old house smell?
We recently bought a very old wood-frame house and did some minor renovations (ripped up carpet, refinished floors, painted, etc. We had the house thoroughly inspected for mold and we found no evidence of pests of any kind. There is a smell in the main room/dining room area of the first floor that is driving…
We recently bought a very old wood-frame house and did some minor renovations (ripped up carpet, refinished floors, painted, etc. We had the house thoroughly inspected for mold and we found no evidence of pests of any kind. There is a smell in the main room/dining room area of the first floor that is driving me crazy. It smells like an old house and I can’t seem to locate the source other than this one room. The room has hardwood floors and plaster walls and a tin ceiling and has been thoroughly cleaned and newly painted. It has a built-in wood hutch that I scrubbed with a vinegar/water solution. Still, the smell. My husband does not notice it so it can’t be that strong. Any thoughts?
Do you have oil heat? We just moved into a new (for us) brownstone. I have never had oil heat before and the smell drives me nuts. I am seriously considering converting to gas but haven’t yet run all the numbers…perhaps I will poke around elsewhere on this site for that!
Definitely check all radiators.
Vacuum as much of the sut from inside the cast iron rings as you can.
Check if you have any exposed wood that is not lacquered, especially that custom piece. what is the condition of the hardwood floor? It may need to be sanded and laquered as well.
What is the condition of the walls and ceiling, are any beams exposed?
Is there a dumbwaiter or old heating grates? There may be a dead rodent at the bottom or something.
We do have old gas lines in our lighting fixtures, but I thought they were capped and shouldn’t smell. You think they could be leaking?
Otherwise, I will try the, er, sage. No, really, the sage. And I guess is that doesn’t work I will learn to like it.
This is probably not it, but pull off the summer covers on your fireplaces and see if the smell isn’t stronger up in the chimney. If there is moisture and a lot of accumulated old soot, that could give off a musty old house smell. You may want to at least rule it out. But don’t let me stop you from lighting up the, er, sage leaves.
My parents moved into an old house 15 years ago and it has always had a very woody, musty old house smell. At first it was overwhelming because it was a new smell but over time the house is lived in and you sort of get used to the smell and don’t notice it. I haven’t lived with my parents for about 10 years but I still smell the smell.
Maybe it just ever goes away.
Like the smell of library books – inherent to the character of the books or in your case the house.
Votivo makes really strong scented candles — those help too.
Or a nice wraith of stargazer lilys, they smell up the place.
If your main ghoul is to get the place to smell nice buy the spirit some under-arm deodorant.
Not that this is the source, but you should check that you do not have gas lines in your lighting fixtures which was the case for us!