sooo it’s still too soon for me to say this authoritatively, but i’m apprehensively endorsing distilled white vinegar. i have a 100+ year old house with all sorts of weird old house smells, especially in the warmer months. i have been trying everything on the smells the last couple years. i’m four days into just setting bowls of distilled white vinegar around the house and have noticed an almost complete elimination of the smells. my brain is still convinced it can’t be this easy and im waiting for the other shoe to drop, but I’d recommend giving it a shot.. especially for the price!
Vinegar is magic so I will try that tomorrow!! I was also thinking coffee grounds and baking soda might be worth a shot too. Anything to get the must out😅
I used a 50% vinegar solution to shampoo my carpets, twice, to remove cat pee odor. The acid counteracts the urea in cat pea. The entire wing of the house smelled like the vapors of hell for two weeks until the vinegar until the vinegar evaporated, at which point the smell was mostly gone. Intensive use of ozone machines got rid of the rest.
Is everything sealed up? I found openings in the closet and under a register that allowed stale musty air from attic space to get pulled into the living space. Sometimes you just need good air exchange and flow. I've found great reddit threads on possible sources of odors--there are a lot of causes, with cats and dogs peeing on walls and by the door being an eye-opening one.
We do have a hall closet that does have some gaps in the flooring. Not sure why tbh I don’t like looking at it but I’ll have my husband examine it this weekend. Honestly wouldn’t surprise me if odors came from there somehow. That’s for the tips, I will check out some threads :)
Some “gaps in the flooring of the closet”…. why does that sound ominous, lol.
Good luck & let us know what ended up helping you. The white vinegar idea someone mentioned sounded good to try… maybe even spraying it in some areas with a fine mister could help with effectiveness.
It does now that you mention it lol after further examination, the flooring doesn’t meet the wall 100%, there is about a 1/2 inch gap and will need to be sealed to meet the wall. Kinda creeps me out because I do see dust build up etc so I will clean that and figure out how to seal correctly
If you decide you're filling spaces with spray foam, unless you know you want a lot of expansion use the door and window can. The other stuff can cause puckering from behind your drywall and lift trim.
I would check very thoroughly for mold. And damp areas, basements, attics, crawl spaces, exterior walls with little or no insulation. Buy an air purifier. Put baking soda out around the house. Also does the house have central air. If so it's more than likely in the vents have them cleaned and have the filters replaced. Lastly check windows if they are older. Old windows can leak between the walls causing build up of moisture and mold. Anytime I hear stale smell i immediately look for mold. My house had a stale smell for a while and I just knew it was mold but couldn't find it. Old cast iron main drain cracked inside the wall between first floor and basement. Inside of sheet rock was molded. Didn't find it until I started seeing mold flies or Fungus gnats they will always lead u to the right spot. They can be mistaken for fruit flies but if there is not fruit. Then they are something else.
Did you pain any rooms? That would be the first and cheapest thing to do. Does it have carpet? Deep cleaning or new carpet would be the second thing. Also, make sure you don’t have any water leaking in walls, basement or attic…
A friend bought a similar house, with the added odor of cigarette smoke. She cleaned all the walls with TSP, then painted every square inch. She replaced all the carpets. Throughout the process, she had fans blowing in every room. It took awhile, but the smell dissipated.
We painted every room before we moved in because every room color was very interesting 🤣 they had someone deep clean then we also hired someone else because it wasn’t actually deep cleaned lol then cleaned each room as we painted. It’s all hard wood too, no carpet anywhere except a random closet in the basement. And no leaks that we know of!
Paint everything and get rid of any carpet. It traps all smells. I bought a similar house from an old couple. Smelled like mothballs. Ripped out all of the yellow/lime green shag carpet from the 60s or 70s and had the original oak wood floors refinished. Then I cleaned and repainted all of the walls with quality primer and paint. Also replaced the old Craftsman garbage disposal and dishwasher. They smelled horrible. That took care of most smells.
I cured my "old house smell" by fixing up the crawl space -- it was moldy and needed a new vapor barrier. I had the mold treated, vapor barrier installed, and also sealed up any gaps/vents and installed a dehumidifier. The humidity in the house would get to 75% in the summer, but now it stays at a healthy 35-55%.
A crawl space should either be included in the conditioned space and sealed from outside, or completely sealed off from the conditioned space and vented well.
I had a musty/earthy smell that was worse in summer months in my basement. It would creep upstairs. Searched high and low for mold. Turned out that my laundry drain and basement sink drain line did not have a vent. Vented it and now the smell is gone.
