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Where to start troubleshooting "old house smell"
We've lived in our house since 2019. It was originally built in 1961. It's a 1 story ranch style house, with a walkout basement. There's always been an "old house smell" that we just can't pinpoint the source of. Most of the suggestions focus on moisture, and although we do have a partially unfinished basement, there's never been any sort of visible water infiltration (the yard has good drainage). Parts of the home construction seem to have more noticeable odors, like an area of drywall or baseboard. I pulled a baseboard off once and the wood had a very strong "old" smell. I thought perhaps there was something going on with pet urine or something, I did the troubleshooting with black lights, etc and couldn't find anything that pointed towards that. My latest idea is could this be coming from the attic? Perhaps it's originating up there I the insulation and the air is seeping back down through air gaps. I'm worried it's originating from the construction materials themselves (wood, drywall?) which is why I'm not able to zero in on it. It's kind of a chicken and egg thing, I don't know if the house is just absorbing the smells or the source... submitted by /u/not_a_shoemaker [link] [comments]
We've lived in our house since 2019. It was originally built in 1961. It's a 1 story ranch style house, with a walkout basement. There's always been an "old house smell" that we just can't pinpoint the source of. Most of the suggestions focus on moisture, and although we do have a partially unfinished basement, there's never been any sort of visible water infiltration (the yard has good drainage).
Parts of the home construction seem to have more noticeable odors, like an area of drywall or baseboard. I pulled a baseboard off once and the wood had a very strong "old" smell. I thought perhaps there was something going on with pet urine or something, I did the troubleshooting with black lights, etc and couldn't find anything that pointed towards that.
My latest idea is could this be coming from the attic? Perhaps it's originating up there I the insulation and the air is seeping back down through air gaps. I'm worried it's originating from the construction materials themselves (wood, drywall?) which is why I'm not able to zero in on it. It's kind of a chicken and egg thing, I don't know if the house is just absorbing the smells or the source...
[link] [comments]
