Musty smell in bedroom - safe for newborn?

[CelloYouveGotABass]

We have very recently moved to a bungalow. My bedroom - the one I will have my newborn in (currently 38 wks pregnant) has an overwhelming musty smell in it. There’s no damp or humidity, we believe it is coming from lack of ventilation under a suspended floor.

We have had people out to have a look so are awaiting their responses - hoping that creating ventilation under the house will help.

At present I’m dealing with this by having the heating on and window open when I am in bed at night. Is this safe to have a newborn in, or would there be toxins or anything nasty in the air? Obviously an open window all night in December isn’t particularly ideal either.

Does anyone else have any idea on how I can quickly solve this? Moving to another room isn’t particularly an option but could be a lady resort.

Is there carpet, you could change that and the underlay.

Is there a fitted wardrobe?

No, it’s solid wood flooring, so we can’t prize it up to take a look without damaging it and there’s no fitted wardrobe or anything.

How recently did you move in? Is the smell just as strong? Could it be that that room wasn't used so previously didn't get aired much?

Perhaps an air purifier might help, at least till you work out the cause.

We’ve been in three weeks and it’s had windows and door open almost the whole time. There’s no vents under the floor so I’m assuming that’s the issue.
I just worry about exposing new baby to mould spores or something?
An air purifier is a great idea I’ll look into it thank you

Was the house empty before you moved in? Ours was for three years and it took replacing aLl the floors for it to go fully.
It did lessen but even now I can still get a hint of it if we've been away a long time..
Can you wash down the walls and floors with diluted Milton?

I've just bought a bungalow and the day before completion my vendor rang me about something and during the conversation said she was sorry she'd overwatered a plant in the back bedroom, and watermarked the carpet. Up until now, I've been too busy to think about it, it was covered in boxes.

A villager I am no longer frie'nds with because she used to drink drive with her kids in the car was also after this bungalow. I had bumped into her earlier in the year and she reluctantly congratulated me - then said 'I hope you can find the damp'. I thought she was just being her normal bitchy self.

I agreed to the vendor leaving a huge wicker chair in the front bedroom, and my curtain fitter came last week. I had to lug the big chair out of the bay so he could fit the rail - as he walked into the bay there was a huge 'crack' and he said he wasn't happy to continue. He pulled the carpet up and the boards are all rotten.

Once he'd left, I thought about the vendor's comment, as the back bedroom is quite dark and I wouldn't put a plant where the stain was - pulled the carpet up and had a shock. Not floorboards, it's all chipboard upto the concrete extension half of the floor, and it's all mouldy and black.

My surveyor came round and I've got dry rot in the floorboards of the front bay, and a severe condensation problem in the back bedroom.

He recommended a positive ventilation unit in the loft. I'd already bought a humidifer for the front bedroom due to the windows being soaked each morning, but it only does one room. The PVI is supposed to circulate the air in the whole bungalow.

Caveat emptor it is, sadly.

I would recommend trying to see the sub void. And if you have blocked up chimney breasts, do you have a ventilation slot?

Oh gosh @Salome61 what an awful situation! I’m so sorry to hear that, it must have been so stressful! Hopefully you can get it sorted!

@Salome61
A decent survey really should have found a rotten floor!

I would definitely not put a new baby in a musty smelling room. Just awful in my view. Anything like this can lead to illness so why risk it.

If you don’t have damp in the walls it could be the floor and lack of air bricks. Do you have a chimney in the room? These can be musty too. However why didn’t your survey pick up the lack of air bricks (or that they are covered up)? Did you actually have a survey?

@TizerorFizz, I did pay for a L3 but carpets and furniture cannot be moved :( The chair in the front bedroom bay is huge and was in the bay during the viewing and the survey. There was a chest of drawers over the 'stain' in the back bedroom.

All my floor problems are trivial now, I'm in the NE and the flat roof on the extension flew off on Friday night and water poured in through the 11 spotlights :( I had to run round like a mad thing rescuing all the stuff in the lounge by candlelight, whole bungalow looks like a bomb has gone off. Typical, I spent so long choosing a rug! Everyone has had roof damage and I'm still on bucket duty, roofer hasn't managed to get here with a temporary tarpaulin yet.

You can get surveys where they will lift up a carpet! Rotting floorboards really cannot be missed. A flat roof that wasn’t able to withstand a storm would be another issue in my view.

I should have said that owners do agree to carpets being lifted a tiny bit. I am surprised that rotten floorboards didn’t make damp readings high. However it’s very difficult when surveyors are inexperienced and don’t smell a rat so to speak! But a roof that flies off! That was noticeable!

Just get the vents done. It's a messy job, but they do it on the outside of the house and it takes a morning. You could have it done within the week.

Thanks all!
Had a specialist come out and it’s getting sorted in January. Extra vents/airbricks and drainage should solve jt