I think something has died in the house (animal) - there is an absolutely RANK smell.......

[katierocket]

anyone had this?
It's in the bathroom (which is downstairs) and in an upstairs cupboard (directly above bathroom). We'#re pretty sure we have mice (discovered yesterday) so quite likely it's a rotting corpse. It really is the most disgusting, horrendous smell. DP is going to try and locate it (nice job) but could one mouse make such a bad smell? or might it be something bigger......

yes, it really can make a vile smell.
poor dp having to find it

It just takes one mouse. I was amazed at the stench one tiny little body can create!

Could be your soil pipe leaking if it is in a bathroom but if it is a mouse it'll be under the bath panel and the smell will go within a few days.

Is it a sickly sweet smell, cloying? Dead mouse often smells like this.

Look for flies btw, that normally gives away the location.

At first I thought it was drains but it's definitely something that's died, you know when you just know . The smell stays in your nostrils. I'm more worried about if DP can't find it.

Those of you who've had this - what did you do? how did you find it? get rid of it?

Well the smell naturally goes after three days if it is one dead mouse. I left the windows open and crossed my fingers!

We have a thatched roof, things do die up there from time to time, but nature takes care of itself and the flies make short work of one dead mouse.

It is worth checking your soil pipe for leaks and looking under the bath just in case there is a problem there. Otherwise if you can bear to stick it out a few days you may find the problem resolves if it is just one corpse.

Are you poisoning the mice? If so you may have a wider problem as they go back to nests and snuff it there in larger groups.

no we haven't done anything about getting rid of them yet, we only really found out we had them yesterday. DP is going to get some old fashioned mouse traps - mean I know but better than the smell of rotting flesh...

We had a dead bird decomposing in our hot water tank once (don't ask). The hot water and the bathroom stank. If you think it is something dead my advice is FIND IT!

Good luck!

We think we ahd a dead mouse in our floorboards under DD's room, or something in the attic above her room, it stunk for about three weeks, nasty smell, like gone off milk but sweeter, everytime I opened the windows etc it would go away but come back the next day when windows had been closed.
If you can't find it without tearing the house apart I'd say leave it a week or so and see if it goes, I only bother trying to find it now if I can hear its still alive, like the birds down the bloody chimney
Remind me why we moved out to a little village?? Never had this shite in town!

I know, I thought the same - Flippin country living!

did the smell go on its own eventually then?
I just don't think I can live with it, it's making me feel ill

The smell went eventually, it is horrid I know, but depends how easy ti is to fix it, just keep windows open and burn some joss sticks.

I know it's pathetic but I worry about the health risks with having a small baby in the house. Logic tells me otherwise but god it's hard when you know what's making the smell!

Well DP couldn't find anythign but there are so many possible nooks and crannies it could be anywhere. Think we will wait and see if smell goes away and if not, call in pest control to see what they suggest.

You could just turn the heat up, that'll help the flies find it and eat it. It'll smell worse at first but go quicker. It also might help you work out where the smell is coming from

You need to find and remove. I had this, the dead one was in a jumper which I had washed twice as it dmelled funny, then wore and it fell out after an hour or two (baggy jumper)
It was hairless and mummified, after its washing machine experiences...
The jumper never stopped smelling. It went in the bin.

TIP: Never use poison. Mice will turn up dea in odd places. You will spend the next few months jumping out of your boots every time you open a drawer, just in case.

Traps - every time.
Get the plastic ones, black and yellow - they are really really effective.