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.

www.bbc.com/news/business-40655163

Good find, Fireball!

I've heard of that with old paint before too...

It's grim I know but a friend bought mortuary air fresheners when she had dead rats in the wall and it did help make the smell more bearable.

I remember when uplighters were a thing. Unbeknown to me my son who must have only been 3/4 at the time managed to through one of those squidgy balls in so every time I put the light on it heated/melted against the bulb. The smell was vile it took me 2/3 weeks to discover what the stink was that only occurred in the evening (obviously when the lights went on) 🤦🏻‍♀️

*throw

LOL at coming from us. Unless one of us is necrotising and only doing so when in the kitchen/diner, I doubt it.

House was built in 1932. We will seal the concrete in due course. 13 cats, all neglected, used to get run over with alarming regularity, none of them done so often pregnant and gave birth on the disgusting carpets. We ripped up the carpets, crumbling underlay and removed the levelling compound and found the original 1930s quarry stone flooring in pristine condition.

I'd never use old paint and I'd definitely never use Valspar; it's appalling quality paint.

I had an uplighter as a teen and loved it but it used to get v dusty and that would make the bulbs smell fusty.

I have a cat who would catch any rodents coming into the house. Aforementioned copper DH has access to serious UV lighting for crime scenes. Believe me, there's no wee anywhere in the room.

Have you done stuff with vinegar, and bicarb? A dish of each, to absorb/neutralise niffs.

Burnt sage leaves? (Smudging).

Anything you burn will purify the air. If it's safe, you could leave a tealight burning.

I've had candles lit for 3 days now. They are really helping!

And DH has been round with the bicarb today. Little pots strategically placed out of reach of the cat.

What a mystery. I thought the Valspar article might have been a clue.

Smudging did come to mind. And exorcism.

Do weather conditions affect it -- rain, damp, etc?

Well, if it's something dead, it is just a matter of time until the odor goes away. Keep us posted.

A dead rat smells way worse than mere rat droppings. A relative had to help friends get one out from under an upstairs floor, he's a tough cookie and so are his mates, but he said the smell as they took up more floorboards and got closer to it was almost beyond what he and his mates could bear.
It sounds to me like you need to get an expert of some sort on to this.

You mention the room with the smell is single storey. They still have a small roof void for the rafters (usually stuffed with insulation). Have you checked visually externally for leaks, missing tiles, damaged flat roof? A rodent could have got in there and made a nest in the insulation.

Out of interest, you mentioned the smell wasn’t as bad one particular day. Had it rained the day before? Or , does the smell seem to be worse if it rains, or the day after?

Another vote for pest control to investigate and advise (they don’t just come in and kill things!). Don’t under-estimate the places rodents can get to!

Is it worse when you use your washing machine ?

I had similar issues with a bad smell, and it was, unfortunately, a dead rodent. I found that the smell was far worse if we kept the internal doors closed as the smell was contained and seemed to grow in that one room, but if we left the doors open the smell dissipated and we didn’t notice it (and neither did visitors).

I feel for you, OP, it was a shitty few weeks and the smell felt like it would never go. Finger crossed you get it sorted.

Enclosed is a picture showing the source of the strongest & worst smell I've ever encountered. Rat was long dead and largely dessicated, but still leaked 🤮. Despite not directly touching the rat to dispose of it, I had to wash my clothes to get the stink out of them.

Is there anything on the roof of it or under floor above. If it's an extension have you checked the roof for a dead bird? Check the gutters too and inside chimney?

We've had the builders round for a couple of days working on the extension and they think they've cracked it. It's nothing dead and they are pretty sure they'll have it all sorted by the end of the week.

I haven't seen them as I've been teaching while they've been in the house this week but they said they'll catch up with DH tomorrow (day off) and run through the issue with him.

🤞🤞🤞🤞

Oh, I've been wondering if the smell was fading over time. Nothing dead huh? Now you've got me very curious....squirrels stashing their winter cache?? 🤔

Have the builders bricked up a full lunchbox by mistake?🤣

It's nothing so whimsical as squirrels and their nuts.

It's something to do with the concrete. They've started fixing it today and it's made a huge difference. Much less of a problem and I can almost only smell the gingerbread reed diffuser I bought through sheer desperation. The stench is only a whiff at this point.

oh....they used their wee instead of the proper antifreeze when mixing it.

I really hope they didn't

But no more guesses from me until you hopefully update tomorrow.

Snap! Went down a google search and also came to this conclusion.