topic Re: i think there is something dead in the wall in Community Chat

i think there is something dead in the wall

kittyloo — Tue, 06 Nov 2018 00:16:51 GMT

last nite we were watching tv downstairs, and dh mentioned that there was something funky smelling .

well we decided that probably the new kitty (great fluffy hunter) brought in a rodent of somesort in and it wasn't quite dead yet. so today, dh pulls everything out of the storage closet, behind fridge ect. nothing.

anyone have any good tips how to deal/locate said critter?

something to mask the smell, anything.

Re: i think there is something dead in the wall

fthunt — Tue, 06 Nov 2018 00:21:26 GMT

Is 'new' kitty allowed outside to roam around alone?

Re: i think there is something dead in the wall

fthunt — Tue, 06 Nov 2018 00:23:32 GMT

Is "new" kitty housebroken? (I have no clue how old kitty is - new posting for me)

Re: i think there is something dead in the wall

Sweetbay magnolia — Tue, 06 Nov 2018 00:26:00 GMT

Catchy thread name!

Re: i think there is something dead in the wall

JuJu in NC — Tue, 06 Nov 2018 00:33:52 GMT

This is going to sound kind of gross but, Years ago when we lived in Wisconsin, we had a new house that was kind of in the country. In the winter sometimes a mouse would fall between the walls in my pantry. It would smell dead for only a short time ( at most a day or 2). Mice are small and decompose pretty fast. So hopefully that is what it is. good luck!

Re: i think there is something dead in the wall

kivah — Tue, 06 Nov 2018 00:48:08 GMT

In 1989 I purchased a brand new house and when I moved in (alone), I saw black hair on the vent inside the house - which was at floor level. I freaked. It was a skunk - which got into the bottom portion before the furnace was attached in the garage. My neighbor left something open - including the side door to the garage and it left. I wasn't home as I couldn't stand the situation. Maybe u should call a termite guy. Something could be stuck between the walls.

Re: i think there is something dead in the wall

panda1234 — Tue, 06 Nov 2018 00:52:00 GMT

Several years ago we had a dead squirrel behind our cast iron fireplace insert. Believe it or not there was only a slight odor. What was really gross was we started to get all of these big black flies in the house and could not figure out why. We hired someone to move the insert and there was the dead squirrel, awful.

Re: i think there is something dead in the wall

OKPrincess — Tue, 06 Nov 2018 00:55:27 GMT

I agree you should call an exterminator. Even if the smell eventually goes, a dead creature would still be there.

Re: i think there is something dead in the wall

Desertdi — Tue, 06 Nov 2018 01:29:48 GMT

Do you have an extra bathroom that is never used? Sometimes dry drains emit "strange odors"..............

Re: i think there is something dead in the wall

Caffeina — Tue, 06 Nov 2018 01:39:52 GMT

Have DH check the drain pan under the refrigerator. They can get really stinky sometimes.

Re: i think there is something dead in the wall

occasionalrain — Tue, 06 Nov 2018 02:19:32 GMT

Check your potatoes, a decomposing potato smells nearly as bad as a decomposing body.

Re: i think there is something dead in the wall

SeaGal — Tue, 06 Nov 2018 02:30:58 GMT

Warning: this may make some nauseous!!

Years ago in a rental house hubby and I lived in we had a rat die in a false wall under the kitchen sink. Hubs narrowed down where the stench was coming from then cut a hole under there, stuck a mirror in and sure enough, there it was, dead and bloated. He tried to pull it out and just a wad of hair came off it, it was soooo gross! I had to leave the room but he eventually got it out, he's so brave!

I had put a bowl of Pinesol down under the sink to try to mask the smell, there was no hiding the smell, it just stunk like dead rat and Pinesol until we found it. Had to air the house out for a couple days.

We had a small apple orchard in back that attracked rats, yuck.

Re: i think there is something dead in the wall

lovesrecess — Tue, 06 Nov 2018 03:24:47 GMT

We had a squirrel chew through the thin mesh on our chimney cap and fall down the flue....couldn't climb back up so it died on top of the damper. Had to call an exterminator/pest remover to remove it. ...we had huge black flies on the windows inside and that's how we knew something had died...the smell wasn't too much.... thank goodness this happened in the summer when the damper was closed. We have a two story tall chimney so it took the guy a long time to remove the squirrel. I bought a new chimney cap the next day.

Re: i think there is something dead in the wall

AuntG — Tue, 06 Nov 2018 13:27:58 GMT

@occasionalrain wrote:
Check your potatoes, a decomposing potato smells nearly as bad as a decomposing body.

-----

I've had that happen too. Stinky!!

Re: i think there is something dead in the wall

CAMOGIRL — Tue, 06 Nov 2018 14:02:24 GMT

Feeling punchy this morning ... conjures up Law and Order ... you know, hiding the dead body in the wall ... 😂

OK sorry ... seriously though ... it could be anything ... an unnoticed spill somewhere, a trash bag leak, the bottom of shoes, under the sink leak, an unused bathtub drain... oh the list is never ending.....

Try putting out several opened boxes of baking soda around the entire house. At least a few where the odor seems the worst. Open the windows and let in some fresh air if weather permits.

Re: i think there is something dead in the wall

Bird mama — Tue, 06 Nov 2018 14:17:22 GMT

The smell of decomp is recognizable. If it smells like something died, something probably died. Mice can get between walls, especially at this time of year. I don't have any solutions to mask the smell, you more or less have to wait it out while your gagging.

Re: i think there is something dead in the wall

kittyloo — Tue, 06 Nov 2018 16:30:51 GMT

thanks so much for the responses. This is downstairs in our "rumpus room" are they still called that?

i am quite sure it's something dead. Last week "buddy" got a bat, and we found a dead rodent out back. oh, and he is a tenacious fly slayer. he has a cat door out to the back yard.

our Russian blue, still will not warm up to him. (been about 4 months now) maybe buddy is "simple" she clearly is not, and chooses not to associate with him at all.

no where else to look without punching holes in the wall. have to drag out the incense i guess.

Re: i think there is something dead in the wall

Fressa — Tue, 06 Nov 2018 16:58:07 GMT

Use the X/O spray (I think it's Don Astlet) . I swear by this stuff.

Re: i think there is something dead in the wall

vermint — Tue, 06 Nov 2018 21:19:59 GMT

I feel very lucky that nothing like this has ever happened to me (except for the potato thing--yes, they do stink!).

But, the first time I took the filters out of a new range hood to clean it...a very mummified lizard landed on my stove top! They're the kind you just pull down with a tab, so he just slid off. Now when they need cleaning I get DH to remove them for me!

Re: i think there is something dead in the wall

depglass — Tue, 06 Nov 2018 23:07:21 GMT

I had the same problem as Panda123. DH had installed a wood burning unit attached to our propane furnace. He worked out of town during the week so I had to put up with thousands of dead flies in the basement and back hallway until he came home and figured out the problem. A squirrel had gotten into the chimney and fell down into the wood burner that wasn't in use yet. Of course I totally freaked and he wisely took out the wood burner. I guess by then one of us was going to go.