Help me identify and banish this funkyfunky odor
August 24, 2013 9:37 PM Subscribe
My house smells like vomit. There is no vomit in my house. It has been driving me insane for several months now and I must. kill. the. smell.
For several months now, I have been getting whiffs of an odor in our house that I can only describe as vomit... sour, but not musty or putrid. Just sour and gross and stomach-acidy and... vomit. I have a pretty sensitive nose and for a long time thought I was imagining it, but now even my smell-impaired husband can smell it.
Some facts:
- Google tells me that maybe it is coming from mold in the AC drip pan or a clogged AC drain pipe, but we've checked both of those and they are clean/clear.
- It is not the smell of dead animal. I've smelled dead animal before and this isn't it.
- Bizarrely, I smell it most often in the bathroom when the vent fan is running, which doesn't make sense because the fan should be sucking air out. I also often smell it in the hallway where the attic hatch is, but this hallway is also right outside the bathroom so maybe that's why.
- Hardwood floors... only one rug in the house and it's definitely not that.
- It seems to come and go, but there is not a consistent time of day, week, or month that it comes or goes. And when the stink is there, it is kind of everywhere in the house.
- Our house has no basement, and though the house itself is old, basically all the "guts" (drywall, HVAC, plumbing, kitchen) are less than 2 years old.
- Oh, and unless one of the dogs managed to actually vomit behind/under something (unlikely because the house is very small, I have looked behind/under everything, and the smell isn't localized), it's not actually vomit.
I have cleaned everything I can think of... washed slipcovers, sheets, curtains, deodorized rugs, mopped floors, wiped out cabinets. I can not tell where the smell is coming from or what it is. It's just in the air. I am so embarrassed when people come over to the house.
Please help me find the smell and kill it!!!
For several months now, I have been getting whiffs of an odor in our house that I can only describe as vomit... sour, but not musty or putrid. Just sour and gross and stomach-acidy and... vomit. I have a pretty sensitive nose and for a long time thought I was imagining it, but now even my smell-impaired husband can smell it.
Some facts:
- Google tells me that maybe it is coming from mold in the AC drip pan or a clogged AC drain pipe, but we've checked both of those and they are clean/clear.
- It is not the smell of dead animal. I've smelled dead animal before and this isn't it.
- Bizarrely, I smell it most often in the bathroom when the vent fan is running, which doesn't make sense because the fan should be sucking air out. I also often smell it in the hallway where the attic hatch is, but this hallway is also right outside the bathroom so maybe that's why.
- Hardwood floors... only one rug in the house and it's definitely not that.
- It seems to come and go, but there is not a consistent time of day, week, or month that it comes or goes. And when the stink is there, it is kind of everywhere in the house.
- Our house has no basement, and though the house itself is old, basically all the "guts" (drywall, HVAC, plumbing, kitchen) are less than 2 years old.
- Oh, and unless one of the dogs managed to actually vomit behind/under something (unlikely because the house is very small, I have looked behind/under everything, and the smell isn't localized), it's not actually vomit.
I have cleaned everything I can think of... washed slipcovers, sheets, curtains, deodorized rugs, mopped floors, wiped out cabinets. I can not tell where the smell is coming from or what it is. It's just in the air. I am so embarrassed when people come over to the house.
Please help me find the smell and kill it!!!
Response by poster: Ah sorry one more important piece of info... we can't actually smell the smell in the attic or around the AC/ducts in the attic.
posted by raspberrE at 9:48 PM on August 24, 2013
posted by raspberrE at 9:48 PM on August 24, 2013
Does your bathroom have a bathtub or a shower? If it's shower only, I'd bet $100 it's the shower pan.
posted by sanka at 9:57 PM on August 24, 2013
posted by sanka at 9:57 PM on August 24, 2013
There's this funky mold that gets slightly pink that lived in our bathroom forever that would NEVER DIE.
Until one day I ripped out the sliding door attached to the tub and there was a damn fruit roll-up of mildew mold slime living under it.
Free at last.
Have you ever cleaned anything like that out of your bathroom? Could be that it's still living in there somewhere.
posted by Momorama at 10:08 PM on August 24, 2013 [2 favorites]
Until one day I ripped out the sliding door attached to the tub and there was a damn fruit roll-up of mildew mold slime living under it.
Free at last.
