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?
They may have told you they were burning sage leaves italiana71 but you apparently don’t know what smells exactly the same as burning sage leaves!!!!
Ok, I can’t believe I’m going to write this but here goes. To ask a spirit to leave in a nice way, you burn sage leaves. For some reason this seems to work. My friend moved into an apt. where a murder took place and the poor young man was obviously not ready to go. So he hung around but a bit too much around for my friend and her roomates’s level of comfort. They consulted somoe sort of clairvoyant on the matter and that was the solution. And it worked.
good luck.
I don’t really believe in ghosts . . . BUT we bought the house from an elderly woman whose husband had lived in and cared for the house for 50+ years (he had been born on the block and in fact his parents had owned the house a few doors down for a few generations too – they are also gone now). He built the wood built-ins and took immense pride in the house, had a workroom in the basement where he did everything himself. I’ve heard from neighbors that keeping up this house was his main passion and he did a great job with it. The woman who sold us the house said she thought his spirit was still here but she was sure he would go with her to Florida. Maybe he will winter in Florida and be with us the rest of the time? Seems like a nice spirit, if there is such a thing, as the house has a very nice vibe to it.
Are there gaps in the floor around the radiators? Old-house smells could be coming up out of gaps in the floor there. Try plugging them.
A nice gut job does the trick…we replaced beams also!
Unfortunately, this could be the ghost of some long dead kitty-pee-a-lot. If there was an unaltered tom cat that resided there in the distant past, the remains of its scent may be ingrained in the floorboards. I have no idea how you’d get rid of it. Try Ask this Old House.
Maybe its just old house smell.
Hi there,
I recently bought an 1890 Victorian and posted about this too:
http://bstoner.wpengine.com/forum/archives/2008/10/new_victorian_s.php
Our house is a shell right now and its been airing our for 2 weeks…the smell has gone and we now know for sure that the horrid smell is coming from the kitchen addition that we are tearing off. One thing I did notice is the distinct smell coming off the old wood…this smell has not gone, and Im sure this may be what your smelling.
it could be a ghost or a spirit, especially if it’s contained to just one room. maybe a dead rodent in the walls or a corroded moldy beehive too or a moth coocoon.
-r