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We have a suffocating smell in the basement of our new house. The only way I can describe it is carbide, chemical garlic, with a thimble of tear gas to get in your lungs better. I start gagging halfway down the stairs.
House inspector said likely from old, stained carpet, contractor added probably mold went through concrete and stank up the underlayment. Ripped out all the carpets, no sign of mold underneath. Contractor said probably smell of bare concrete in the unfinished part and to keep the doors closed. We put all new wood floor, kept the doors to unfinished rooms closed, ran the AC, and nothing helped. If anything, the smell intensified in the "finished" part (when I open the door to the unfinished room, it seems vaguely weaker).
Any ideas what it is, and how to get rid of it? With the smell, the whole basement is unuseable. Thanks for any suggestions!
I would hire an inspector that specializes in basements and rule out improper grading, drainage etc. Especially if you have a warranty and do it quick.
Are you familiar with the odor they add to Natural Gas so a leak is evident? It's a sulfur/rotten egg smell. Yours sounds different, but thought I'd mention it, just in case.
We had a horrendous smell in our basement which was also partially-finished (one room). Finally had to bite the bullet and just rip out the finished part and found a ton of mold. It sucked.
We had a horrendous smell in our basement which was also partially-finished (one room). Finally had to bite the bullet and just rip out the finished part and found a ton of mold. It sucked.
Thanks everyone for suggestions. This is a house built in 1999-2000, so not old enough to have the "old house" smell, in my book at least. It's a walkout basement with the front part below grade and the back, the walkout part coming out onto the backyard, which is sunken and about 30 feet away from an uphill incline (think a partial valley). Yes, there is water rushing down the backyard from the uphill in great big rains, but from what I have seen that is too far from the house, and every time I went to check during the recent outpours, there was no moisture getting under the doors or windows (all dry inside). It helps that the surrounding area is even lower down, so there doesn't seem to be standing water anywhere.
It does not smell rotten, more like some sort of an organic chemical with a really pungent, dusty/suffocating note to it. Not the typical smell of gas leak. Not like mold either, although I know there are many species of mold and I haven't been lucky enough to have befriended all of them
I can only describe it as the garlic burp of a robot, dear spouse thinks it's almost a burnt smell, but I think the burnt part comes from the pungency that instantly penetrates the airway. It literally gags you right when you open the door leading down.
Yes, we did notice some odor in the house when we looked at it, and they had plug-ins there to mask it, but frankly it smelled more like BO and dirty clothes. The house was not very clean and had a couple of cats, so I figured, seeing the carpet stains, that a good cleanup and removing the carpets would take care of it. There doesn't seem to be any smell left anywhere else in the house with the carpets and the old fixtures all gone, but the smell in the basement began to intensify, not subside, when they moved out. That also correlated with the heat, humidity and rains coming in, so this is likely something that gets worse during the h-h-h. (Then again probably all odors do.) When the AC is turned up when no one is there, the odor becomes faintly noticeable on the main level.
Is there a gizmo or service anywhere that sniffs out what causes the smell? Can anyone recommend a thorough A/C vent cleaning service so we can eliminate some sort of greasy dust buildup as a potential cause? Again thanks a lot to all for your thoughts.
Buy several huge bags of regular charcoal and open them up for a few days and see if that helps. You could use trash cans to pour them in but the charcoal needs to be where it can soak up the bad air.
Is your basement finished with drywall? I know you said it was built 1999/2000 but I wonder if the basement was finished off at the same time the house was built . . . ? Just a crazy thought, but your description of the smell is reminiscent of the reports I heard about that toxic chinese drywall that was imported, beginning in 2001, I think. I guess the timeline is wrong for it to be that drywall but I thought I should mention it - just in case.
Is your basement finished with drywall? I know you said it was built 1999/2000 but I wonder if the basement was finished off at the same time the house was built . . . ? Just a crazy thought, but your description of the smell is reminiscent of the reports I heard about that toxic chinese drywall that was imported, beginning in 2001, I think. I guess the timeline is wrong for it to be that drywall but I thought I should mention it - just in case.
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