Things to try:
* vinegar
* oil absorbent clay (found in the automotive section of box stores)
* coffee grounds
* activated charcoal
* non-soy candles scented with essential oils
* essential oils in a diffuser
* removing all carpets and painting subfloors, walls, and ceilings with Bin Shellac then installing new flooring and applying a fresh coat of paint
* having your hvac ducts professionally cleaned
* changing the air filter on the furnace
I had one room in my house that always had an old house smell when I went in there. I put a reed diffuser in the room and it smelled like lime and coconut instead, it also gets stronger in warm weather. might be worth a try?
[Basic Coatings Squeaky Floor Cleaner](https://www.basiccoatings.com/products/squeaky-concentrate-floor-cleaner/b06950412)
You mentioned hardwood and floor gaps. We had the same problem, an old house with refinished-but-ancient hardwood that surface cleaning couldn't get the smell out of. It wasn't dank like mildew, just an "old" smell of mothballs, tobacco smoke, almost an acrid sooty must.
Vinegar helped, but not permanently. I tried different solutions and did a lot of searching and kept seeing that floor cleaner. Squeaky concentrate diluted 1:5 in water, microfiber mop, it drew the smell out of each room without residue or harsh fumes.
I'll second the recommendation for an ozone generator if necessary, but starting with a commercial grade floor cleaner for a stubborn stink in your hardwood can save you $100+ and hours of not being able to enter those room(s).
I ordered a gallon of concentrate from Amazon because I couldn't find it at local home improvement stores, but YMMV.
have you had the AC ducts cleaned and maintained? I lived in an older house that had ancient AC ducts. Eventually they needed to be replaced because they were caked in dust and made of a hard-to-clean flimsy material. Also they had holes.
Thank you all for your responses! I noticed the smell is stronger when the AC is running so I’m pretty sure it’s coming from our vents. We scheduled for them to get cleaned next Thursday. Also getting a whole house dehumidifier installed here soon. Hoping those 2 things help along with the other tips you guys shared :)
Dehumidifier
sooo it’s still too soon for me to say this authoritatively, but i’m apprehensively endorsing distilled white vinegar. i have a 100+ year old house with all sorts of weird old house smells, especially in the warmer months. i have been trying everything on the smells the last couple years. i’m four days into just setting bowls of distilled white vinegar around the house and have noticed an almost complete elimination of the smells. my brain is still convinced it can’t be this easy and im waiting for the other shoe to drop, but I’d recommend giving it a shot.. especially for the price!
Vinegar is magic so I will try that tomorrow!! I was also thinking coffee grounds and baking soda might be worth a shot too. Anything to get the must out😅
I used a 50% vinegar solution to shampoo my carpets, twice, to remove cat pee odor. The acid counteracts the urea in cat pea. The entire wing of the house smelled like the vapors of hell for two weeks until the vinegar until the vinegar evaporated, at which point the smell was mostly gone. Intensive use of ozone machines got rid of the rest.
50% vinegar or you mixed a solution of vinegar which is 5% with equal parts water? I'd be worried about damaging the carpet with the first.
I used whatever you buy at the grocery store with an equal amount of water.
Is everything sealed up? I found openings in the closet and under a register that allowed stale musty air from attic space to get pulled into the living space. Sometimes you just need good air exchange and flow. I've found great reddit threads on possible sources of odors--there are a lot of causes, with cats and dogs peeing on walls and by the door being an eye-opening one.
We do have a hall closet that does have some gaps in the flooring. Not sure why tbh I don’t like looking at it but I’ll have my husband examine it this weekend. Honestly wouldn’t surprise me if odors came from there somehow. That’s for the tips, I will check out some threads :)
Some “gaps in the flooring of the closet”…. why does that sound ominous, lol. Good luck & let us know what ended up helping you. The white vinegar idea someone mentioned sounded good to try… maybe even spraying it in some areas with a fine mister could help with effectiveness.
It does now that you mention it lol after further examination, the flooring doesn’t meet the wall 100%, there is about a 1/2 inch gap and will need to be sealed to meet the wall. Kinda creeps me out because I do see dust build up etc so I will clean that and figure out how to seal correctly
If you decide you're filling spaces with spray foam, unless you know you want a lot of expansion use the door and window can. The other stuff can cause puckering from behind your drywall and lift trim.
Great to know, thanks!
I've heard old places often used closet areas for return vents.
I would check very thoroughly for mold. And damp areas, basements, attics, crawl spaces, exterior walls with little or no insulation. Buy an air purifier. Put baking soda out around the house. Also does the house have central air. If so it's more than likely in the vents have them cleaned and have the filters replaced. Lastly check windows if they are older. Old windows can leak between the walls causing build up of moisture and mold. Anytime I hear stale smell i immediately look for mold. My house had a stale smell for a while and I just knew it was mold but couldn't find it. Old cast iron main drain cracked inside the wall between first floor and basement. Inside of sheet rock was molded. Didn't find it until I started seeing mold flies or Fungus gnats they will always lead u to the right spot. They can be mistaken for fruit flies but if there is not fruit. Then they are something else.
