What is that smell.....?

[Mochamoo]

Re: What is that smell.....?

Not having any men in my house whilst it smells bad :tinysmile_twink_t2:


FFS water softner just went ping again ...shouldnt have bloody touched it. Now I have a bad smell and a broken softener

[Main man]

Re: What is that smell.....?

Just a thought.. is there any possibility for moisture from the water softener or any other source close to the understairs cupboard leaking anywhere under the floor?

[Amethyst]

Re: What is that smell.....?

When was last time you painted under the stairs ? (ie is this first summer since?)

(long shot - lime wash exterior and interior emulsion creats an ammonia type smell in heat apparently lol)

[Mochamoo]

Re: What is that smell.....?

Just a thought.. is there any possibility for moisture from the water softener or any other source close to the understairs cupboard leaking anywhere under the floor?

It all looks dry, I cant afford the water softener people to come out, apparently it was installed in 2002 and has never had a service. So it might be the softener.

I sniffed everything and it all smells just as bad, I cant isolate it to paint or floor or softener

When was last time you painted under the stairs ? (ie is this first summer since?)

(long shot - lime wash exterior and interior emulsion creats an ammonia type smell in heat apparently lol)

Ahh I painted the whole stair well at Christmas... but only under the stairs smells? I used white dulex God only knows if that is limey lol

[Amethyst]

Re: What is that smell.....?

Okay could be the emulsion reacting in heat (muggy heat) with something like damp or plasterboard or mortar (still long shot) wipe walls down with Milton (you know babies bottle sterilising stuff) and then coat with damp proof sealant thingy stuff (I'll look what its called later have some under my sink cause i had problem in my extension hall bit.

of course might not be that at all lol


under the stairs wont be done (technical term) as well as the rest and its an enclosed space so heat and smell builds up.

Well anythings worth a try by the sounds of it

[Budgie]

Re: What is that smell.....?

My guess is that it is the water softener that needs disinfecting.

Is it a plumbed in jobby?

Does it have a mains water feed, an overflow pipe, maybe you have a mould growth problem up your overflow pipe.

Can you post up some piccys ?

[Mochamoo]

Re: What is that smell.....?

pipes - they all go into the softener..... cant actually get to them to tell you what is what (probably couldn't tell you even if I could get to them lol) The dirty pipe in the frount comes from the electric box.



inside looks clean enough


Cant take the black cover off the buttons now or all the inards fall out..whoops






Err how do I disinfect it without disinfecting my entire water supply! It is mains connected, I think, the water goes in there then through to normal house taps and whatnot

its one of these http://www.thewatersoftenercentre.co...ter%20softener

[Amethyst]

Re: What is that smell.....?

is that damp on the floor under the pipes?

[Mochamoo]

Re: What is that smell.....?

The darker brown bits of wood are still slightly damp from when I scrubbed them earlier the lighter bits are dust that I couldn't get too to scrub :o I assumed if there was a pile of dry dust then there couldnt be act pee there lol


Going to do the Milton thing just incase

[Sapphire]

Re: What is that smell.....?

Any luck, have you found it yet ?

[Happyolddog]

Re: What is that smell.....?

Do you have an air vent in the cupboard? If not why not? if so and you have cats maybe a male cat is spraying the outside of the house and the smell getting in, you wont smell the cat scent outside cos it is ventilated. I had this problem a while ago, it was easily resolved with a water pistol full of bleech, I firstly sprayed the outer wall then the tom cat.

[Mochamoo]

Re: What is that smell.....?

There is no cupboard, the space under the stairs is open I temporarily closed it up (with a big bit of mdf) when I thought it could be the cats making the smell and there is no cat pee or cat spray.

Last night I spent a couple of hours trying to work out where the water softener pipes went, I found the off valve conveniently located in the corner behind a kitchen cabinet, so after dismantling half the kitchen cabinets the water softener is now off. Not sure how to drain the softener though? It has about 6 inches of water in it?

My house now looks like a demo site and the bleedin smell is still there, and giving me a headache.

Electric doesn't smell so cant be the electric box, all the gas stuff is new and was replaced just a few months ago so not that....I've ruled out cat pee / spray through various methods the only thing left is the water softener, will remove it at the weekend and see if that makes a difference.

[Main man]

Re: What is that smell.....?

I think that if it was the water softener that was creating the smell, your water out of the tap would also smell be tainted..? also are any overflow pipes on that side of the house ok? any airbricks (sub floor level)on the outside all free from any soil or debris?

[Sapphire]

Re: What is that smell.....?

Did you find out what it was then Mocha ?

[Mochamoo]

Re: What is that smell.....?

No still stinks. might just sell the house and spray air freshener on it every time I get a viewing lol