Leak in October - still smells of damp

Snakey

It wasn't a huge amount of water - it came from one of the upstairs flats and because it wasn't directly above my flat I only got a little bit. All that happened (from my perspective) was that I could see a stain in one upper corner of my lounge, which got bigger over a 24-hour period and then stopped. It felt damp (but not wet) to the touch and spread about a foot along the wall from the corner in each direction at the very top, narrowing swiftly to just the very very inside corner and there's no sign of it at all once you get two feet away from the ceiling (although it was definitely originally damp in the very very corner the whole way down).

The advice at the time was to leave it to dry out and then see what the damage was.

There was briefly mould, which appeared within a couple of days and while it was still damp. It wasn't everywhere, just half-a-dozen raisin-sized patches along the damp inside corner which did not then spread. I put bleach on it after a couple of days and have not seen any sign of it since.

The whole thing was dry to the touch within a few days, but there was still a smell in the room. I assumed that meant it was still drying inside and so I should keep an eye on it for a bit longer, but two months later there's still a smell in the room. I can't tell whether it's getting fainter or not. I have the windows wide open all morning to get some air in, and before it got cold I kept them open 24 hours.

Does this mean it is still damp inside the wall somewhere? If so, can I sort it with a dehumidifier or something (as if it had only just happened) or have I caused myself an additional problem by leaving it and now I have to do something different/extra? Or do I just need to be patient and it will sort itself out?

If it's not damp any more but just a residual smell, will it go away if I redecorate and get a new carpet? I'd not long moved in here and so the room is unfurnished, and I was going to redecorate and get a new carpet anyway. But obviously I don't want to do this if it won't solve the problem, because there'd be no way I'd want to have to chuck out a new carpet and redecorate twice!

Is there anything else I should be worried about?

Thanks for reading.

AVERAGEJOE_2

First make sure damp is gone maybe put a red rad on wall area that was damp or hire a dehumid for a week min this will make sure all is gone.
If you are 100% damp has gone already hire out a ozone generator this will remove all smells of any kind known to man you will have to leave flat while on for day flood victims or burnt houses use these to rid smells ... They work 100% cost around £40 to hire for day from good tool hire shop