Help! Mystery smell in our new house!

Kimlock

No, the light fitting is just a standard one and it has no discoloured patches at all.

Radiators aren't painted.

It's the fact that the smell just occurs very suddenly for a few minutes at a time and then disappears that's annoying. It doesn't give me long enough to walk around and try to find the source.

wallbash

The important remark

it's not constant. Maybe for a minute or two about twice a day.

What changes occur ?
Dead animal/chipboard/ stagnant water are all constant.
Smell isn't , would still go round smelling all electrics and think central heating.

burnsguitarman

Maybe there is a very small leak of radiator fluid, it has a distinctive smell which becomes apparent when the heating comes on. Are there any signs of weeping from the radiators, or pipework?

Kimlock

No, that's all been checked.
We also bled the radiators to see if the fluid smelled like the eggy smell we've been getting but it didn't.

I'm really appreciating all the replies so far, guys. Any suggestion at all is helpful!

Belenus

Kimlock wrote: »

My other half is convinced it is coming from a wall which has a radiator on it.
Apparently the previously sellers did no works on the house in the time they owned it. (seven years)

Is it a new house or just new to you as your first post suggested it was new but this one suggests it isn't?

Is the carpet new? They sometimes emit funny smells for a while when newly laid.

Perhaps the previous owner has a less than continent pet or small child and the smell still lingers. That doesn't explain the intermittant nature of the smell.

Kimlock

Apologies, the house is new to us. We've just bought it and moved in.
I've edited my first post to reflect this.

brightontraveller

Check if smell is at specific time everyday or with times of high usage e.g. toilets(some pumping stations can when they start stop etc make drains smell) eve morning/ is there a drain near the room outside etc? ditto electrics Does it coincide with and something coming on central heating. Hot water, lighting heating, extractor fan, etc isolate each individually repower one at a time over period of 1 hr each, check room temperature if smell coincides with certain temperature dead rodents etc tend to smell all the time,



Isolate main fuse board (turn off main fuse leave 24 hour s) ditto heating see if smell is still there normally its not technically hard to find source just time consuming

Kimlock

The smell was back again last night and I think we may have been able to locate it's source.

One of the kitchen cupboards is attached to the wall the the front of the house. The gas meter is housed in this cupboard. (there are no leaks coming from this, it was tested by the boiler engineer last week). BUT there is a gap in the wall for the pipework, leading to outside where our neighbours drains are. We think that this is where the smell is coming from.

Can anyone tell me of a way to safely plug this gap? Would expanding foam work?

maninthestreet

Expanding foam would work, probably a few old rags stuffed in the gap would work as well. If the smell is coming in from outside the house, next time you can smell it, go outside - is the smell evident outside??

brightontraveller

I assume its copper pipe with a sleving around it ( normally bigger piece of copper pipe with smaller pipe work pushed through it ,You’d be better using flexible filler/sealer mastic etc , some go sand and cement ( but that can have a corrosive effect same as some expanding forms ).expanding form is a pig to get off again, needs protecting from uv, isn’t rodent proof, doesn’t produce an airtight seal, not all are fire retardant, is not easy to decorate over