Dear all, We live in a 3 stories house in Brussels which has been built in 2005. Almost immediately after we moved in, we noticed an undesirable odor in a room in the ground floor which faces the street. The odor comes and goes occasionally, with variying intensity. It is an unpleasant organic smell which most of the times reminds of sewer gases or rotten food (bad cheese, fermentation). Although we kept an odor diary in order to see whether the smell is connected to specific events and did some checks on the piping system, we have no idea whatsoever about the causes. The room in question has no plumbing appliances; however, a wastewater pipe from the first floor kitchen might run through the room. We did some sniffing, but the odor does not appear to come from a specific spot in the room. The house has no basement; according to Belgian construction customs it is built on a concrete basis with an empty space about 50 cm (20 in) high which is apparently used for pipes and other connections. We are more and more worried, since we cannot find the reason for the smell. Does anybody have an idea where to look? Thank you very much!
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Unless you've got the
Unless you've got the constructions smarts to do it, you'll have to hire someone to check it out. Possibly get a snake camera (or a skinny person) to check out that low crawl space and look for plumbing leaks (or dead animals). Check roof, windows, doors, flashing for rainwater leaks that could be leading to rot. Check the pressurization of the house to see if a vacuum could be sucking in odors.
If weather permits, try leaving a window open an inch or two in a nearby room, to eliminate any vacuum that could be sucking in odors -- see if that makes a difference.
Check around windows and doors, especially around bottom corners, for any signs of moisture damage.
You indicate there is a concrete foundation, but it's not clear whether there's a "rat slab" over the soil, or whether there's exposed soil in the slab. Sometimes, especially in urban areas or areas previously used for livestock, odors can come from the soil if not covered, at least with a plastic membrane.
You can test to see whether the source is from inside the house or under the house by closing all the doors and windows except one window where you will temporarily fit in a window fan, using tape and cardboard, etc., to make a good seal.
Turn this fan to blow outwards, thereby de-pressurizing the house when it runs. If the odor intensifies during this test, it will mean that the odor originates in the house or under the house.
During the test, you can sniff at any opening into the underfloor space to see if it seems stronger there.
This test will help narrow down the possible source.
"we kept an odor diary"
this is so awesome.
look for open floor drains, any access to the crawl space?, is this associated with rain events?
Any idea if this was built on virgin soils or if there was infill over ????? first? Maybe the property used to be a cheese factory or dairy?