OMG my house stinks!

[4suchatimeasthis]

Apparently something has died in my house, and the stink is so bad I am near gagging, and that's with vicks under my nose! Yesterday morning I noticed a ton of flies in the house, mainly in the kitchen, but I figured that was from Saturday, I had a party here for my kids friends, and with kids running in and out all day, I figured they let the flies in. Nope, on closer inspection they are blow flies, which lay in rotting flesh. Awesome. Today was a warm day, and the stink in the kitchen is so damn bad I can't even go in there. I am thinking a mouse died someplace inside.

Suggestions? This is hell!

[ak474u]

Is it a pier and beam house, like without a slab, and a crawl space below the house? I've seen animals that were hit on the road run under a house and die, it's pretty foul. I've never seen blowflies in a dead mouse or rat, it's probably a little larger animal. Ewwwwww

[Taz Baby]

Nope blow flies only get on bigger animals. So if say an opossum or raccoon or even a rabbit died then the flies would come. I agree it is most likely under your house.

[4suchatimeasthis]

My poor husband took the mag light, and crawled under the house. We have a decent crawl space, nearly 5 ft in some places, only about 2 ft in others. Anyway, he went all over, and couldn't find a thing. But, he was able to narrow the stench down to 2 vents. And so as we were standing there, and he was telling me that he thinks something is in the vent, I watch two flies come out of the kitchen vent. YUCK! We covered both vents, opened a glass jar and poured in some pinesol, and then I hung a few of those sticky fly tape things around the stove, and turned on only the vent hood light.

This all being after my husband took a crowbar to the kitchen island, which is in between the two stinky vents. I have smelled some horrible things, but this is just gawd awful.

After having the vents covered now, for a good 20 min, the pinesol jar going, and the door open, id say there is a definite improvement! I might even be able to sleep now......

[ladyhk13]

I was going to ask if you were missing your husband but thought that would be a bad joke...sorry. How big is your vent? Did he try to snake it to see if there was a blockage between the 2? You obviously don't want something dead in your vents...winter is coming and you are going to have to turn on the heat. Whatever is in there is going to have to come out.

[Echo2]

A snake would do it....and it is that time of year.

May have got snagged on the sheet metal in a vent.

[Sniper-T]

yep... it's gotta come out! how far apart are the vents? are they wide open or covered with a grate? Is there somewhere else that something could gain access to the vents? Cause, it seems strange that something got in there if they are covered.

Did one of your kids friends shove something in there as a 'joke'?

[Echo2]

Go to your local rental store and see if they have a optic fiber camera.....or call a vent cleaning service like "Stanley Steamer".

[4suchatimeasthis]

Ugh. Well, "we made it through the wilderness, ya know we made it through"...uhm, through the night anyway.

There was never any question that the beast had to come out, just that by 11:30pm last night, hubby was in no mood to be awake. He has this weird condition where if he doesn't get enough sleep, he turns into a royal jerk, it's the oddest thing ;) Anywho, got a few of those nasty flies on the tape, and hubby's skinny-as-a-rail best friend is heading over this morning, so the two of them are going to do another sweep under the house, and then use a snake tube thingy to clear the vent. Fun times.

I can't stand another day of this smell, I spent the early morning hours outside (taking pictures, petting the horses, and chatting with the hubs while he was digging a fence post, that's amore) and coming back into the house you can smell it again. It's much fainter of a smell, with the two vents covered, but you can still smell it.

The vents are grated, so I am curious as to how something got in there. The vent grating is only about 1/2 ", so I don't see how anything very big could fit through. I guess if there is a hole in the duct somewhere it's better to know now, than to have the heating bill explode.

Damn critters.

[Sniper-T]

Have you checked the inlet for the furnace? That would seem a likely place to get inside

[4suchatimeasthis]

We have a heat pump. I looked around it last night with a flashlight, but to be honest, I don't know that I did a fantastic job. They are out there now....please, Lord, let them find the damn thing!

See, in my mind this is just one more reason to have a little cabin with a wood stove - no vents or ducts, no dead critters in them! See my avatar, thats the cabin I was raised in - cement floors, no indoor plumbing, big wood stove that kept the whole cabin so warm you had to open the doors once that baby got going, even in the dead of winter, in northern Wisconsin.

Damn critters.

[Sniper-T]

Somewhere on here is the story of the raccoons in my attic!

I feel for ya baby! That's nasty!

[4suchatimeasthis]

What a day! Actually, so far this month has completely sucked, but that's a saga for another day.

Hubby and his friend searched the vents again, till hubby had to leave. The smell is not bad under the house, the smell is only bad in two vents, which are close and on the same duct underneath. But they opened up the ducts and discovered.....nothing. The checked the entire house, all the ducts, nothing. Clean and clear. So, the friend went out to start working on some sliding doors for the shed, and I decided, wth, may as well wipe the vent down, maybe it will help with the smell. I reached down to wipe and a piece of the aluminum tape completely crumbled. A shot of horrible smell came up. And what do you know, there is about a 2" space between the vent and the duct. Some a$$hat who did the ductwork didn't line up the vent properly, to the duct, and so they overlap by about two inches, and to hide their mistake, they taped around it. But, it's not flush, it's off to the side, and you can see the insulation from under the floor. Sooo....yeah, there is a major problem here, the damn vent/duct system is not secure at all. And, we are no doubt losing heat/ac in that, besides the whole "damn critters" issue.

