Nothing to see
You can smell it and cannot find it. That narrows things, it does not widen them.
An earthy smell with no visible patch almost always means growth inside a structure rather than on it. There are four usual places, and instruments find them: moisture readings through the material, and a thermal camera to say where to take them.
- 00Notice when it is strongestAfter rain points outside. When the heating comes on points at a void or a duct.
- 01Check under and behindUnder a sink, behind a washing machine, inside the kickboard run, under a bath panel.
- 02Look at the floor edgesSkirting boards and the first inch of carpet at the wall show it before the middle of a room does.
- 03Do not start cuttingA survey with instruments costs less than three exploratory holes and a redecoration.
Goes to an independent contractor. Nothing is booked until you say so. Calls may be recorded.
The four usual places
Inside a wall cavity fed by a slow plumbing leak; under a floor covering where water spread sideways; in the void above a ceiling where a leak ran along a joist; and in a crawl space or basement where the ground is wet and the air is still.
A kitchen run is the most commonly missed of these, because the floor under the units is continuous and out of reach without lifting the kickboard.
How it gets found without demolition
A thermal camera shows surface temperature, and wet material is usually cooler than dry material beside it. That makes it good at saying where to look and useless at saying how wet. The meter produces the number, and the number is what decisions rest on.
A pinless meter scans through a surface without marking it. A pin meter pushes two probes in and reads at depth, leaving two small holes that are part of the work rather than damage.
Ask to see readings as they are taken. Nothing about that is unreasonable, and the answer tells you who you have hired.
The one case where sampling is worth it first
When nothing is visible, the smell is persistent, and the source cannot be found by instruments. Then an air sample can indicate whether there is a hidden reservoir, which changes whether you keep looking. Done by someone who does no remediation work at all.
In New York, Florida and Texas that independence is required by law rather than merely sensible: assessment and removal must be in separate hands.
Who goes looking
Finding it and fixing it are not always the same person’s job.
- 01You own and live herePay for the survey before paying for demolition. It is the cheaper order.
Ask them: can you find the source without opening anything, and what would you open first? - 02You own and let it outA tenant reporting a persistent smell has started a clock. Investigate rather than wait for it to become visible.
- 03You rentReport the smell in writing with dates and where it is strongest. An assessment you commission carries little weight with the owner insurer.
- 04You are buyingA smell at a viewing is worth a survey before exchange rather than a conversation after it.
Goes to an independent contractor. Nothing is booked until you say so. Calls may be recorded.
Where these figures come from
Published by someone other than us. Each link goes to their own words rather than to our summary of them.