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Posts: 1,090
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Very strange smell in my house....(sorry, LONG)

I'm hoping some of you might have some ideas for me. The other day my son was walking through the living room, and he asked me why our house smelled like.........well.....poo! I said "What?", and he said there was a funny smell when he walked through the living room. Actually, I had to agree with him, as I had smelled something, too, but it was a very faint smell, and I couldn't quite put my finger on what I thought it smelled like.

That night, DH was sitting in his recliner at the bottom of the stairs, and he hollered in to me here in the computer room and asked me if I noticed a strange smell in the living room. I told him that DS and I both had. DH said it smelled like natural gas to him, but I disagreed completely. Again, the smell wasn't that strong. The next morning when I came down stairs the smell was much stronger. It was the strongest and most noticable at the bottom of the stairs and by the recliner. DH had already gone to work, and my son was just heading out to go to work, but he agreed it was much stronger, too. Ok, by now I'm getting a little paranoid, as my thought is it could be a dead mouse or something, and as I've posted here before, I am BEYOND terrified of mice, dead or alive, or anything to do with mice!!!!!!! I was gone most of the day that day, but later I assumed the smell would be even stronger, so I called home when I knew DS would be home from work to ask him how the smell was and to see if he would take a look around. He told me he could barely smell anything any more. I didn't believe him till I got home, and sure enough, the smell was pretty much gone!

Well, I knew the smell couldn't have been coming from nothing, so that night DH said he would check everywhere to see if he could find anything. I left the house while he did so, as I knew I would freak out if he found a mouse or anything. YES, I said I left the house, and I now some of you are going to think I'm crazy, but that's just how I am!! Anyhow, DH found nothing! He took his flashlight all around, including the basement. He took the recliner apart. He looked under every piece of furniture and in all the cushions. He took everything out the the closet, which is under our stairway, and even cut a little whole in the wall of the closet! He searched high and low! But, remember, at this point the smell is barely there.

So, for about a day and a half or two days the smell was nearly completely gone...no smell yesterday. When DS and I came down stairs this morning, there was the smell again! It was very strong again! That was earlier this morning. Well, just a little while ago I was sitting in my computer room talking to my mom on the phone. I was telling her about it, and suddenly I started smelling it in my computer room, which is several feet away from my living room. I got up to see how strong the smell was in the living room, and the smell was nealy gone in there!

Now, I know that mice can get into walls and die, BUT would such a smell really come and go? I certainly wouldn't think so! I would think such a smell would only get stronger (at least for awhile). Also, I have lived in this house for 23 years, and we have only found one mouse, two separate times. DH found out how they got in and fixed it.

Right now, sitting here in my computer room I smell nothing again! I can't figure this out! My mom suggested there might be something going on with our sewer. I just don't know, but DH is a plumber, and I think he would have mentioned that. He is going to have to do some more searching, but for now I just can't imagine why such a smell would come and go!