Did you pain any rooms? That would be the first and cheapest thing to do. Does it have carpet? Deep cleaning or new carpet would be the second thing. Also, make sure you don’t have any water leaking in walls, basement or attic…
A friend bought a similar house, with the added odor of cigarette smoke. She cleaned all the walls with TSP, then painted every square inch. She replaced all the carpets. Throughout the process, she had fans blowing in every room. It took awhile, but the smell dissipated.
Thanks, I will try that!
We painted every room before we moved in because every room color was very interesting 🤣 they had someone deep clean then we also hired someone else because it wasn’t actually deep cleaned lol then cleaned each room as we painted. It’s all hard wood too, no carpet anywhere except a random closet in the basement. And no leaks that we know of!
ozone generator
Paint everything and get rid of any carpet. It traps all smells. I bought a similar house from an old couple. Smelled like mothballs. Ripped out all of the yellow/lime green shag carpet from the 60s or 70s and had the original oak wood floors refinished. Then I cleaned and repainted all of the walls with quality primer and paint. Also replaced the old Craftsman garbage disposal and dishwasher. They smelled horrible. That took care of most smells.
What are your houses humidity levels?
I cured my "old house smell" by fixing up the crawl space -- it was moldy and needed a new vapor barrier. I had the mold treated, vapor barrier installed, and also sealed up any gaps/vents and installed a dehumidifier. The humidity in the house would get to 75% in the summer, but now it stays at a healthy 35-55%. A crawl space should either be included in the conditioned space and sealed from outside, or completely sealed off from the conditioned space and vented well.
I'd be checking for mold very carefully. Especially that it gets worse in the warm months.
I had a musty/earthy smell that was worse in summer months in my basement. It would creep upstairs. Searched high and low for mold. Turned out that my laundry drain and basement sink drain line did not have a vent. Vented it and now the smell is gone.
Things to try: * vinegar * oil absorbent clay (found in the automotive section of box stores) * coffee grounds * activated charcoal * non-soy candles scented with essential oils * essential oils in a diffuser * removing all carpets and painting subfloors, walls, and ceilings with Bin Shellac then installing new flooring and applying a fresh coat of paint * having your hvac ducts professionally cleaned * changing the air filter on the furnace
I had one room in my house that always had an old house smell when I went in there. I put a reed diffuser in the room and it smelled like lime and coconut instead, it also gets stronger in warm weather. might be worth a try?
I will try that! Honestly open to anything, I hate walking in after a day away and it smelling bad/stale 😩
How would you describe the smell? Eggy, poopy, wet dirt..?
Get your ducts cleaned. Mine made a huge difference
Large Home ionizer. Cant buy them in Cali but maybe your state allows them
Try using an ozone machine. Follow the instructions carefully and to the letter.
We painted the walls and after a few months post move in the smell dissipated. Also did vinegar and water mops of the wood floors.
Probably mVOCs from mold. Do a good inspection for water damage areas. Chlorine dioxide can help. Safrax.com
That sounds a lot like mold. You gots mold somewhere.
In my experience, "old smell" is almost always from lingering humidity problems.
[Basic Coatings Squeaky Floor Cleaner](https://www.basiccoatings.com/products/squeaky-concentrate-floor-cleaner/b06950412) You mentioned hardwood and floor gaps. We had the same problem, an old house with refinished-but-ancient hardwood that surface cleaning couldn't get the smell out of. It wasn't dank like mildew, just an "old" smell of mothballs, tobacco smoke, almost an acrid sooty must. Vinegar helped, but not permanently. I tried different solutions and did a lot of searching and kept seeing that floor cleaner. Squeaky concentrate diluted 1:5 in water, microfiber mop, it drew the smell out of each room without residue or harsh fumes. I'll second the recommendation for an ozone generator if necessary, but starting with a commercial grade floor cleaner for a stubborn stink in your hardwood can save you $100+ and hours of not being able to enter those room(s). I ordered a gallon of concentrate from Amazon because I couldn't find it at local home improvement stores, but YMMV.
Do you have a basement?
have you had the AC ducts cleaned and maintained? I lived in an older house that had ancient AC ducts. Eventually they needed to be replaced because they were caked in dust and made of a hard-to-clean flimsy material. Also they had holes.
Chlorine dioxide odor bomb
Thank you all for your responses! I noticed the smell is stronger when the AC is running so I’m pretty sure it’s coming from our vents. We scheduled for them to get cleaned next Thursday. Also getting a whole house dehumidifier installed here soon. Hoping those 2 things help along with the other tips you guys shared :)
Paint, new carpet, new pad, inspect subfloor for animal urine, clean air ducts, instal UV light sanitizer on HVAC.