Mystery Smell, Please Help Me!?

Question

I moved into a basement apartment at the beginning of September. The place isn't bad, but for some reason, the room I'm renting STINKS. I can't locate the source of the odor. I thought it was my pets, (I had pet rats and a hamster) but I haven't had them in over a week. I've aired out the room and cleaned EVERYTHING, but yet it still smells bad.

I can't quite describe the smell either... I've had 3 people come in and smell it for me, no one can determine what the smell is. I'm seriously frustrated and sick of the smell. I've tried Febreeze sprays, Renuzit Air Fresheners, Arm and Hammer fresheners.. and yet after a very short while the smell returns.

My roomates are complaining, I'M Complaining, and my land lords are determined to say the smell is my pets. (Which currently don't even live here!)

How can I get rid of the smell or locate the source? I'm frustrated to the point of crying. =/ Maybe I'll go live at my school.. ugh!

Thanks for all the responses so far. As to the questions asked:

I visisted the place a few months ago, and didn't notice an odor. So it must have started over the summer sometime.

I'm 100% sure it wasn't a flood.

For more specifics: ONLY my bedroom smells, the rest of the apartment is fine. My roomates room's smell fine as well. Kitchen, Bathroom, etc. smell fine.

The previous tennant did not have pets, so that is out of the question. The smell is not of animals, I know pet smells and this isn't one. I know it wasn't my pets (they are staying at my parents house for now).

The room does have an air vent on the ceiling, but it's shared with the whole basement and doesn't smell like rot. So I don't think its a dead animal.

I'm a student in school, so finding a place was hard enough. Right now moving would be far too difficult, but then again staying in a smelly room won't do either!

I'll check the carpets and walls, under the bed, etc. I'll see if it's coming from one spot.

Answer 1

Trying to cover it up with air freshener won't work. Maybe something has died somewhere. Do you have any air ducts leading to your apartment? Could it be a damp problem somewhere you can't see? Try smelling the sinks and plug holes, drains backing up can be a foul smell. Good luck.

Answer 2

Did it stink when you first moved in??? Since it's a basement apartment, I would start to suspect that the carpet has gotten wet and you're smelling a musty odor....probably mold. Especially if you're in an area where it has rained heavily recently. Rats and hamsters can get to smell pretty bad, but I doubt that would happen in only a couple of weeks. And if you've had them for any amount of time, you should be familiar with the smell of their cage. Wipe the walls down with a solution of 1 cup of bleach in a gallon of water. The Febreze and other air freshener stuff just masks the odor for a while. If the odor is still present, then I would talk to the landlord about pulling up the carpet and replacing it. Be sure to scrub the floor with the bleach solution, and check the floor and walls for leaks and seepage from the foundation. If the landlord won't take it seriously, ask him if he'd like the health department to check it out for mold, and then have them come in.

Answer 3

It's difficult, but try to pinpoint the area where the smell is strongest. Locate the nearest wall and with a small saw or kitchen knife cut a small 2"x2" square in the drywall about 2' from the bottom. Look at the inside of the square. Is it black, brown, smell funky? It might be mold. Ventilation all the time will be the key to getting rid of the smell. Make sure a window is open always. Notify your landlord about the mold and ask for him to fix it. Also say that you heard that the health department has a program for mold and maybe they can help. Tell him you'd be happy to go to them to get help if he is not willing. Document everything in writing. Hopefully this will scare him into doing something about it. The health department will fine him if they find out there was mold in the unit, it was reported to him, and he did nothing about it.

Good luck.

Answer 4

Since it's only happening in one area, it could very well be that the ground outside needs to be re-graded so that the moisture from precipitation doesn't seep into your walls. That's a common cause of excessive basement moisture. You can see pretty easily whether this is likely by looking around the area from the outside, when it rains. Observe where the water lays or runs through most.

In many houses, during the warm half of the year, levels of moisture too small to visibly accumulate seep through the walls and floor, where they remain until they evaporate or freeze. The odor that it produces ranges from a smell like cat urine to a smell that's more like pet dander, or mold. In a finished basement, the moisture is trapped behind building materials, so even after a long dry stretch outside, the smell will remain.

Answer 5

if you are living in a basement apartment it could be several things. The pipes from up stairs run down into the sewer, there could be a leek in the pipes some where. there could be a water leek some where. is there a sub floor on top of the concrete basement floor? there could be water damage some where under the sub floor. if there is water damage it could have caused mildew, or mold which smells bad and is dangerous to your health. if there has been people who lived there before you who had pets---if they did their business in the apartment --and was not cleaned properly --the smell could still be there.
I f i was you i would start looking for a new apartment. try and save up as much money as you can and find a nicer place.

Answer 6

Your landlord is full of crap and trying to use your pets as an excuse. That smell had to be there when you checked the place out tho so did you just think it would go away? Maybe the last tenant left something somewhere and it took until now to stink. Check air vents, cabinets (inside and on top), etc. You need to tell your landlord that if he doesnt get his butt in gear and get rid of the smell you are moving out and if he wants to take you to court over breaking the lease that he'll have a tough time getting anything out of you. You cant be forced to live like that.

Answer 7

You're not particularly descriptive of the smell (and that's pretty difficult to convey in words, anyway), but when you say "basement," my immediate reaction is "mold and/or mildew."

Basements, particularly older and non-daylight ones, are notorious for moisture problems, and mold and mildew LOVE dark, damp, poorly ventilated places. Even if everything you can see is clean and dry, there may very well be moisture (and some moisture loving flora) hiding out of view. Most mold and mildew is simply annoying, but some can cause serious health problems - especially for those for whom they are allergens.

It's possible, of course, that there's something else going on, such as something dead or leaking out of sight, but given no other info, my money is on the mold and mildew thing.

If you suspect mold and mildew, you can mitigate the smell by dehumidifying the area. I have a rental house which was built in the 1920's with a damp basement. I keep a dehumidifier running in that basement year 'round, and that keeps the smells at bay.

Best of luck finding and eliminating your odor.

Answer 8

I think that maybe the smell is coming from one of those drains in the basement.

When I lived in a town house, we had a basement on the ground level , it was finished and I had a sewing room there.

There was this drain and every time someone flushed the toilet and they went #2. . . the smell rose up from the drain and it smelled very bad. I have moved since.

There could also be a dead mouse between the walls. Have it checked out.

Answer 9

well you do live in teh basement. maybe the pipes need to be cleaned out. ask teh land lord when was the las time he had a plumber come and wash out the pipes? maybe the walls are rotting maybe the landlord just recently got his lawn done and the soil is what smells. nah maybe that not. uuummm well thats all i could think of for a basement. i have never been in one so i can't actually say for sure. good luck with getting rid of the smell.
try pinesole, clean the walls and floor with it.

Answer 10

hmm, basement. Could have been flooded many times. Raw sewage can ever seep in some basements. Could also be rot in the walls. I'd check the history of your apartment - ask other tenants and neighbors to see if there has been basement flooding in the building. Also check the dirt around the apartments outside walls. If it is hard and compacted, then building is probsbly not getting good drainage which lead to rot and mold.