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Original poster

Musty smell - How to get rid?

13 replies

angel1976 · 01/04/2009 20:39

Hi,

DS's room is in a basement of sorts. It is cold and used to be slightly damp in there but we have managed to control that with a conventor heater as well as a dehumidifier. But the room seems to have quite a musty smell that comes and go. Is there any 'natural' way of getting rid of the smell? I try to air the room as much as possible but it's not really that possible at the moment as it is so cold when they window is opened. I'm not really keen on those artificial air fresheners either... Any advice?

Thanks, Ax

OP posts:

lalalonglegs · 01/04/2009 20:45

Basements are often a bit on the damp side - just leave the window open as much as possible when he isn't in it. You could also think about getting a fan fitted but that may disturb him if it comes on while he is asleep.

LilRedWG · 01/04/2009 20:52

Are there any fitted cupboards in there? When we bought our house the main bedroom smelt musty. On ripping out the fitted wardrobes we discovered they had been fitted before the plaster had fully dried - and the wall was black with mould.

Original poster

angel1976 · 01/04/2009 21:49

No, no fitted cupboards in there... Actually, one of the things the surveyor suggested to make the room warmer and get rid of the damp is to fit a fan but we didn't really want to do that really, like you said, it's the noise... I put the dehumidifier on turbo just before my DS goes to bed and the room does feel nice, warm and doesn't smell (the dehumidifier is an ioniser as well and I think it does help 'purify' the air). It's when I go and get him in the morning, the room definitely has a bit of a musty smell then. Do you think a couple of sprigs of fresh lavender or something similar would help?

OP posts:

thehairybabysmum · 01/04/2009 21:59

What about a bowl of bicarb...will absorb any moisture int eh air?

NotanOtter · 01/04/2009 22:03

i think it is an underlying dampness

iiwy i would dry line it or have a damp proof render put it ) long term that is)

otherwise i would open windows as much as possible and run de humidifier again as much as possible

keep furniture and soft furnishings to a minimum in the room

Original poster

angel1976 · 02/04/2009 08:48

Will try the bowl of bicarb...

Just a quick question about dehumidifying the room - Is this a long time solution in that eventually the overall dampness should reduce? I'm asking because if I keep the dehumidifier running, I often get the moisture level down to about 50% but it does go back up to its usual level of 60%+ overnight. Is this normal? How long will I need to run the dehumidifier before I see any permanent drop in mositure level? Thanks for all your very helpful advice.

OP posts:

WowOoo · 02/04/2009 08:54

Have you checked all walls and the floor for signs of damp?
If it keeps going back to those high levels I would make sure it's been properly treated. (I guess you know this though)

I would open windows too.
And keep a large bowl of bicarb.

In the damp room we used to have you could see how much moisture bicarb had absorbed. Shocked us!

We finally got it damp proofed again and this improved it greatly. (nasty nasty chemicals so keep dc away)

Original poster

angel1976 · 02/04/2009 09:19

We have actually had both surveyors and builders in to have a look to see if there are any 'fixes' that can be done. It's a relatively new house (about 7 years old) and they all determined that we didn't need major works and there wasn't a 'damp' problem as such. Just the fact that it is a basement room was always going to have issues of cold and damp...

WowOoo - What damp proofing did you do and what did it involve? Thanks!

OP posts:

WowOoo · 02/04/2009 15:35

I'm not really sure what it was TBH. Think it was a damp proof course (?) that involved drilling the outside walls and shoving some nasty chemicals in them.

We went away for 3 days and it still stank and stung my eyes, but the damp and musty smell all went away.

They did something inside too. My dh mihgt remember what.... The room was bare. Unfurnished, undecorated.
We had to wait and then re-plastered and decorated.

Not very useful if you're already in the room and it's all decorated.

It was a semi basement room. Hard to explain!

Pannacotta · 02/04/2009 18:00

Its unlikely you can put in a DPC in a room which is semi basement as a DPC cant go below ground level.
We have a basement with slight damp problems and I have had lots of (differing) advice, but the general consensus among all is to heat and ventilate well, open windows and have the heating on regularly, make sure there are good extractor fans fitted where needed. We have found it helpful to use a dehumidifier as needed.

WowOoo · 02/04/2009 18:06

Room wasn't below ground level, but there was a flat, level space outside and then a bank of land opposite.(which made it seem dark like a basement) So in this house it wasn't truly a basement.

Pannacotta · 02/04/2009 18:26

But the OP's room is so am pretty sure a DPC wont be an option for her....

Original poster

angel1976 · 02/04/2009 20:57

Thanks for all the advice. We did have a builder in to quote us for the job to do some damp-proofing (it sounds like what WowOoo did actually, involved drilling holes and putting things in there) but it would have cost over £4000 to do everything (including putting thermal boards into the walls). Then we had the surveryor round and he said that was completely over the top and not needed. sigh Looks like we will just keep using the dehumidifier and heater. At least the good weather is coming soon!

WowOoo - DS's room sounds like yours actually. There is a kind of a well outside his window (surrounded by 3 brick walls) so it's not a complete basement but it's just as good as! A good trick we learned about making the room brighter was that we put a base paint (I can't remember what it's called but it's meant to put a waterproof layer) on the brickwork, then put on two coats of outdoor white paint on the brick wall and it really helped to reflect light into the room! Thanks again everyone.

OP posts:

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