awful odor in basement -- help me identify?

[mafibisha]

Ok, we suddenly have an awful smell in the storage area of our basement.

Most of our basement is finished, but behind the double doors we have storage - near the furnace / ac .... and something reeks over there.

We don't have any pets down there, and the basement is bone dry. A dehumidifer runs in the summer because its humid in our area, but our house has never had anything like this.

We're thinking maybe a mouse got in somehow, and died? But we don't see anything, nor do we see any holes in the foundation.

Help please. Do we call an exterminator, even though we're not sure anything is there? Or do we call a furnace / AC person?

You all know everything so please give me your thoughts and advice.

TIA.

 

[HannaBelle]

It is possible that you have a dead mice inside your walls.

This is nasty, but I would recommend removing the light switch and electrical plug plates and sniff inside the wall. My brother and his wife had this same issue in their powder bath and thought it was a plumbing issue. The 3rd plumber suggested the dead mouse theory. Unfortunately/Fortunately, they found the decaying mice and had to cut a few holes in the walls the clean them out.

 

[rkandmjsmommy]

AGREED, Dead mice are the worst smell

 

[Tiggeroo]

I had an awful smell in my living room once. It was unbelievably bad and we couldn't find it. Finally we lifted up our sofa. Wedged under it was the tiniest dead field mouse. We tried everything but could not rid the sofa of the smell. We through out a beautiful sofa because of this. I feel for the family who picked it up out of the trash.

 

[JessicaR]

If it isn't water from a leak - that can really smell awful, it is likely something died somewhere.

 

[shortbun]

it goes away fairly quickly, the dead mouse smell.

 

[Sweettears]

Before I started cutting holes in the walls I would check the floor drain to see if its coming from their. The condensate from the A/C coil has to train somewhere and if the drain has a trap its possible that the water has dried up and smells from the sewer are leaking back in. Just pour a bucket of water down the drain and see if it helps.

 

[Debbie7452]

We've had the dead mouse smell problem before. The smell goes away before too long. Maybe you can put up with it if it's only in the basement?

 

[Sheree Bobbins]

Ours was a dead rat, perched on one of our many boxes and amid clutter in the room. That took a painstaking search to locate with all the nooks and crannies. Probably came through our dog door.

 

[nmmom95]

We had an awful smell in the laundry room once. A bird had gotten into the dryer vent. You can guess the rest.

 

[bigbabyblues]

Before I started cutting holes in the walls I would check the floor drain to see if its coming from their. The condensate from the A/C coil has to train somewhere and if the drain has a trap its possible that the water has dried up and smells from the sewer are leaking back in. Just pour a bucket of water down the drain and see if it helps.

We have to do this occasionally

 

[mafibisha]

it goes away fairly quickly, the dead mouse smell.

We've had the dead mouse smell problem before. The smell goes away before too long. Maybe you can put up with it if it's only in the basement?

Thanks ALL for your replies.

I'm thinking it's probably a mouse. We live on the woods and neighbors have seen a mouse or two, but alive.... and had an exterminator.

So does the smell really go away and how fast? But isn't it something we should find and dispose of....? ewwww

 

[Debbie7452]

Thanks ALL for your replies.

I'm thinking it's probably a mouse. We live on the woods and neighbors have seen a mouse or two, but alive.... and had an exterminator.

So does the smell really go away and how fast? But isn't it something we should find and dispose of....? ewwww

Oh, yes. You should look for it. However, if it ends up unfound or is in the walls...I can't remember how long it took to go away but it didn't seem like TOO long. Sorry, I can't be more exact.

 

[Janepod]

Dead mouse. If it is getting cold where you are, they may be coming inside.

It takes about a month for the odor to be fully gone. It helps to run a dehumidifier in the area.

Good luck. It's so gross! We've had a few over the years.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Before I started cutting holes in the walls I would check the floor drain to see if its coming from their. The condensate from the A/C coil has to train somewhere and if the drain has a trap its possible that the water has dried up and smells from the sewer are leaking back in. Just pour a bucket of water down the drain and see if it helps.

Yep & it is easy to do.

 

[3boymthr]

Since you said you don't see evidence of mice and you said the smell is near the furnace have your DH check your furnace and chimney and look for a blockage. A dead mouse in the walls can be the cause of the smell but sorry to say so could a mouse, squirrel, bird, raccoon, etc. that's stuck in the furnace. DH is an HVAC person. He sometimes finds animals in the flue pipes of people's burners. He said the worst was when he found a kitten. (the people who owned the house said they didn't own a cat.) As it gets cold they find the flue pipes and try to work their way down to the source of the heat and then the gasses and heat will kill them. They can cause a blockage and you may need to have an HVAC guy or chimney sweep come out and remove it if your DH can't reach it.

 

[sunshine1178]

Thanks ALL for your replies.

I'm thinking it's probably a mouse. We live on the woods and neighbors have seen a mouse or two, but alive.... and had an exterminator.

So does the smell really go away and how fast? But isn't it something we should find and dispose of....? ewwww

Try the drain remedy -- I just heard about it on the radio Saturday.

Ask your neighbors what their exterminator used. If he used poison, then it is likely you've got a dead something. And, expect more.

An open container of coffe grounds may help lessen the smell.

 

[Heidict]

Ours was a dead rat, perched on one of our many boxes and amid clutter in the room. That took a painstaking search to locate with all the nooks and crannies. Probably came through our dog door.

We had an awful smell in the laundry room once. A bird had gotten into the dryer vent. You can guess the rest.

If I was the OP, I would be praying it was only a dead mouse after reading these 2 replies.

We had a dead bat once in the closet of the spare bedroom. That was disgusting.

 

[HM]

I'm betting dead rodent.
We had one in the ceiling near my offices before and it was horrible. It took a while to locate it too, as the odor covered a wide area. After they found the dead one, they put in traps in case there were other live ones around (they did find one).

And recently it smelled bad in our garage and we couldn't figure it out. DH found a dead mouse in our recycling bin. Figure it smelled something good in there, jumped in, and couldn't get back out. Luckily we empty it once a week, so it wasn't there long.

 

[Janepod]

BTW this is why we only use mousetraps, not poison. With a mousetrap you have no problem finding the carcass. With poison, they could die anywhere. (And the spiel exterminators will give you about how poisoned mice will go outside in search of water is bologna.) We're in a rural area so mice in the house are a fact of life - we have one or two a year. I found a snake in the garage the other day so maybe that will keep them away. Good luck!