Have you ever cleaned anything like that out of your bathroom? Could be that it's still living in there somewhere.
posted by Momorama at 10:08 PM on August 24, 2013 [2 favorites]
I'd guess it's something in your sewers. The movement of air in the bathroom created by turning the fan on would make it more noticeable.
posted by lollusc at 10:11 PM on August 24, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by lollusc at 10:11 PM on August 24, 2013 [1 favorite]
Total long-shot, but when I had this issue, it was due to moldering cardboard boxes.
posted by samthemander at 10:23 PM on August 24, 2013
posted by samthemander at 10:23 PM on August 24, 2013
It is unlikely that your fridge is in the bathroom, but someone once had a mysterious odor. Milk had spilled in the fridge, had run into the pan under the box with the defrost water, and reeked. They looked all over for a dead mouse...
posted by Cranberry at 11:17 PM on August 24, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Cranberry at 11:17 PM on August 24, 2013 [1 favorite]
The vomit smell comes from butyric acid. Among other things, this is produced by ginkgo trees, so do you have any around your home?
basically all the "guts" (drywall, HVAC, plumbing, kitchen) are less than 2 years old.
Hmmm. Any ... ceiling tiles? In any case, this is essentially a volatile organic compound even if it isn't that one, so anything new could be doing this. Chinese drywall?
posted by dhartung at 11:43 PM on August 24, 2013
basically all the "guts" (drywall, HVAC, plumbing, kitchen) are less than 2 years old.
Hmmm. Any ... ceiling tiles? In any case, this is essentially a volatile organic compound even if it isn't that one, so anything new could be doing this. Chinese drywall?
posted by dhartung at 11:43 PM on August 24, 2013
We had a putrid fish smell whose source we couldn't find for months. Turned out to be a lightbulb with too high wattage gently melting the plastic on an old light fitting.
posted by Callicvol at 12:23 AM on August 25, 2013
posted by Callicvol at 12:23 AM on August 25, 2013
Are there any drains of any kind in the house that don't get used at all -- a shower, sink, toilet, utility sink, or a floor drain in a utility/laundry room? Every drain has a trap that holds a plug of water, and that water prevents sewer gasses from entering the house. If a drain doesn't get used periodically, the water can evaporate and leave an open path from household air to sewer. The fix is to simply pour some water into the culprit drain. I've also heard of adding a bit of oil, which floats on top of the water and slows evaporation.
posted by jon1270 at 3:23 AM on August 25, 2013 [6 favorites]
posted by jon1270 at 3:23 AM on August 25, 2013 [6 favorites]
The fan thing is a clue. I once had a mystery smell issue that would get worse with the bathroom fan on and the bathroom door closed. It turned out there was a slight leak from a crack in one of the vent pipes in the wall, which would build up in the interior wall space. Turning on the vent fan with the door closed would extract this smell from the wall into the room.
I was able to prove this by drilling a 1/4" hole in the wall. The smell definitely emerged from it. In your case it may be the shower or tub pan, as others have mentioned. Consider making a small hole before tearing things out.
posted by fake at 4:45 AM on August 25, 2013
I was able to prove this by drilling a 1/4" hole in the wall. The smell definitely emerged from it. In your case it may be the shower or tub pan, as others have mentioned. Consider making a small hole before tearing things out.
posted by fake at 4:45 AM on August 25, 2013
Your fan doesn't just pull air out the bathroom. It pulls air in to replace what it is pulling out. Burn something smokey low in your bathroom so you can see where the air is drawing from and look there for your stink.
posted by srboisvert at 5:12 AM on August 25, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by srboisvert at 5:12 AM on August 25, 2013 [1 favorite]
Gross smells can sometimes indicate a sinus infection. I kept smelling a gross barfy-foot smell for months, not sure what was causing it. The smell was coming from inside the nose!
This doesn't sound like that, especially if you can figure out where it smells strongest and other people can smell it, but I'm throwing it out there in case there's a possibility.
posted by Metroid Baby at 7:25 AM on August 25, 2013 [4 favorites]
This doesn't sound like that, especially if you can figure out where it smells strongest and other people can smell it, but I'm throwing it out there in case there's a possibility.
posted by Metroid Baby at 7:25 AM on August 25, 2013 [4 favorites]
It is your sewars! I know this smell!!
A few times in old apartment buildings, the main line out to the street gets backed up and water + food scraps comes up into the tub and sink. Yes, it ALWAYS smells EXACTLY like vomit!
You might need to hydro jet the main lines, or like jon1270 suggested, throw water down an unused drain.
As a first move if it is not as simple as what jon1270 suggested, call a trusted plumber.
It's your sewars.
Good luck!
posted by jbenben at 7:39 AM on August 25, 2013 [1 favorite]
A few times in old apartment buildings, the main line out to the street gets backed up and water + food scraps comes up into the tub and sink. Yes, it ALWAYS smells EXACTLY like vomit!
You might need to hydro jet the main lines, or like jon1270 suggested, throw water down an unused drain.
