liquid-cleaner-205l-%C2%A0/p/0534868?gclid=CjwKCAjwqJSaBhBUEiwAg5W9p1N8plu1bPDxtn81uHl1-eykYYWJyiMpcX4EXhfplMmYpRy5ciyQtRoCBuoQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

I dilute that a lot. Wipe down with that, then immediately dry with a tea-towel. Then I use the Pledge.

I've tried cheap versions of 'Pledge' but I just love the smell of the real pledge.

Blinds and/or curtains could also be culprits. Anything fabric holds a smell.

I think people don't realise quite how stinky dogs can be.

The other culprit for stink is if you cook using garlic a lot.

I think the sofa might have been real leather but a very cheap leather.

Does it have chimneys? Mine make an odd smell sometimes. There might be a build up of old soot up there, or it might need venting.

If it has a suspended floor, check there's proper ventilation and airbricks aren't blocked up.

Sympathies, our old house had a weird smell that I never worked out - left it for the next owners eventually :)

What flooring does the bathroom you haven’t changed for as it could be that? My MIL bathroom flooring gave her house a strange odour until we changed it.

Lidl has white vinegar - I think I paid 29p for 500ml.

I could spray ge breeze everywhere

Its clearly a ghost.

Does it have an attic / loft space? If so, then you might need to replace the insulation. I've lived her for over 30 years, and the previous owner of the house was a smoker. Even now, when I go in the loft there is a faint musty stale smoke smell. Eventually I worked out it was coming from the insulation, which of course we had already boarded over, so it would be a nightmare to re-do.

Re vinegar you can buy 5 litre bottles of it online that works out cheaper. I'm also a fan of buying lavender 1 kilo a time and putting it around the house in old socks. Not everyone's favourite smell but I love it. Slicing citrus fruit and drying in the oven then placing on radiators also makes a lovely smell.

We have had "mystery smells" in a couple of different houses now and there have been a few culprits:

• Paint "ghost smell" from painting over previous paint/wallpaper without removing. If the smell gets worse in bright sunshine that's your problem and the only solution is to strip back to plaster and start again.
• Grout in the old tiles under the current floor covering. The only solution is to remove all the tiles/grout and possibly some of the concrete underneath
• Floorboards in the sub-floor or other woodwork, needs a combo of bicarb, vinegar, elbow grease and (in one memorable case), yacht varnish.

Sorry to derail a bit but what are you all doing with vinegar?? @Dogtooth @Houseplantmad I’m crap at cleaning (I do try though!). Are you wiping it over surfaces or what? Any tips gratefully recieved! X

@sjxoxo DH puts it in the dishwasher to give it a good clean. Cheaper than dishwasher cleaner.