Bad Smell

1922

Apologies if this is in the wrong section, but badly need help and no one seems to be able to help. A few weeks ago we got an awful pungent smell in our living room, and son's room which is directly above. In the living room it is coming from a tiny hole where the internet wire comes in from outside. In his room, directly above it's from behind the skirting. I plugged it all up and the smell seemed to disappear. Now tonight, in the space of a few houra it's back with a bang.

I did ring rentokill a few weeks back but they never returned my call. The smell, is like a very very strong garlic smell, but stronger and more stomach turning. I suspect a dead animal. The house was built in 2010 and only having this issue the last month...

Any help appreciated...

Payton

Did you have a rodent issue?
Is there a radiator leaking or rain getting in somewhere?...maybe remove the skirting board and see if there is anything behind it.

1922

I didn't think i had a rodent issue, but now not so sure. I checked the rads etc and seem fine, and funny enough i had to take the skirting away a few weeks back for sliderobes and didn't have them back on properly so knew the smell was wafting through. I have plugged it up well with expanding foam in the bedroom and the smell isn't there this evening. Just came back into the living room at 5ish today

Odelay

1922 wrote: »

Apologies if this is in the wrong section, but badly need help and no one seems to be able to help. A few weeks ago we got an awful pungent smell in our living room, and son's room which is directly above. In the living room it is coming from a tiny hole where the internet wire comes in from outside. In his room, directly above it's from behind the skirting. I plugged it all up and the smell seemed to disappear. Now tonight, in the space of a few houra it's back with a bang.

I did ring rentokill a few weeks back but they never returned my call. The smell, is like a very very strong garlic smell, but stronger and more stomach turning. I suspect a dead animal. The house was built in 2010 and only having this issue the last month...

Any help appreciated...

Strong garlic smell?? Gas??

NickNickleby

Does it coincide with turning on something electric. eg big telly at 5pm? or some other device... dishwasher etc?

(I'm thinking of a similar experience here, it was faulty wiring. I'll post more detail if you want)

1922

NickNickleby wrote: »

Does it coincide with turning on something electric. eg big telly at 5pm? or some other device... dishwasher etc?

(I'm thinking of a similar experience here, it was faulty wiring. I'll post more detail if you want)

No, not at all. The smell is definately coming from inside the wall and there was no tv or any other item plugged in at the time

NickNickleby

Well, if its any consolation, a rotten smell from electrics is caused by serious overheating of the wiring or (as in my case) socket, Plug, light bulb holder. (it happened twice over the years). Edit : the consolation is that you seem happy enough that that's not the case here.

My neighbour poisoned a family of rats under his floor and the smell was nauseating for weeks. But eventually it went away.

My mother experienced a sewage type smell in her hall for ages. Could never pinpoint the source. One thing that helped was to ensure the small manhole cover outside the gable wall was not covered by sand/dirt, as the slight air leakage was enough to prevent siphoning of the downstairs loo. Always suspected this was the real culprit, but not living there myself, it was hard to be definitive.

If your house is like hers, which is about 15 years old, then there may be an airgap behind the plaster board from floor to roof, so any unsealed areas will let air and presumably smells enter the house. Is there a toilet pipe going through that wall anywhere? Check that for leaking of water or air into the fabric of the house.

after that, I'm all out of ideas I'm afraid.

THe only one that would worry me is the suggestion above that gas may be involved. If you have a gas supply in the house, call out the Bord Gais people and let them check. It only takes a minute. I suspect if they did find gas in the house, they'd disconnect your supply and tell you to find and fix the leak (by a qualifier person of course) before they would reconnect.

Good luck, and most likely it'll turn out to be just a nuisance smell from outside.

listermint

Discriptively sounds like a dead rat. Big or small they have that smell when dead. Can last two months

darragh o meara

1922 wrote: »

Apologies if this is in the wrong section, but badly need help and no one seems to be able to help. A few weeks ago we got an awful pungent smell in our living room, and son's room which is directly above. In the living room it is coming from a tiny hole where the internet wire comes in from outside. In his room, directly above it's from behind the skirting. I plugged it all up and the smell seemed to disappear. Now tonight, in the space of a few houra it's back with a bang.

I did ring rentokill a few weeks back but they never returned my call. The smell, is like a very very strong garlic smell, but stronger and more stomach turning. I suspect a dead animal. The house was built in 2010 and only having this issue the last month...

Any help appreciated...

Just by chance I came on this thread. We have the same thing here which comes and goes from time to time and is driving me mad. I’m thinking if it was a dead rodent that the smell would be constant and not intermittent.

Hopefully someone will have an idea what’s going on.

mikeymouse

Valspar paint?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-40655163
but that smells of cat's wee. So maybe not

sidcon

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2107376/Hundreds-Glendale-residents-911-garlic-smell-blankets-Arizona-town.html

Have you any gas on site

dok_golf

1922 wrote: »

Apologies if this is in the wrong section, but badly need help and no one seems to be able to help. A few weeks ago we got an awful pungent smell in our living room, and son's room which is directly above. In the living room it is coming from a tiny hole where the internet wire comes in from outside. In his room, directly above it's from behind the skirting. I plugged it all up and the smell seemed to disappear. Now tonight, in the space of a few houra it's back with a bang.

I did ring rentokill a few weeks back but they never returned my call. The smell, is like a very very strong garlic smell, but stronger and more stomach turning. I suspect a dead animal. The house was built in 2010 and only having this issue the last month...

Any help appreciated...

O wonder if it only happens when the wind is from a particular direction?