As a first move if it is not as simple as what jon1270 suggested, call a trusted plumber.
It's your sewars.
Good luck!
posted by jbenben at 7:39 AM on August 25, 2013 [1 favorite]
Some plastics have this smell as they decompose. I'd check the bathroom fan - get a ladder, remove the cover, and give it a serious sniff test.
posted by theora55 at 8:15 AM on August 25, 2013
posted by theora55 at 8:15 AM on August 25, 2013
I think fake and jbenben are right-- it's a sewer smell coming from some defect in your sewer vent pipe.
There's an easier (and more general) way to test this than drilling a hole in your wall. First, pour a bucket of water through your toilet; this will result in a small pool of water remaining in the toilet. Then use a plunger to force out the rest.
This will allow air from the sewer which is normally blocked by the water to come up into the bathroom through the toilet, and if it has the smell, you'll know it's the sewer.
Then investigate your sewer vent system for (air) leaks and blockages.
posted by jamjam at 9:47 AM on August 25, 2013
There's an easier (and more general) way to test this than drilling a hole in your wall. First, pour a bucket of water through your toilet; this will result in a small pool of water remaining in the toilet. Then use a plunger to force out the rest.
This will allow air from the sewer which is normally blocked by the water to come up into the bathroom through the toilet, and if it has the smell, you'll know it's the sewer.
Then investigate your sewer vent system for (air) leaks and blockages.
posted by jamjam at 9:47 AM on August 25, 2013
Can you access your roof safely? You might want to check your rooftop soil stack vent. A blocked vent can cause all kinds of jacked up smells to back up from the sewer into the house.
posted by deadmessenger at 9:54 AM on August 25, 2013
posted by deadmessenger at 9:54 AM on August 25, 2013
Thirding the idea of looking around for decomposing urea-formaldehyde electrical fittings.
posted by flabdablet at 10:32 AM on August 25, 2013
posted by flabdablet at 10:32 AM on August 25, 2013
Response by poster: Ok, lots of possibilities here. Thanks for ideas! I have some further questions...
dartung - How would I know if my drywall is Chinese or not?
theora55 - Will it smell even when the fan isn't warm/running if this is the case? This seems like a possibility because we replaced the fan not long ago and the smell appeared sometime after the new fan.
jamjam- and everyone else who suggested sewers... this seems so likely, but I am little confused by your explanation of how to tell. First of all, we definitely don't have any unused drains. There is only one bathroom, and no floor drains anywhere, and we use every fixture every day. What do you mean by "pour a bucket of water through your toilet?" Just dump a bucket in the toilet bowl? And how does one check for / fix an air leak in the sewer vents?
deadmessenger - What does a "soil stack vent" look like on the roof?
I don't think electrical fitting are the issue because all the wiring and light fixtures are also less than 2 years old (the house was a total gut and redo). We have had the pink mold that momorama mentions but we don't have a shower pan or sliding doors for it to be hiding in... and I sniffed around all the walls and floors in the bathroom this morning and don't smell anything.
Sorry for all the followup questions... we are pretty new homeowners and don't know much about plumbing, etc. Also don't have tons of cash right now to hire a plumber until we are more sure that that is actually the problem. Thanks in advance for your advice!
posted by raspberrE at 11:36 AM on August 25, 2013
dartung - How would I know if my drywall is Chinese or not?
theora55 - Will it smell even when the fan isn't warm/running if this is the case? This seems like a possibility because we replaced the fan not long ago and the smell appeared sometime after the new fan.
jamjam- and everyone else who suggested sewers... this seems so likely, but I am little confused by your explanation of how to tell. First of all, we definitely don't have any unused drains. There is only one bathroom, and no floor drains anywhere, and we use every fixture every day. What do you mean by "pour a bucket of water through your toilet?" Just dump a bucket in the toilet bowl? And how does one check for / fix an air leak in the sewer vents?
deadmessenger - What does a "soil stack vent" look like on the roof?
I don't think electrical fitting are the issue because all the wiring and light fixtures are also less than 2 years old (the house was a total gut and redo). We have had the pink mold that momorama mentions but we don't have a shower pan or sliding doors for it to be hiding in... and I sniffed around all the walls and floors in the bathroom this morning and don't smell anything.
