Something stinks

[ShowOfHands]

Pleeeaaaasseee help. I am at a total loss.

There has been a smell in my house for 2 or 3 weeks. It seemed to coincide with the building of our extension but having sealed the extension completely for a few days while we await the next phase, it seems to be in the open plan kitchen/dining room. The extension doesn't smell.

It's most like an ammonia type smell. We have a cat but she doesn't wee inside and I've tried a UV light to check. I can't find the source. It doesn't seem to be on or in anything. It's in the air almost.

I've deep cleaned everywhere at least 3 times using all sorts. I've tried zoflora, a thing from the pet shop which neutralises cat wee, plain old bleach solution.

It's getting worse and worse. I feel quite sick now. And ashamed. I can't let the DC have friends round. Can't have family round. I don't want to be in my house. It's like a wall of stench when I walk in.

Can you suggest anything at all? Something I might have missed?

I'm getting desperate.

If the neighbours have died, why have they done so in my kitchen and in such a way that I don't know about it and can't see a body?

The extension is not used yet. It is an empty shell. Nothing in there, certainly no electrics in use. It isn't a faulty electric smell.

Tried this already. There is no source.

This doesn't help with my fears.

I cancelled friends coming for dinner yesterday. This weekend, I'm cancelling hosting Christmas.

I've never heard of odour bags. I'll Google.

Get someone round who will recognise the smell of dead rat. Pest control etc.

@ShowOfHands I'm so sorry to be the bearer of bed news. It sounds exactly the same as us. The initial stench subsided a little then at the 3 week mark it came back stronger. Cannot find the source (body), no amount of cleaning or air freshener will make it go away etc.

Initially I thought it was the drains and spent a fortune on drain cleaner. Then dishwasher cleaner. Then washing machine cleaner. Then I spent £200 on the pest control guy. He found rat droppings (under kitchen floor boards, under the sink which was the only area we can see under the floorboards) confirmed the smell was dead rat and put poison down in several areas around the house. Then the smell got worse. I was heavily pregnant at this point too and it was unbearable.

Bringing home baby to that stench was hideous.

So nearly 2 years on, can't find the body, can still smell a musty funky smell. And it permeates through the whole house.

I'm so happy we are moving and if the sale falls through I'm going to have a breakdown.

Oh and odour bags won't work

I wonder why it still smells after so long? The body must be mummified/bones by now. That must be so shit not being able to fix it!

Hopefully the new owners won't have it in their head so might not notice it.

Could be droppings, we had a load of them as well. Pest control is a good shout, get a professional nose on the job x

Where would there be droppings? In the walls?

I know what rat droppings smell like though due to an infestation in a previous place of employment. It's not that smell at all.

I also think it's a rat that has died somewhere in the walls. The pest control guy that came out to us recommended neutradol air fresheners you know the ones that are like jelly like blobs in a pot. They took the edge of. If it's any consolation I was the one who could smell it the worst and often visitors couldn't but I would just forewarn anyone that came about the smell and my friends and family were fine about it. The smell took a little while to go away but it went without us having to recover a dead rat corpse! I feel for you its very stressful

Stupid question but is there any chance at all there's a cup of water/jug of water/bowl of water in the kitchen? Maybe one that was put to one side to water the plants?

We had an awful stink a couple of months ago. I suspected rats or mice, and I put on protective gear to empty the bottom cupboards. Originally we thought it was the fridge too, but it wasn't.

It turned out that somehow - and I have absolutely zero explanation for this - a cup of water had been put in the very back of my corner base cupboard. It had gone stagnant and absolutely stunk to high heaven. DP was retching getting rid of it!!

You'd only need a small amount of it somewhere to create a real stink - it was insane how bad it smelt! I was delighted there wasn't a rodent though. Any chance at all you might have some water standing still somewhere that's unnoticed in a cup or bowl? Or an old vase?

Seems like a dead rodent wouldn't last more than a couple of weeks.

Shame you are having to cancel Christmas.

What about hiring someone with a cadaver detection dog?

Btw an odor would "sink." I wouldn't rule out the loft above.

The room where the smell is is single storey. It's an extension to the original house. It'd have to sink, go down stairs and round a corner, leaving no trace behind.

And we go in the loft regularly. It has humane traps in it and no signs of vermin.

DH is a police officer. He could "borrow" a dog.

I'd borrow the dog.

But on reflection and since you mention ammonia, it really sounds like cat pee. Could a tomcat have snuck in?

Even those miracle pet mess removers can't touch it. I had to pull up carpets and have sub floors sealed.

Have you crawled around to sniff anywhere a cat may have weed?

Also do you have new or damp carpeting? I had a bad cat pee smell, really overpowering, at a time we had no pets. It turned out to be a leak that had dampened some carpet and the stench was uncannily like cat wee. Once we thoroughly dried the area, the smell went away.

Btw thanks for using humane traps.

I've crawled round every inch of the downstairs, as has DH. Dozens of times in fact. There's no source. You can be in different parts of the room and get a wave of it but it then "moves". We have no carpets downstairs and a UV light showed nothing untoward.

I'm an absolute pacifist, would never kill a living creature, even a fly.

I've had some unkind thoughts about a theoretically deceased rodent which is the closest I'd ever come to violence I hope.

I'm so tired of trying to fix it.

Agree with pp, get a wildlife control company to come and inspect it. They might be able to find evidence that is not immediately obvious to the untrained eye.

Have you checked back of oven? Or oven drawer if yours has one. See my post ⬆️
Get a rodent expert in. Not the council (they just lay traps)
I don't think it's a dead one. I think it's rat pee you can smell.
Sit downstairs with a torch and the lights off as they come out at night.

It does sound draining.

A friend had a mouse infestation in the insulation of her oven. Smelled.

Just grasping for straws here but could it be coming from one of you? Some sort of medical condition?

Refrigerator coolant reportedly smells like ammonia.

This says plastic fittings smell when hot.

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/whats-causing-the-ammonia-smell-in-my-bedroom-3ztvh0qhr

I'm intrigued by the mystery; sorry you are going through this.

Are you planning to seal the concrete? 13 previous cats...

How old is the house?

@ShowOfHands have you used any old paint?
My dh decided to scrimp and painted some new plaster with paint he found in the garage.
The room absolutely stank and the only way we could stop the smell was to buy an expensive sealer and apply it over the whole ceiling.
It was one of the worst smells ever and using old paint cost us an extra £50 and a lot of effort to sort out.