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Thanks, guys, I've done a bit more investigating, and found a couple other possible sources - in one side of the room, there's a wall pipe that leads up to the ceiling and goes through it. Upon closer inspection (and the smell is really strong in this area), there's a small hole in the ceiling. I've covered it up with tissues and dryer freshner paper for now... another possible source is from the A/C unit, which I have also covered up with foil (it's from the central A/C system). The smell is still somewhat persisent, though. I'm thinking of investing in an air purifier, although I'm not sure if it would do any good. What do you think?
I'm lucky that I can do a sublease (finding someone else who would want to live here, and have them take over my lease, relieving me of any responsibility for the lease). This lease is obviously new, signed just roughly a month ago. My landlord said he would allow subleasing, so if nothing I do improves my situation, I'll move out.
But do you think the air purifier would help? I'm willing to buy a high quality one up to $200.
Wait-just-a-frikkin-minute. You have just found the problem to not be related to the matress or normal overall dampness, but from a hole and the AC? And you want to invest in an air purifier or sub-lease to foist the problem off on someone else? Do you always avoid confrontations at your own expense? Do you usually saddle other people with your problems?
"Hello, Landlord? This basement room stinks. Literally. There is a hole where the stink is strong, the AC smells like mold, and the place stinks in general. Fix it or I'm contacting code enforcement, filing a complaint, and breaking the lease because the place is uninhabitable. If you want to fix it, I'll have to be staying elsewhere until repairs are made. I can't stay here as it is. If you have a vacant apartment, I'm willing to use that rather than make you responsible for a motel stay as well. If that doesn't work for you, then sign-off on the lease and give me my deposit back and we both walk away from it."
Wait-just-a-frikkin-minute. You have just found the problem to not be related to the matress or normal overall dampness, but from a hole and the AC? And you want to invest in an air purifier or sub-lease to foist the problem off on someone else? Do you always avoid confrontations at your own expense? Do you usually saddle other people with your problems?
"Hello, Landlord? This basement room stinks. Literally. There is a hole where the stink is strong, the AC smells like mold, and the place stinks in general. Fix it or I'm contacting code enforcement, filing a complaint, and breaking the lease because the place is uninhabitable. If you want to fix it, I'll have to be staying elsewhere until repairs are made. I can't stay here as it is. If you have a vacant apartment, I'm willing to use that rather than make you responsible for a motel stay as well. If that doesn't work for you, then sign-off on the lease and give me my deposit back and we both walk away from it."
Wait-just-a-frikkin-minute. You have just found the problem to not be related to the matress or normal overall dampness, but from a hole and the AC? And you want to invest in an air purifier or sub-lease to foist the problem off on someone else? Do you always avoid confrontations at your own expense? Do you usually saddle other people with your problems?
"Hello, Landlord? This basement room stinks. Literally. There is a hole where the stink is strong, the AC smells like mold, and the place stinks in general. Fix it or I'm contacting code enforcement, filing a complaint, and breaking the lease because the place is uninhabitable. If you want to fix it, I'll have to be staying elsewhere until repairs are made. I can't stay here as it is. If you have a vacant apartment, I'm willing to use that rather than make you responsible for a motel stay as well. If that doesn't work for you, then sign-off on the lease and give me my deposit back and we both walk away from it."
I really don't understand what you're trying to say here. The OP's health is the first consideration. I think whatever is best for his health is what he should do, whether it's moving out (the best option I think), staying somewhere else until the problem is fixed, or investing in an air purifier. If there is a hole in the ceiling or the a/c has an issue, these problems need to be fixed in order to make the place inhabitable without being a health risk.
I really don't understand what you're trying to say here. The OP's health is the first consideration. I think whatever is best for his health is what he should do, whether it's moving out (the best option I think), staying somewhere else until the problem is fixed, or investing in an air purifier. If there is a hole in the ceiling or the a/c has an issue, these problems need to be fixed in order to make the place inhabitable without being a health risk.
I don't understand what you don't understand. That is precisely what I was suggesting (except the air purifier, which is likely a band-aid solution). The odor is the landlord's problem. It needs to be laid in that lap. The reality of life is that the landlord might not give a darn, might not want to fix, might make life miserable. In such a case, it is simpler to tear up the lease. The only way to do that without continuing financial responsibility is to make the landlord understand that the cheapest way out is for him to sign off on a release of the lease, return the deposit, and not try to pursue collection. Otherwise, the O.P. leaves and is hounded by collections agencies for the next few years. Tossing something like a signed lease to collections is easy money.
I don't understand what you don't understand. That is precisely what I was suggesting (except the air purifier, which is likely a band-aid solution). The odor is the landlord's problem. It needs to be laid in that lap. The reality of life is that the landlord might not give a darn, might not want to fix, might make life miserable. In such a case, it is simpler to tear up the lease. The only way to do that without continuing financial responsibility is to make the landlord understand that the cheapest way out is for him to sign off on a release of the lease, return the deposit, and not try to pursue collection. Otherwise, the O.P. leaves and is hounded by collections agencies for the next few years. Tossing something like a signed lease to collections is easy money.
I agree. Who knows if the basement apartment is even legal?
The way it sounds is that something is leaking or not working correctly or that the so called "hole" is damaged. Either way the hole should be sealed.
One wonders if it's sewage. Sounds like there are 2 possible places that have issues
Just a quick update - I bought a high-quality (hopefully, it was $190!) air purifier from Best Buy with a real HEPA-filter. Let's see what happens - I plugged it in 30 minutes ago and it's on high now.
Andrew
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That is precisely what I was suggesting (except the air purifier, which is likely a band-aid solution). The odor is the landlord's problem. It needs to be laid in that lap. The reality of life is that the landlord might not give a darn, might not want to fix, might make life miserable. In such a case, it is simpler to tear up the lease. The only way to do that without continuing financial responsibility is to make the landlord understand that the cheapest way out is for him to sign off on a release of the lease, return the deposit, and not try to pursue collection. Otherwise, the O.P. leaves and is hounded by collections agencies for the next few years. Tossing something like a signed lease to collections is easy money.
