How do I get rid of this stench in our new place?

Question

We just recently moved into an old farm house. When we first walked in, it smelled horrible of a musty wood stove. It seemed that anyone who has ever lived there NEVER cleaned it! We've been in and stripped wall paper painted a few rooms CLEANED EVERYTHING! and you can still catch that smell in all of the rooms. How can I get rid of it?

Answer 1

Is this house raised off of the ground? There might be something dead under neath.

Burn candles, it does help get odors out of the air.

If it has wood floors, sweep baking soda into the wood and see if that will help it at all. In a few days you can vacuum it up.

Bowls of vinegar in each room, clean the walls and windows with vinegar (white) in the water. That should help.

Keep working on it, the longer it was there means it will take longer to get rid of it. Getting every inch of the house clean will make a lot of the difference.

Do you have central heat and air? It could be in the vent system. The vent systems can be cleaned.

Good Luck.

Answer 2

actually it brings back fond memories of when i was a boy and the first time i played doctor... but ah, go to your local hippy store, for lack of a better word, and you can get an oderless spray that will consume all musty wood stove smells, or any kind of old smoke smell that has penetrated all the rooms. really, i am not joking.

Answer 3

get a bottle of ps disinfecting foam(sell it at chain food stores),,a clean 8 or 10oz empty beverage bottle ,a plastic spray stem,,,,,a portavac from home depot that has a blowing attatchment,and a thin nozzle concentrator,,,,,(they sold a bullet shaped vac for 40 bucks a few years back,,,you might find one in a thrift shop),,,,,,,remove the inside filter so machine throws the maximum volume of air.fill bottle 3/4 full with tap water,squirt ps foam into bottle,turn on vac,aiming concentrator across the stem,sealing top of bottle with thumb,,,the fine spray should be swept up & down,left & right,in every room in the house,,,,,,,,the foam has a chemical that kills mold.fungus,,,,,,you might have dead critter/s in the crawl space.basement,inside the walls,,,these oughta be removed,a sunlamp from a thrift shop would help,,they sell for 3 or 5 bucks,if you can find one,,,,,,keep kids,pets away while lamps are set up,sendem out in the yard while using the chemical,,,,,,,,dont mix chemical with chlorine,,,,makes dangerous gas,,,,,,,,use vac for about 20 minutes at a stretch.,let it cool,i've used primer instead of kilz by spraying ps into primer & mixing before painting,maybe wear a mask while doing all this.home depot also sells a mold test kit,,,,,,,the mold/fungus can mess up sleep,aggravate asthma,cause scratchy sore throats. if the sale deed for the house has any warrantee or guarantee this 'problem' shoulda been disclosed in inspection.test kits cost 30 bucks per kit,place 3 or 4 throughout the house,,read instructions to settem up for accurate readings.if you bought house 'as is',the other methods above will be helpful,,don't forget to spray in the attic too,ditto on duct cleaning too,that might help

Answer 4

Did you have the furnace ducts cleaned? Cause they will stink if you dont have that done especially after having wood heat in the house.