All Forum Posts by: Craig Miller

Thanks for all of the suggestions, all are great! I will do some investigating and post what I find.

The rehab was completed just over a year ago. After the smell of fresh paint wore off (a month or so) the rotten garbage smell prevailed and has been present ever since.

I purchased a moisture meter and checked the drywall and baseboards in several spots. I found the moisture content to be fairly low all around.

It could possibly be damp drywall that I missed somewhere.

I sealed off all areas where I believe the mice and rats were entering. This was done over a year ago.

Yes, it has a toilet and iv'e pulled it before. Looked and smelled like your typical toilet hole. Gag.

Thanks for the reply. I actually had found one dead petrified rat in a portion of the ceiling that I replaced. He was big... Probably a 1-2 pounder. Perhaps there's more where that came from?

I really don't know which direction to turn. Sounds more and more like dead rodents but there's still the possibility of sewage and or mold.

I hate to start pulling drywall until I know exactly what it is.

The smell is present in the basement apartment.

I am able to see the tub plumbing due to having an access panel. It appears to have a trap and then goes straight into the concrete below. Don't see any sort of vent. Washer, tub, toilet and all sinks drain quickly and no gurgling is heard elsewhere in the house.

Come to think of it, I don't recall seeing any vents when I had the lower portion of the drywall removed. I could be mistaken.

Is it possible that the downstairs plumbing is not vented? Perhaps it does vent into the wall somewhere, is there a way to detect this?

Most importantly, could it be septic gas even though it smells more less like rotten garbage and not necessarily the more recognizable rotten egg sewage smell?

Thanks guys. So you think the garbage/rotten smell could be mold, dead rodents or a combination of the two?

It doesn't really smell like mold although I understand what you are saying.

My basement smells - not a moldy smell but something else. I was really hoping that someone can help to point me in the right direction.

Here is the background information on the house.

I purchased it 2 years ago with water damage in the basement. Apparently, a broken water pipe, rain water coming in through the door, and perhaps a previous sewage backup introduced water into apartment and it was closed up for many months perhaps years. Luckily, the carpets were removed and it was a bare concrete floor. No dehumidifier was running and anything metal such as door hardware was rusted. Needless to say, the smell could gag a maggot.

Fast forward several months. I fixed all the water infiltration issues, removed the drywall and insulation 2' around the entire apartment, bleached the studs, dehumidified and sealed with kitlz and then put in new insulation and drywall on the lower 2 feet. Anything that had water damage or mold was removed and replaced.

While tearing out the drywall, I found about 4 or 5 mice nest in the wall cavity, all dead and starting to decompose. (perhaps from all the bleach I was spraying around?) I'm certain that I removed all the mice from the walls because all the lower drywall was removed.

After removing the vermin, I repaired all entry holes on the exterior of the house so they couldn't get back in and also set traps for any that remained in the house.

Once the lower walls were replaced, I kiltz and painted all walls and the ceiling.

I have 2 high capacity dehumidifiers that have been running at 50% for the past 2 years so the humidity levels stay low.

The awful smell in gone but now I have a lingering smell that will not go away.

It now has a faint smell best described as garbage mixed with perhaps used week old coffee grounds. Maybe a hint of rotten potatoes or vegetables. It is a very distinct smell that smells nothing like mold.

It doesn't have that rotten egg sewer smell but I believe a sewage vent pipe is still a possibility.

So what could it be? Perhaps dead mice in the above in the ceiling? Sewer gas? Previous funk that was absorbed by drywall/insulation. I'm lost and don't know where to start.

I am totally stumped on this one. Any help will be appreciated. Thanks.