pungent smell in office room

[Raincouver]

this bad smell has been bothering us for so long. Pls HELP me.

the wall is dry, carpet is dry, no stains no molds. Pls see the attached pictures, the pungent stinky smell is only in the red cycled carpet and baseboard area. I pulled the carpet up you can see it is concrete ground ( looks normal no cracks ) . This room is on ground floor ( not a basement ). So i know the smell is definitely from the inside of the baseboard. This is a townhome I shared this wall with my neighbour. I asked my neighbour he told me they once had the smell too around the same area on his side. His plumber friend checked everything but didn’t find any problems and then one day when they wake up the smell completely disappeared never came back. this happened like about 2 month before the smell first appeared in my unit.

it seems like when it rains or windy the smell is stronger. sometimes it’s very bad you can smell when you are at the door sometimes you can only smell it when you go closer. and one thing to mention when the laundry and bathroom on the 3rd floor are in use I can hear the water in this room.

Opening the wall is my last option. Pls help me with some possibilities so I’d like to try by all means. Really appreciated.

 

[Jeff Handy]

Might be a roof leak.

 

[Geofd]

If it's a condo complex the board must have access to building plans maybe that way you will know what piping is in your wall/floors

 

[Twowaxhack]

Wet carpet stinks bad......

 

[Raincouver]

Might be a roof leak.

is roof leaking stinky too? the smell is more like mix of sewer/detergent I don’t know hard to describe but very disgusting for sure.

 

[Raincouver]

Wet carpet stinks bad......

carpet is very dry you can see I have piano in the room I have to keep the room warm and dry.

 

[Twowaxhack]

carpet is very dry you can see I have piano in the room I have to keep the room warm and dry.

I read your post again. Based off what you’ve posted, I’d cut the wall open right there. You could always do a peppermint test. That would verify a leak if there is one.

 

[Raincouver]

If it's a condo complex the board must have access to building plans maybe that way you will know what piping is in your wall/floors

I have contacted strata many times but no help. They once sent a young guy over but the guy had stuffy nose can’t smell anything. Few days later the guys company called me saying the toilet wax ring needs to be replaced. There is full bathroom next to this smelly room but everything in bathroom is normal, no leaking no smell. and the toilet is not on the sharing wall it’s on the other side.

 

[Raincouver]

I read your post again. Based off what you’ve posted, I’d cut the wall open right there. You could always do a peppermint test. That would verify a leak if there is one.

Really appreciated! I just googled peppermint test for sewer gas leak. Do you suspect there is gas leak? I will buy peppermint tomorrow!

i know and I will have to cut the wall if all the options are out it’s a big project for me I might have to move the piano which is what I dont want to. Thank you so much again!

 

[Raincouver]

If it's a condo complex the board must have access to building plans maybe that way you will know what piping is in your wall/floors

I asked strata for draft as build but they just ignore it and send a guy as I said above. No help. I hope to narrow down the possibilities with you guys help so I can save money. I heard so many stories that plumbers couldn’t find problems but you already spent thousands of dollars.

 

[Twowaxhack]

Really appreciated! I just googled peppermint test for sewer gas leak. Do you suspect there is gas leak? I will buy peppermint tomorrow!

i know and I will have to cut the wall if all the options are out it’s a big project for me I might have to move the piano which is what I dont want to. Thank you so much again!

If you’re getting a smell it could be an open pipe, hole in pipe, cracked pipe, etc.

 

[BlueSkyHigh]

You say it's a townhome, so you have access to the attic correct? Open up the attic and look for signs of water damage to rafters and other wooden elements paying particular attention to where the vents and other things penetrate the roof. How old is the roof?

 

[Raincouver]

You say it's a townhome, so you have access to the attic correct? Open up the attic and look for signs of water damage to rafters and other wooden elements paying particular attention to where the vents and other things penetrate the roof. How old is the roof?

yes we got roof leaking. couple weeks ago strata did checkups and found 2 or 3 small leaking points and they are going to wait for a rainy day to look again and fix them. Building is exactly 10 years old. I moved in when it was brand new. So you suspect the smell on first floor is caused by roof leaking? If it’s only rain why it’s very stinky? I don’t know how to describe it, my son said it’s like bad cheesy smell. when the roof contractor came I asked him if he could smell, he said it’s like cats pooping.

 

[Jeff Handy]

Is there an attic above the smelly area?
It could be raccoons, squirrels, bats, or rats living up there.
They poop and can create some big piles of it.

 

[BlueSkyHigh]

The leaking roof may be coincidental to the smell and not really a direct link to the cause of the smell. Some"body" may have set up shop in the wall where the smell is and maybe have died and what you are smelling is the end result. Also it's possible that water from the leak finds its way to the first floor and is assisting the decomposition or whatever is going on. I am assuming this is a two story townhouse or is it three?

In any event, the roofing system should be good for a lot more than 10 years so get that fixed on their dime if at all possible.

 

[Twowaxhack]

I found a dead cat in an attic. Nothing left but white hair and bones. Asked the lady if she ever had a white cat, she said no.

 

[Raincouver]

You say it's a townhome, so you have access to the attic correct? Open up the attic and look for signs of water damage to rafters and other wooden elements paying particular attention to where the vents and other things penetrate the roof. How old is the roof?

Oh one thing to add this town home is north-south facing. the existing roof leakings are all on north side. The smelly room is on south end. You think the rain could run all the way to the wall in south?

 

[BlueSkyHigh]

Oh one thing to add this town home is north-south facing. the existing roof leakings are all on north side. The smelly room is on south end. You think the rain could run all the way to the wall in south?

Looking more and more likely that the roof leaks aren't a causal factor. By the way, "Raincouver" sounds appropriate to the location

 

[Raincouver]

The leaking roof may be coincidental to the smell and not really a direct link to the cause of the smell. Some"body" may have set up shop in the wall where the smell is and maybe have died and what you are smelling is the end result. Also it's possible that water from the leak finds its way to the first floor and is assisting the decomposition or whatever is going on. I am assuming this is a two story townhouse or is it three?

In any event, the roofing system should be good for a lot more than 10 years so get that fixed on their dime if at all possible.

It is a 3 floor townhouse, strata is responsible for the roof repair. But for the smell, they first suspected it was dead rodents as there is no molds or stains whatsoever. They asked me to wait for 2 month also and then covid started. Everything was on pause but not the smell. This neighbourhood does have pest issues. Strata had set up some traps here and there. If it was dead animals / pooping do you think the smell could last such long?

 

[Jeff Handy]

A friend of mine bought his first house years ago.
While inspecting the crawl space, he found a dead cat in a black plastic bag.
It had become mostly liquified from rot, and he barely held back the puke when he first caught a whiff of it.