I have a house on slab foundation & has odor. It's from either carpet or foundation. How do I find the source?

Question

Both carpet and the concrete slab seems to be dry. The smell builds up during the day when the whether is warmer. There was no leak that I know of but the carpet was recently shampoo'ed by Sears; however, there was odor prior to the cleaning but seems worse since then. If carpet is the source, I'll remove the carpet and put hardwood floor. If foundation is the source, what could cause it and what's the remedy?

Mold test performed did not show any mold spores.

Answer 1

Your slab is made of cement and there is no reason it would have any odor of its own. The smell is either in your carpet, or under your carpet between it and the slab. I read where you had the carpet cleaned, so the carpet itself is less likely the culprit. Since you say that the smell is worse since the cleaning, it looks like you may have to pull it up anyway. Once you do that, it should be easier to find the source. I expect that something is retaining water, letting fungus & other nasty stuff develop.

I hope you are 100% sure that it is coming from the floor, and not the walls. That could be a costly mistake.

If you don't find an obvious culprit when you pull up the carpet, don't be so quick to lay down that hardwood floor. Check for cracks that might be holding moisture. Make sure the yard and space next to the house drains away from the base. And don't neglect rain gutters. If you have some missing, or clogged up, you may be getting water pooling up directly beside the slab and maybe creeping into those cracks I mentioned.

Get a good concrete fungicide on the slab before you lay down the hardwood. If the smell is fungus, it could be very unhealthy for you and yours. Again, if you dont find anything obvioius, you might consider getting an expert in to, at least, do an analysis of the odor, get it tested.

Answer 2

The best thing from experience that I can recommend is to pull a corner of the carpet and see if there is MOLD growing under it, if you see any black/green or any signs of MOLD You will need to REMOVE the carpet, it's probably caused by the damp carpet. Very common, the smell, is probably coming from it NOT drying properly. and over satuaration. If you remove the carpet and see slimmy liquid that is very TOXIC mold so use caution when removing or lifting and try not to clean it yourself without getting additional information about PROPER removal.

Answer 3

Some things like dog urine will soak right into the concrete. You may need to pull up the carpet and bleach the floors to kill the smell.

Answer 4

if you have no pets i would say you are smelling mold and milldew.
a slab is damp and acarpet is like a sponge.
you may have hydrstatick pressure helping it along
your carpet will rot and smell like somthing dead.
if you would like to know moore e mail me back.
robobob

Answer 5

how long has this been going on for?...maybe just something died that is under your house or outside, and if this has been going on for a while it will most likly be your carpet, carpets have a bad habit of hiding oders or smell that you can't just shampoo out