So hubby's friend will come back tomorrow with his big roll of alum. tape, some thin sheets of metal, and he is going to try to fix the vent, plus check all the others. In the mean time he can finish the shed doors. And I can try to clean up my kitchen. As long as the vent is covered the smell is tolerable, it's much limited. But that explains why the smell was so bad in that vent, but not all of them in the house, and not bad under the house.

Damn critters. And damn HVAC people.

[Taz Baby]

I would be on the phone calling those people back out there to correct the problem and because of them would tell them to find that critter and get it out of there.

[Sniper-T]

So the Gaps in the venting may explain where they got in... but it doesn't explain where they are now!

Can you angle a mirror down near the bottom, and then shine a light on it? That should light up the entire straight away. or put the light down first and then use the mirrow to peek around!

[4suchatimeasthis]

I sincerely wish it worked that way, Taz. But I have no idea who did the work, we bought this place "as is" and it had been vacant for a few years, a foreclosure. Other than cosmetic stuff, and just neglected stuff, the house has been a really good deal. We got the house and land for just 10k over half of its value.

So, we have to deal with this one ourselves. Oy vey.

At least we figured it out now. I keep telling myself it's better now vs. two months ago in the scorching heat, or two months from now when its colder. Still, small consolation.

[Taz Baby]

I mustof read that wrong cause I took it as you just had the work done and that is what they left for ya. But yea better to find it out now and correct it. But then again if winter gets it it might just freeze it and not stink, :o. That is until you turn the heat on.

[4suchatimeasthis]

Friggin' A.

They opened up the plastic and moved around the insulation by both vents. You guessed it, nada. Not a damn thing. They did remark on an abundance of flies down there, but no critter. In fact, the smell isn't nearly as bad under the house as in the house. I don't know what to think, or do. So I called the professionals. Expecting a call back to see when a guy can come out and at least do a free inspection/free estimate.

Last night before we went to bed we closed up all the vents, and left the two kitchen ones covered. This morning when I opened the bedroom door to go to the rest of the house, the smell was so damn bad I was gagging before I could get to the front door. Baby in my arms and everything, I ran out onto the porch, fighting to keep from puking. Opened up the doors, the guys opened up the door to the crawl space under the house, and that helped it air out a little. Then they wanted me to open the worst vent of all, and tap down inside of it with a yardstick, so they could be sure to find it underneath. OMFG, I sprayed a rag with 10% bleach /water and held it up by my nose, and I could still smell it.

I am so frickin' irritated! Where is Dale Gribble when you need him?!

[Sniper-T]

It is strange that it smells so bad in the house, but not under. Have you checked the kitchen cupboards around the vents? If you turn the fan on, does it smell from the other vents too?

[Echo2]

I'm sure you have checked the fresh air intake for a dead critter.

No word from the pros?

[carolinasurvivalist]

Yikes! Good luck with the pros, hopefully its a "seen this a hundred times" thing.

[Willie51]

Where is the air handler unit located? Animals go in the return and supply plenums and die sometimes. Also, squirrels and large rats get in between the floor joists and then die. I had that happen once around my chimney. The squirrel got in from outside and got stuck insdie the wall between the studs. I could hear it crawling around. When it stopped, I thought it had got out, but then a week later it stunk up the entire den until I could not take it any longer. I had to tear the wall out to get it. Keep that in mind when looking. Also, many HVAC & duct cleaning companies can take care of it if the animal is in the ductwork. Most also will have borescopes and robotic cameras to see inside the ducting.

[4suchatimeasthis]

What a fiasco. I talked to the exterminator, he said a few things that surprised me, 1) that in his opinion dead mice stink worse than any other animal, including "possums", and that they have a very "big stink" for such a small animal. Great. 2) even something as small as a dead mouse will bring on the blow flies, also known as bottlenecks 3) for as long as it has been stinking already, and for the amount of time we have had those type flies (since Saturday), he says it's been dead probably close to a week, and should stop stinking within the next 1-3 days all on its own, because by then the maggots will have stripped the skeleton. Yummy. And, he said he could come out but it would be over $500 before it was all said and done.

Damn.

So, for $500, hubby thinks he could "look again", ya know, real thorough. In the mean time, I have placed some charcoal briquettes in the vents, and that seems to help. I also poured some unused coffee grounds into a few filters, stapled along the edges, and made little satchels, I guess coffee grounds absorb smells too. Tomorrow a guy is coming to check all the vents and line them up to the duct. Good Lord. At least it should help my energy bills.

And, for fun, today I got a $871 property tax bill, because apparently the mortgage company escrowed the taxes only on one of the parcels of land, and not the other. What the hell am I paying a mortgage for, with the insurance and taxes still escrowed in, if they are not friggin' getting paid? Seriously? Awesome. Morons. I would kill for a bottle of Grey Goose.

