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dead rat smell

5 replies

Thatcrazycatlady · 09/08/2022 11:03

ok so this is vile but we had a dead rat behind one of our downstairs walls, my partner took drywall out, disposed of it and thought it was over, however smell was worse, we called the council out they pulled bath pannel out and had a look about but said another rat could have died in the ceiling void, very awkward to get to and would mean having to remove all flooring upstairs, they said it could have died at any part of upstairs but if there are any gaps for smell to escape thats why we can only smell it in downstairs hallway. They said that the smell will go when its turned to bone, its been 4 months so far not sure how much longer I can bear it, its nowhere pungent as it used to be, i find it worse if the pipes are heated up for bath/shower. We cant afford what private pest control have quoted us.

We have used sprays, that gel off amazon that comes in a tub, diffusers, plug ins, we dont have a window in the hallway just kitchen and front room but where its so hot in the UK right now there is hardly a breeze. any tips what we can do to try and get rid of this smell?!

thanks in advance

OP posts:
Yarnasaurus · 09/08/2022 11:17

Dead rat smell would have gone by now so I'd be looking for other causes.

HarrietSchulenberg · 09/08/2022 11:48

You haven't got a dog, have you? I was convinced a rodent had died somewhere in our hall as there was a dreadful stench for weeks. I know the "dead rat" smell as we'd had it at a previous house and eventually found the source wedged inside the frame of an armchair.
This time it turned out to be a forgotten bag of dog poo in an old coat pocket.

Thatcrazycatlady · 09/08/2022 12:18

HarrietSchulenberg · 09/08/2022 11:48

You haven't got a dog, have you? I was convinced a rodent had died somewhere in our hall as there was a dreadful stench for weeks. I know the "dead rat" smell as we'd had it at a previous house and eventually found the source wedged inside the frame of an armchair.
This time it turned out to be a forgotten bag of dog poo in an old coat pocket.

nope, no dog, just 2 cats :(

OP posts:
Twiglets1 · 09/08/2022 12:26

You have my sympathy. We had a dead rat in a water butt at a previous property - presumably had climbed in then drowned. The water butt was just outside our French doors and we had no idea that was where the stench was coming from that filled our kitchen for months. Eventually the smell went away and we found the rat skeleton

BreakfastGold · 09/08/2022 12:30

We had this and it didn't take 4 months, more like 6 weeks (rodent I assume was under the floorboards). I agree with pp it would be long gone by now if it was a single dead rat. If it's worse when the pipes are heated up then maybe that is the source?

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