Old house Smell!

sofsofsof

We have just bought a prooperty and it has a strong musky smell to it , please note it has been empty for atleast 7 months (if not more).. It has a very strong stale type smell .. there is damp issues; bathroom seems to have been flooded by previous owner and so atm the floor is rotten and is being replaced. Theres also damaged flooring in the kitchen however this time just one spot and by where the washkng machine would be .. The house has chipboard flooring and has some very badly stained chipboard in the main bedroom that seems to have been from carpet glue according to surveyor. Any idea how can help it smell nice / neutral? Floor is being replaced in bathroom / kitchen very soon

Hedgehog99

Sort out the sources of the damp problems (sounds like you're already doing that).

Air the place as much as possible.

Get rid of any soft furnishings that smell.

Be really careful not to let the smell get into your belongings - it's really hard to get rid of the musty smell, even after washing clothing. Store elsewhere while you sort out the problem if necessary.

Be 100% sure it's sorted before getting new carpets.

Strider590

What you probably have is a combination of high humidity and cigarette smoke odor, which is oily and clings to everything it touches.

So you want to sort out the humidity first, fix water ingress, get the heating on and hire yourself an industrial dehumidifier for a few days.
After that either keep the place warm or keep windows open to equalise the humidity, problems will occur when humidity is high and surface temperature is lower than dew point. http://www.dpcalc.org/

Doozergirl

All of the above, and then decorate.

I presume all of the carpet has gone? It's offen just years of neglect and dust and nicotine. You can remove it by removing all previous soft furnishings and recovering walls and floors.

As above, any leaks and rot need to be sorted, of course.

We've bought stinking poaces and it's always gone with all evidence of previous ownership.

Rosieandjim

Doozergirl what are stinking poaces? and where do you get them from.

LandyAndy

Rosieandjim wrote: »

Doozergirl what are stinking poaces? and where do you get them from.

Bad joke shops?

WYSPECIAL

Rosieandjim wrote: »

Doozergirl what are stinking poaces? and where do you get them from.

Probably a typo for STINKING PLACES.
:rotfl:

Rosieandjim

Drat! I thought that someone had discovered something to remove smells. Oh well back to the drawing board

Novice_investor101

When I bought my house the master bedroom has a sickly sweet strawberry type smell in it that just would not shift. I used to shake&vac the carpet one a month. It finally went when I got round to/had money for replacing the carpet & curtains & painted the walls.