Damp earthy smell coming from crawlspace

[germanshepforever]

Hey, we moved into our forever dream home around a month and a half ago, when we first moved we had no smell of dampness at all no mould or anything. We have recently had laminate flooring put into living room and dining area now the problem is, we have noticed by where the flooring ends and the patio door starts there is an awful damp smell blowing up into the house. We’re having new doors put in in 4 weeks hence why we haven’t sealed off the laminate to the door with beading yet. The problem is I feel like I can smell this smell coming up from all around the skirting boards now, we have a crawlspace under the house which is just soil and earth, I’ve checked outside and we have two vents either side of the patio door so surely ventilation isn’t the problem. I can also smell it around the pipes on the radiators but there isn’t any sign of a leak we’ve had a plumber in and they said we don’t have any leaks as pressure bars not dropping. I’m really paranoid as we have a one year old in the house and obviously don’t want her breathing in any spores from damp. We stripped the walls right down to the plaster as well and there wasn’t any mould or damp on the walls so I am just really confused what the next step to take is.

These are the areas where I can smell it and it is really windy coming from there as well

By crawling space, you mean you can access it now?
The draughts are a good sign, means you have ventilation down there. You need airbricks front and back though for the through draft.

Is it just the smell of damp soil? Did you move in over the summer when it was ridiculously dry? Maybe the smell and possible damp could be due to dampness caused by the rain?

Assuming it could be rain related, how old is the house? Can you see whee the damp proof course is on the outside of the building and how do the gutters look? Any signs of leaking or blockages?

What country are you in, and how old is the house?

Walk round the outside. How many airbricks can you see, and how far apart are they? How far above ground level are they? Are any positioned so that water lying on the ground or paving can run in? Post some pics please.

You are going to have to take up some floorboards and look into the void. Where can you do that?

The cupboard under the stairs is often uncarpeted.

Look at the waste pipes, soil pipes and downpipes.

Is the ground around them cracked, sunken or repaired? Post some pics please.

Im in the uk, we did have a load of rain and a storm around 5 days ago so that would make sense. So when I say crawl space there isn’t actual access to underneath but it is large enough for a person to crawl under it. It is like a musty damp smell which lingers in your nose,

@PigletJohn so we have two air bricks one each side of the patio door, tbh they are quite low to the ground I will attach a photo I have found, I don’t think there is any cracked pipes or groundwork but it is dark here now so will check in the morning

@PigletJohn so these are either side of the patio doors, I’ve just noticed the one has a weird pipe thing sticking out of it I have no idea what that is

The airbricks look badly blocked. See if you can poke them clear.

The pipe is a drain cock for draining the radiators. I would hope it is well insulated beneath the floor as it may freeze.

Has the ground around the airbricks recently been cleared or dug out?

How many more airbricks are there round the house? One every two metres is not too many.

How old is the house?

Ahh thankyou they do seem blocked now you mention it, I did poke a stick in them earlier and really had to wiggle it around to unblock a few of the holes, I will give them a good cleaning and unblocking tomorrow.
the house is early 60s, I will check for more air bricks tomorrow as I’m not too sure how many we have.
thanks for the advice @PigletJohnhopefully unblocking them will help with air flow if not I have no idea who I should call out to check