Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Original poster

Where is this smell coming from!?

37 replies

Namechange0h8 · 15/12/2020 12:10

So last night i noticed this horrible eggy/pooey smell in my house it sort of smells like when your baby has done a poo and you change their nappy and the smell is still in the air after if that makes sense?

Ive literally looked everywhere for where this smell is coming from including: the sink, bin, fridge under all the sofas/beds/rugs, inside all the cupboards, wardrobes and the bathroom but the smell just will not go at all! Im starting to worry it's something in the walls or under the floor or somewhere inaccessible. Does anyone else know what would cause this smell? Its driving me up the wall and have no idea how to check where its coming from and its really noticeable. Its only me and my 3 year old in the house but my mum commented on it straight away when she came round today Blush

OP posts:
JemimaTiggywinkle · 15/12/2020 12:14

Can you keep all the doors closed for a few hours and then try and work out if it’s stronger in one room?

Have you got anything new recently? I got a food processor and the packaging inside smelled absolutely horrific.. took me ages to realise what it was.

Weirdfan · 15/12/2020 12:15

Is it stronger anywhere in particular OP? Could it be the seal around the base of a toilet? I know they can fail around the base and you can get sewage smells when that happens? Or rotten potatoes, that's the other usual culprit, any chance a spud has rolled under somewhere and rotted? They really stink Envy (not envy)

Weirdfan · 15/12/2020 12:17

Yes Jemima! I had a package from Amazon the other day and the brown paper they'd stuffed it with absolutely stunk, weird Confused

RealisticSketch · 15/12/2020 12:18

sniff your sink plughole and overflow inlet, and toilets areas, it is quite likely the u-bend of one of them is either blocked and full of nasty gunk or the water trap of the toilet has emptied and is allowing soil pipe gases to waft back into your house.

caringcarer · 15/12/2020 12:19

Have you just moved in or been there a while? Could the bag in the bin have leaked stinky liquid into bottom of kitchen bin?

MadeForThis · 15/12/2020 12:22

Have you painted any rooms?

Original poster
Namechange0h8 · 15/12/2020 12:26

It actually seems to be stronger in the living room and corridor rather than the kitchen/bathroom. I haven't painted or anything recently the only new things in there are a few prsents under the tree. I smelt them (yes I felt really weird) and some of them are smellies/toiletries and books/toys. I even opened one which was chocolates but they didn't smell. I thought maybe it was the rug which had something spilt on it but i cleaned it and hovered everywhere and it still smells!

OP posts:
Original poster
Namechange0h8 · 15/12/2020 12:28

Nothing new no! Unless its one of the presents i bought recently and the packaging like you said but nothing smelt extra odd. I did start wrapping presents last night so maybe its the wrapping paper but its a really off/food/stinky smell.

OP posts:
Original poster
Namechange0h8 · 15/12/2020 12:29

@Weirdfan

Is it stronger anywhere in particular OP? Could it be the seal around the base of a toilet? I know they can fail around the base and you can get sewage smells when that happens? Or rotten potatoes, that's the other usual culprit, any chance a spud has rolled under somewhere and rotted? They really stink Envy (not envy)
Its stronger in the lounge actually and thought that maybe somefood had fallen somewhere especially with DS who always seems to hide things he pinches from the cupboards but i checked every nook and cranny!
OP posts:
wonkylegs · 15/12/2020 12:31

New or old house?
If you have floorboards could you have a dead mouse under them, they smell horrible and like rotten drains.
Or if you have old walls like us that have a gap between the lathe & plaster and the wall - we got a dead mouse in there - couldn't get that one out and had to wait 10days or so for the smell to fade.

myhobbyisouting · 15/12/2020 12:36

Is it the tree?

Carrotcakey · 15/12/2020 12:41

This is exactly what my toddlers room smelled like when she had spilled milk on the carpet and we didn’t realise straight away. Are you sure there couldn’t be milk on carpet somewhere? It wasn’t even a lot but it was rancid.

Original poster
Namechange0h8 · 15/12/2020 12:42

@wonkylegs

New or old house? If you have floorboards could you have a dead mouse under them, they smell horrible and like rotten drains. Or if you have old walls like us that have a gap between the lathe & plaster and the wall - we got a dead mouse in there - couldn't get that one out and had to wait 10days or so for the smell to fade.
Oh god that terrifies me how did you get the mouse out!? Its not brand new but built in 2006 as part of an estate so not super old either!
OP posts:
Original poster
Namechange0h8 · 15/12/2020 12:43

@Carrotcakey

This is exactly what my toddlers room smelled like when she had spilled milk on the carpet and we didn’t realise straight away. Are you sure there couldn’t be milk on carpet somewhere? It wasn’t even a lot but it was rancid.
Definitely a possibility thinking back he did spill alot of milk.on the carpet the other day. I may take the rug out and see if the smell goes! Although the smell seems to be faintly in other rooms too
OP posts:
bestbeforedateexpired · 15/12/2020 12:43

Is it a real tree? Our office one absolutely reeked because the water went stagnant.

GingerFigs · 15/12/2020 12:51

Did they leave the curtains? Check hems for prawns!!

SlopesOff · 15/12/2020 12:52

Rotten egg smell might be stagnant water. Flowers/plants in water or drains. Drain smells can travel.

Check your plants. Then clean all plugholes and toilets with something suitable for drains and ensure that water goes down them all because the pipes can dry out if not used and they do pong. If you have a water heater like a Megaflo with a little hole in one of the pipes give it a sniff too as they can dry out and smell.

GingerFigs · 15/12/2020 12:52

Sorry have re-read post...I originally thought you'd just moved in! Ignore curtain hems Grin

SlopesOff · 15/12/2020 12:53

Have you sniffed your washing machine?

GingerFigs · 15/12/2020 12:54

Agree re drains. Last week I unscrewed the sink holes in my kitchen sink and bleached the metal sink bit before putting them back in and thoroughly cleaning round the exposed plug hole as kitchen waste had accumulated and no amount of pouring bleach down it was working. Kitchen smells much better!!!

Carrotcakey · 15/12/2020 12:57

@Namechange0h8 I took my daughters room apart looking for something pooey! Eventually I sniffed a particular spot of the carpet and my DH said ‘that’s where she spilled the milk’ There was one tiny really smelly spot (under a rug unfortunately which made it worse) and then the rest of the carpet smelled mildly, it was her room and then slightly out into the hallway.

Good luck, whatever it is.

rbe78 · 15/12/2020 12:58

When we were decorating our house I found a few pairs of childrens pants stuffed down the back of a radiator - I assume the previous owners kid had an accident and didn't want anyone to know. Worth a check maybe?

wonkylegs · 15/12/2020 13:00

@Namechange0h8
It's less likely to be a dead mouse as you are likely to have a concrete ground floor so no void for it to crawl under (Victorian house in countryside here so mice are fairly common)
Although if the smell is in the lounge I would double check the underside of the sofa for small tears/ holes (they fit in ones the just in case ones got in and gone to find somewhere warm to hide.

myhobbyisouting · 15/12/2020 13:02

Dead mice don't smell of rotten eggs anyway. It'll be stagnant water from the tree if it's real I bet

wonkylegs · 15/12/2020 13:05

@Namechange0h8
We didn't get the one in the wall out, just left it until the smell went, took about 10days - it's an old house, we try to keep them out and frequently block holes or put mesh over air bricks but occasionally they get in, we trap them if they come in the house. We don't use poison because that increases the likelihood of dead mice in hard to reach places.
We've removed a dead one when it was under the floorboards but in the walls there's not much we can do easily.
It won't be the first or last one to die here.