House has an unpleasant smell

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amother

Sun, Oct 30 2022, 4:00 pm

Writing it here because it's anon enabled, I'm embarrassed.
We moved to a brand new renovated apartment a year and a half ago. I am relatively clean, I cannot pinpoint this musty smell. I have done tons of laundry and would expect the house to smell like clean laundry especially because the laundry room is right near the front door. I cleaned my sinks and drains, changed sponges, washed out the garbage cans.
I'm going crazy!
Any advice? It's a musty smell that hits you when you walk in. All the windows are wide open blowing in fresh air.
Help!

amother

Hosta

Sun, Oct 30 2022, 4:10 pm

Mask it?
https://greenleafgifts.com/
I have the sachets in peony and roses. Love the way they smell.

amother

Brickred

Sun, Oct 30 2022, 4:11 pm

Make sure you don’t have mildew

amother

Junglegreen

Sun, Oct 30 2022, 4:19 pm

I unfortunately have this and it was due to flooding. Nothing can be done to remove the smell because my landlord refuses to do the necessary works.
Might be worth to check with the previous owners so that you can perhaps remove and replace the area where it occurred.

amother

Sun, Oct 30 2022, 4:29 pm

We knocked down and renovated the whole house from scratch a year and a half ago Sad

amother

Oxfordblue

Sun, Oct 30 2022, 4:37 pm

Get an inspector in
Tell your contractor because it sounds like something got messed up.
You want to make sure you don’t have mold.
Wouldn’t mask it but would put out gel absorbing odor like fresh wave in the meantime.

Goldie613

Sun, Oct 30 2022, 4:43 pm

amother OP wrote:

Any chance it's coming from that area? Like a leak near the washing machine, or some wet laundry that got missed or fell and got caught somewhere near or under the machine?

amother

Eggshell

Sun, Oct 30 2022, 4:43 pm

Have you tried a dehumidifier
It willl absorb all the moisture in the air
If you can’t afford one you can try damprid, but really big bucket, industrial size
If you are hanging your clothes to dry that’s where it’s coming from

amother

Junglegreen

Sun, Oct 30 2022, 4:46 pm

amother OP wrote:

We knocked down and renovated the whole house from scratch a year and a half ago Sad

During the rebuild Was any area left uncovered during that time and exposed to rain?

amother

Mauve

Sun, Oct 30 2022, 4:48 pm

amother OP wrote:

Any chance there's a dead mouse in the walls? I had that one time, and nothing helped to mask the smell.

amother

Sun, Oct 30 2022, 4:50 pm

amother Mauve wrote:

Any chance there's a dead mouse in the walls? I had that one time, and nothing helped to mask the smell.

Oh gosh, I hope not! But it's more a musty smell

amother

Zinnia

Sun, Oct 30 2022, 4:58 pm

Do you have new insulation in your exterior walls?

amother

Oxfordblue

Sun, Oct 30 2022, 5:14 pm

nothing for you to be embarrassed about
call whoever did the work and he should pinpoint and fix the issue

amother

Yellow

Sun, Oct 30 2022, 5:39 pm

we have that. it feels like its coming from the air ducts. Cant afford to clean and/or replace so unfortunately its just staying that way for now. Only one side of the house for us.

amother

Broom

Sun, Oct 30 2022, 6:48 pm

Not sure where you live but when I moved in to my current apartment in Israel it really stinked and it was such a dumb thing, the workers didn't put the plastic pieces to stop the smell from coming back up both in the water exit for the laundry machine and in the tub. We made them place it in the laundry pipe, and the tub was more complicated so I always have a cover on except when we shower...

amother

Bergamot

Sun, Oct 30 2022, 7:04 pm

We had this a few months ago. Turns out it was our central AC unit leaking in the boiler room

LittleDucky

Sun, Oct 30 2022, 7:16 pm

Damp Rid!! Get them for the laundry area, bathrooms, closets.
If they dissolve you know you have excess moisture in the area.

Dont bother with off brands. I like the unscented as the scented ones are really powerful and stinky.

ChutzPAh

Sun, Oct 30 2022, 9:22 pm

Is it coming from your front loader washing machine? Those can get pretty smelly.

amother

Jetblack

Mon, Oct 31 2022, 3:31 pm

What about an old fridge that has been cleaned several times and still has a bad odor?

amother

Bronze

Mon, Oct 31 2022, 4:43 pm

amother Jetblack wrote:

What about an old fridge that has been cleaned several times and still has a bad odor?

Cleaning it with baking soda should help.

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