Rodent smell from under the floor

Woody_FX

Hi Guys,

Just moved in to a house that had some rodents under the floor. Pulled it up and cleaned it out and sealed the holes up with cement.

Put the floor back down but the smell (I guess of urine) is still coming through, if the room has been sealed for the day, it's pretty pungent when I get home from work and enter the room.

I guess I need to pull the floor up and treat the cement and wood that is underneath.

What is the best product for dealing with these kinds of smells? Is there something that I can spray under the floor that will consume all this kind of organic foulness?

Googling around I see people mention products like Bac-a-zap and others that aren't available in Ireland.

Anybody been down this road and found a solution?

Thanks -W

Calahonda52

Semi D, D, bungalow,?,?
Don't understand what you mean by take up the floor.
Is its a ground floor suspended timer floor?
Where were the concrete holes that you filled?

have u filled up the holes in the walls that were to ventilate the floor? Hope not!

Any pics, they wont smell:)

Hotblack Desiato

You're probably smelling a dead rodent somewhere.

It does go away eventually, assuming the underfloor concrete is dry, when they become too dessicated to smell any more.

Lob a generous quantity of Storm down there just in case any more try to take up residence.

Woody_FX

Detached house.

1 foot gap between the wooden floor/joists and cement floor underneath.

I cut up sections of the wooden floor to clean up the mess on the cement underneath. The cement is where the smell of coming from.

The holes I filled were where the pipes were leaving the kitchen in to other rooms.

Smell has gotten worse over the last couple of weeks, I put that down to the heat.

Went to a hardware floor and they suggested Jeyes Fluid. But since the floor is not a clean cement floor( still some rubble and dust there from when it was built) I don't think it can solve the problem as I can't coat the floor with it nicely.

I read about a spray that has some enzymes in it (Zap-a-bak) that consumes the organic matter and removes the smell. Only seems to be available in the US though.

Calahonda52

Jeyes fluid will leave a dreadful smell which will take weeks to dissipate

What under floor vents are there to outside?

This might, probably is, be a crazy idea but if you temporarily sealed all the under floor vents bar one and fitted a small, bathroom type extract fan on the last one, sucking air out from under the floor, it would draw air from house down underneath and keep smell from getting into house

doghound

Hi,

If the smell is from a dead rodent, it will be very similar to the smell of a gas leak.
If it is a rodent, then you will notice it is stronger in one area and that will be where the culprit is. It usually takes about two weeks for the body to rot but it does depend on the situation/temperature etc. Trouble is that even after it has gone you will know it is there.
To be honest, there is no product which will remove that smell and using something stronger to try to mask it will make the situation worse.
Jeyes fluid ( no good now the phenols have been removed), bleach, air freshener, joss sticks, curry powder, peppermint oil etc etc etc.
They dont really work.
My concern would be on how the little visitors got under the floor in the first place.
Blocking holes with cement is about as much good as making someone a virgin.
Doesn't work and the next one will just go straight through.
I would not advise putting any poison under the floor and sealing it up. You will just possibly get more dead rodents and smells and you will not know how much or when it has been taken. If you use poison, please read the statutory method of use on the container.

If the smell is a musty one like stale urine, then as long as there is any moisture it will probably hang around. Many possible causes for that. For rat urine to smell for a few weeks it must be a bad problem.

Usual recommendation for a bad smell is to close the doors to that room and leave a window open. The circulation of fresh air is about the best and cheapest method.

If your rat problem recurs, then please get a professional in for a survey.

Hope this helps

doghound