A smell that comes and goes...

[DownmarketSellingSunset]

The bedroom in our house which is just at the top of the stairs has a smell which comes and goes. The smell is also at the top of the stairs, just outside the bedroom. It doesn't really smell like something died under the floorboards, it's mustier than that. It's not gas, we had a gas engineer out to check. I've asked everyone from a furniture restorer we had round for something else, to various plumbers, builders and our cleaner if they recognise the smell and no one does.

It seems to come and go a bit, and wasn't there over the summer, it's just developed. There doesn't seem to be any damp in there, no dog-related incidents on the carpet and nothing I can see which might be responsible...

Anyone got any ideas?! I know it's a strange question but we need to get the sofabed and desk in there soon and I'd rather get to the bottom of it before we move heavy, awkward furniture in!

Have you checked the roof/loft space? We had a musty smell which was caused by water getting into the loft space and dripping onto the plasterboard in the ceiling. It wasn't enough to show as a damp patch. Eventually the plasterboard started bowing down which is when we discovered where the smell was coming from.

Electrics? Although that tends to be a fishy rather than musty smell. Could be some electrical appliance or light fitting that wasn't turned on in the summer, but is now in use.

We used to get a cigarette smoke smell that came through from a neighbour when we lived in a Victorian terrace. There must have been a gap somewhere where it came through.

Well things have escalated somewhat… last night we were just about to go to bed when we found water dripping through the ceiling lights in the kitchen. Had to call an emergency plumber who advised a mouse had chewed through something to do with the central heating.

They fixed that overnight but suggested the smell isn’t connected to a leak but is a mouse nest. Which is probably better than a leak, but still grim! Anyway, we’ll have to call out some pest control.

Onwards until the next disaster!

Oh no! I hope it's all rectified pretty quickly.