Sorry for all the followup questions... we are pretty new homeowners and don't know much about plumbing, etc. Also don't have tons of cash right now to hire a plumber until we are more sure that that is actually the problem. Thanks in advance for your advice!
posted by raspberrE at 11:36 AM on August 25, 2013
By pour a bucket of water through your toilet, I mean fill a bucket with about three gallons of water and pour that into the bowl of your toilet as rapidly as you can without causing it to over flow. After you've finisned pouring, the water will go down just as if you'd flushed the toilet in the usual way, but it won't fill back up, and there will be only a small amount of water left in the bowl. Use a plunger to pump that small amount down, and an airway from the sewer up through the toilet into the bathroom will be opened up, and if the odor is coming from the sewer... well, you won't be left in any doubt.
The soil stack is the pipe all the vent pipes from the various drains (including the toilet) connect to and which then continues up to pierce the roof and vent to the outside. I believe it's most often above the bathroom. I've heard of cases where it just vents into the attic without piercing the roof, but if they exist at all, they must be uncommon.
posted by jamjam at 1:27 PM on August 25, 2013
The soil stack is the pipe all the vent pipes from the various drains (including the toilet) connect to and which then continues up to pierce the roof and vent to the outside. I believe it's most often above the bathroom. I've heard of cases where it just vents into the attic without piercing the roof, but if they exist at all, they must be uncommon.
posted by jamjam at 1:27 PM on August 25, 2013
As a less intense option, at the coffee shop where I worked for some time, I would often smell a disgusting vomit scent in the air after someone mopped with the wrong cleaner. We had two types of chemical cleaner, one that was for cleaning the coffee oils off the grinders, bins, urns and espresso machines, and one that was labelled 'floor cleaner'. I'm not sure what was in each one, but I know that if someone used the coffee cleaner in the mop bucket and then dunked the mop head (which was changed once a day but might have been used with just hot water all morning to clear up spills of milk and coffee) as they mopped a repulsive scent of vomit would rise and we'd have to let everything dry and then re-mop. I assume it was the interaction of an ingredient in the cleaner with the milk residue or oils from the coffee. Perhaps you might want to try changing the cleaner you use in your bathroom?
posted by DSime at 4:23 PM on August 25, 2013
posted by DSime at 4:23 PM on August 25, 2013
Dsime has a good point about the cleaners, and Imma going to go ahead and disagree with jamjam about the toilet test, because we are talking about two TOTALLY separate sets of pipes.
The only two situations where I have encountered "vomit smell" are when the grease traps in the sink drains of a restaurant have not been cleaned, or during apartment building maintenance duties, when sink and tub drains (always on the same line) back up because of a clog leading towards the main line to the street sewar.
As in, the vomit smell is decomposing food stuffs and other organics that are not human waste, or maybe mixed with human waste, but I never ever saw human waste in one of these sink/tub back-ups - and I've seen quite a few.
Call a trusted plumber. Or google. I know of no way to test the traps, but I imagine google can help.
posted by jbenben at 9:10 PM on August 25, 2013
The only two situations where I have encountered "vomit smell" are when the grease traps in the sink drains of a restaurant have not been cleaned, or during apartment building maintenance duties, when sink and tub drains (always on the same line) back up because of a clog leading towards the main line to the street sewar.
As in, the vomit smell is decomposing food stuffs and other organics that are not human waste, or maybe mixed with human waste, but I never ever saw human waste in one of these sink/tub back-ups - and I've seen quite a few.
Call a trusted plumber. Or google. I know of no way to test the traps, but I imagine google can help.
posted by jbenben at 9:10 PM on August 25, 2013
As in, the vomit smell is decomposing food stuffs and other organics that are not human waste, or maybe mixed with human waste, but I never ever saw human waste in one of these sink/tub back-ups - and I've seen quite a few.
Keep in mind that all drains connect to the vent pipe and don't forget about garbage disposals. The toilet is just the easiest drain to make an air path through to the sewer for the sake of a test of the smell.
posted by jamjam at 10:38 PM on August 25, 2013
Keep in mind that all drains connect to the vent pipe and don't forget about garbage disposals. The toilet is just the easiest drain to make an air path through to the sewer for the sake of a test of the smell.
posted by jamjam at 10:38 PM on August 25, 2013
Imma going to go ahead and disagree with jamjam about the toilet test, because we are talking about two TOTALLY separate sets of pipes.
I don't think the toilet test is necessary either, but they're not separate sets of pipes. Tubs, sinks and toilets all drain to the same sanitary sewers. The only drains that might not are basement floor drains, which could just go to a sump crock.
posted by jon1270 at 7:33 AM on August 26, 2013
I don't think the toilet test is necessary either, but they're not separate sets of pipes. Tubs, sinks and toilets all drain to the same sanitary sewers. The only drains that might not are basement floor drains, which could just go to a sump crock.
posted by jon1270 at 7:33 AM on August 26, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by oceanjesse at 9:44 PM on August 24, 2013