[Willie51]

The charcoal was good and also consider baking soda in socks or something equal. Be careful and don't put harsh chemicals in your ductwork. Remember your HVAC system is a giant central air cleaner when working and you all will be breathing anything you put in there. Pinesol and Lysol ... not good. It kills things, and atomized it can get in your lungs. Your exterminator is right too, the smell will eventually go away.

Now as far as your other woes, it must be in the air and consider this and maybe we can all feel better. I am on a trip in south Florida pulling a trailer and my engine just started knocking while in West Palm. Now, I take great care of my stuff...I'm anal, just ask Songbird. It has been out of warranty for 14K miles. Now I just put new tires on last week at Sears for $900 before we left town. So, $6000. today gets me a brand new complete engine from GM...not rebuilt or re-mfg....NEW with a 100,000 mile 3 year warranty for GM. I love my truck and it's paid for as we don't do car payments. A new Avalanche LTZ 4x4 just like it is $54,000. Do the math and I took the $6K engine. Also, we just got our tax notice and it's $4500. So, Life is Good. :cool:

[ladyhk13]

4Such at least they escrowed part of them...our co totally forgot to escrow ours at all PLUS our insurance. So needless to say I was pretty pissed when I found out but we had already closed so now we have to write a check every year.
Glad your stinky problem is winding down. You should be happy it's not in the middle of summer - the small things can mean so much :)

[msomnipotent]

For some reason, I assumed this had something to do with a skunk when I read the title.

I have had pet mice for a while, and dead ones were stinky but not to the extent you describe unless a den of them died at once in the same spot. Having one per litter die wasn't uncommon and I would only smell it after a few days, and then faintly. This was in a 10 gallon tank with a mesh top. And then once I removed the little mouse condo thing I had and the bedding, the wall of stench would hit me, but still not to the extent you describe. I have also had several dead wild mice trapped in my basement and I didn't smell them unless I was very close to them and they were pretty ripe. I don't think it is a mouse and maybe you should contact someone else.

Rabbits, on the other hand, stink to high Heaven. I bet a can of bacon that it is a dead rabbit.



I forgot to say lavender and tea tree oil will mask the smell. You might want to put a few drops of TTO in baking soda or a few springs or drops of lavender and that should help.

[4suchatimeasthis]

Thanks for all the tips!

Guess what hubby's friend found in a vent? Guess, just guess. A (empty) mouse nest. It's amazing what motivation is produced in efforts to save money, lol.

Last night on his way home my husband picked up 4 boxes of baking soda, with the side vent thingys. Then we remembered that he has some pure eucalyptus oil that we use in his super-duper water vacuum thingy. So we poured a few drops on some cloth rags and placed them here and there. I have to say, the coffee thing seemed to help, I can faintly smell coffee in most of my house. However, mixing coffee smell with eucalyptus, well, lets just say next time around I would pick up some citrus oil or something.

I can still smell the bugger, somewhat. Thank goodness the weather is temperate, I was able to leave some windows open all night, and that helped too.

And, the dear husband is on his way home from the bank, we were up till nearly 2am digging through the closing documents, but we found what he needed, and so bright and early he was off to the bank. I have to say, I vastly prefer how you are treated at a small town local bank! They helped him get it all figured out, made the call and provided the proof to the office that needed it. It's settled (I mean, it was pretty darn ironclad in the paperwork) and they will be sending a check to the county tax office today. Thank you, Lord!

I know I need to have a better attitude about things, and so in effort to do so, I am trying to find the positives, the "blessings" so to speak. Lady was right, good thing this dead critter happened now, and not a few months earlier! At least I have a home, I'm not homeless. And at least I personally didn't have to climb under there and look around (seriously claustrophobic, and terrified of spiders), hubby and his buddy were happy to do that. The mortgage thing is figured out....my family is safe, healthy, clean, fed, only mildly sleep deprived, and besides all that, we have indoor plumbing, an internet connection, and free unlimited minutes on my phone. Things could be way worse!

[Sniper-T]

Nice to see you sounding upbeat again! Now if we can just coax a smile out of you...

:)

[Echo2]

Congrats....glad to hear that things are looking up...:)

[Grumpy Old Man]

4Such, remember what the great American Philosopher, Ron White, says "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade, then find someone whose life has given them vodka!"

You are just experiencing the joys of rural living. In the 5 years I've lived out here I have fought ants, sugar ants, earwigs, slugs, snails, mice, rats, gophers (a 5 year war of attrition) and feral cats. It gives me a focus to vent my frustrations and provides an outlet for my aggression. And it's kind of fun! It is definitely worth it to be able to stay away from the cities, even if they are only 67,000 people and 6 miles away.

Now get out there and find that person whose life has given them vodka!:p

[4suchatimeasthis]

hhmm....love me some Ron White! You are right, it's really just par for the coarse and shouldn't get me worked up....can I blame hormones? I wish I was one of those "always look for the silver lining" type people, but naturally I am much more the "cynical smartass whiner" variety. Maybe someday I will grow up. I wouldn't bank on it though.