Pier & beam question... (house, crawl space, to buy)

[dgabbies]

We have a funky smell in two closets, sorta like earthy smell or damp and also in one lower kitchen cabinet that is on an outside wall but all share a wall with a bathroom. We didn’t notice when we toured Oct 2020 but then it was love at first site (we’re from area but this is 1st p&b house).

We’re located in mid-cities, not in a flood zone, former owner had 16 yrs (built in 1952) remodeled, pvc plumbing, etc. Crawl space was filled with dirt on a 1/3 of one side so we had it excavated, replaced 17’ of a main beam that was warped and had house leveled. Over course of 3 months hubs has been under house, a plumber and a mold company. Everyone says it looks good, no evidence of water damage or dampness.l and area is dry. We put a fan and humidity gage to help keep it dry just in case.. but we cannot locate source of smell or get rid of it.

Any suggestions or remedies?

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by dgabbies

We have a funky smell in two closets, sorta like earthy smell or damp and also in one lower kitchen cabinet that is on an outside wall but all share a wall with a bathroom. We didn’t notice when we toured Oct 2020 but then it was love at first site (we’re from area but this is 1st p&b house).

We’re located in mid-cities, not in a flood zone, former owner had 16 yrs (built in 1952) remodeled, pvc plumbing, etc. Crawl space was filled with dirt on a 1/3 of one side so we had it excavated, replaced 17’ of a main beam that was warped and had house leveled. Over course of 3 months hubs has been under house, a plumber and a mold company. Everyone says it looks good, no evidence of water damage or dampness.l and area is dry. We put a fan and humidity gage to help keep it dry just in case.. but we cannot locate source of smell or get rid of it.

Any suggestions or remedies?

Preamble you did the right thing clearing your crawlspace.

I'd try the easy first. This assumes past unwanted water is the culprit.

A. This may or may not make sense you be the judge. I'd set fans blowing into each area that smells AND turn the AC on - set it to about 65. This may seem counter intuitive but by doing this your AC may be able to dry the areas of any aromas and water vapor. At 65 the indoor relative humidity will be in the low 40% range which is what you want.


2. Run to Costco and buy 1, 2 or 3 of those 12.5 pound bags of baking soda, I may have the weight wrong.
Fill two or three cookie sheets partially with baking soda and place in areas that smell......the more surface area the better.
FWIIW my wife and I keep a boat in Florida and use the baking soda bag trick to great effect.

In this context baking soda does two things very well.
A). It'll absorb the stench rather nicely.
B). It"ll absorb water vapor out of the air very well.
C). Baking soda does B so well you may have to swap it out with new baking soda fairly often.
D). You could also buy a bag of play sand at Home Depot. Put some of the sand in big pot and, "cook" the sand at ~275F for three or four hours.....when cooled set the pots in wet areas and let the then very dry sand attract lots of water. But the sand will not absorb odors.

d. Grab a flashlight and look in the attic above and below if your can looking for water, wet, wood, black or slick looking wood, damp dirt below. I there is nothing obvious you'll need to snoop around.

Things I'd look for:
1. A bad toilet wax gasket.
2. A leaking shower - could be the drain/could be water wiring through bad tile work etc.

If it were me I'd do A, 2 and d and also consider blowing more CFM from under your house. It can take a long time to dry out under a house. More air is nearly always better.

[dgabbies]

Thank you! These are all great suggestions to try. Getting baking soda today. I do have damp x containers in spaces but little water has collected. Maybe baked sand will do the trick. Thanks again!

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by dgabbies

Thank you! These are all great suggestions to try. Getting baking soda today. I do have damp x containers in spaces but little water has collected. Maybe baked sand will do the trick. Thanks again!

If you are going to buy baking soda skip the sand. Baking soda absorbs more water and faster.

And to be clear the AC and fans will do most of the drying. The baking soda will absorb more water and really help with the smell.

_______

The best easy to get/use chemical desiccant is calcium chloride but it's relatively pricy and must be used carefully. Pool supply stores always have it on hand - to increase water hardness.

If you happen to have a pool and use a DE filter.........DE is a better desiccant than baking soda and could then be reused in your pool filter. DE dust is very dangerous tho. so no fans when using DE.

[turf3]

OP, I think you ought to revisit this statement

”...all share a wall with a bathroom...”

I would guess you've got old water damage smells up above the crawl space.

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by turf3

OP, I think you ought to revisit this statement

”...all share a wall with a bathroom...”

I would guess you've got old water damage smells up above the crawl space.

I agree.

You may have to pull some sheetrock off to see what is going on behind there. Could also be rot in the subfloor between the bathroom and closet as well.

[KathrynAragon]

Your shower pan may be leaking. If so, it MUST be fixed. It will only get worse.

[tcualum]

In a previous home, the valve that controls the flow of water to and from the showerhead failed and thus was constantly leaking water into the wall. We finally learned about it when we saw black mold on the wall behind the shower pipes. We ended up having to rip apart the shower and do expensive mold remediation. You need to make sure the musty smell isn't caused by mold. By the way, bleach doesn't kill all mold.

[Rakin]

Make sure the little vent windows in the slab wall are open to the outside for circulation. Many people close them in the winter and they should not be. Make sure shrubs don't block the air flow also.