mystery

[Wood Scrounge]

Ok folks I have a great mystery I cannot figure out.
Every fall my daughters room smells like cat pee for about 2 months oct-nov. we don’t own a cat, nor have we ever owned a cat the 15 years we have been in the house.
This year the smell is VERY strong so much so we don’t let her sleep in there. My wife and I have been on our hands and knees smelling everything. Last weekend I took EVERYTHING out of her room and cleaned her carpet with a pro machine. I also washed her walls down all to no avail.
Since the smell begins around the same time I fire up the wood stoves I was thinking it has something with the slight negative pressure it creates. But I am grasping at straws. Any Ideas?

 

[beerman6]

Man,that stinks...

 

[sunfish]

Something in the crawl space below, above, or in the walls. We had a dead mouse above our closet, between the insulation and sheet rock. Only smelled it in our bedroom, it was bad and I would not have though the smell could come through sheet rock.

 

[CountryBoy19]

Might be a stretch, but is it ladybugs?

This time of year is always when they're infiltrating homes, getting inside and dying etc. These bugs emit a very potent odor, especially when threatened. Could they possibly be getting in the walls of the home etc and the smell is permeating through?

 

[Wood Scrounge]

Something in the crawl space below, above, or in the walls. We had a dead mouse above our closet, between the insulation and sheet rock. Only smelled it in our bedroom, it was bad and I would not have though the smell could come through sheet rock.

that was my initial thought but it only smells in her room, not in the attic, basement or surrounding rooms. The fact it happens every year for the last 3 makes me think it's not something dead.

 

[Wood Scrounge]

Might be a stretch, but is it ladybugs?

This time of year is always when they're infiltrating homes, getting inside and dying etc. These bugs emit a very potent odor, especially when threatened. Could they possibly be getting in the walls of the home etc and the smell is permeating through?

I was actually thinking stink bugs, but I don't see any big infestation unless they are in the wall. They kind of have a different smell though

 

[Wood Scrounge]

new clue, my wife discovered if you leave the door open there is no smell, if the door is closed for just 5 min the smell comes back.

 

[barkeatr]

I would say get rid of the carpet

 

[woodchop]

Do you have bats in the attic?

 

[kugss]

The house i been fixing up had a bad piss smell on the top floor and it got worst when i tried to sand the floors so i primed the floors will a good primer (kilz) and the smell went away for good. Maybe its time for new capet and prime the floors under it befor you put the carpet down.

 

[CrappieKeith]

The house i been fixing up had a bad piss smell on the top floor and it got worst when i tried to sand the floors so i primed the floors will a good primer (kilz) and the smell went away for good. Maybe its time for new capet and prime the floors under it befor you put the carpet down.

Good one!

 

[cassandrasdaddy]

yea

The house i been fixing up had a bad piss smell on the top floor and it got worst when i tried to sand the floors so i primed the floors will a good primer (kilz) and the smell went away for good. Maybe its time for new capet and prime the floors under it befor you put the carpet down.

thats my best guess cat pee is the worst

 

[mustangwagz]

Cat Pee last that long though? i had a cat pee in my house once, it smelled for a long time. Replaced the carpet and went away..but he said its only during Certain Times..

Has it smelled like this all 15 yrs you been there? or just started a few years back? So ya close the door the smell arrives..(door shut, no pressure should theoretically affect this room?) Is it above your wood burning stove? or is chimney near it?

Almost makes me wander if its something heating up..or excreeting a smell from the heat, warmth.. Like a glue on wall paper or something of that nature?

One other thought..check your attic N stuff for mold?.. See if there's black mold or mildew anywhere. Sometimes when that stuff dries out it smells funny..This happened at my girlfriends mom's house.. It smelled terrible when it was drying in the sun..

Here's another thought.. How about the stink pipe from your toilet?..does it reside anywhere near her room? (like, exiting through the roof near her room?) thats a possibility too i guess..

just REALLY odd its only during the crappy months of the year.. Wet, Damp, Cold at night, ok during day.. makes me wander if its something sweating or drying out when you fire up your wood burner.. Also, that guy said about bats in your attic? Thats a good question too.. If you do have bats up there, you GOTTA get that taken care of, cuz bat dung is very bad!! Got lots of fungus and germs and bacteria in it!

Imma keep watching this thread..its got me thinkin..

 

[mustangwagz]

Another thought..have you changed paint color in the room at all? ..and if so..has it started doing it since?

Heat might make the paint smell funny??

 

[volks-man]

Ok folks I have a great mystery I cannot figure out.
Every fall my daughters room smells like cat pee for about 2 months oct-nov. we don’t own a cat, nor have we ever owned a cat the 15 years we have been in the house.
This year the smell is VERY strong so much so we don’t let her sleep in there. My wife and I have been on our hands and knees smelling everything. Last weekend I took EVERYTHING out of her room and cleaned her carpet with a pro machine. I also washed her walls down all to no avail.
Since the smell begins around the same time I fire up the wood stoves I was thinking it has something with the slight negative pressure it creates. But I am grasping at straws. Any Ideas?

you could be on to something here.you likely have a moisture problem that has soaked some of the wood around a window or up near an eave, or even at floor level near the mudsill and rim joist. vinyl siding is far from water tight especially around doors and windows when the installer does not flash or caulk properly.
i have seen OSB sheathing fail miserably around windows and doors. OSB usually ends up a mush, barely holding shape or falling apart, and it usually is molding and stinks.

the negative pressure could be drawing a good deal of your combustion air through the hole in the wet, smelly sheathing.

 

[deutzman]

Are you burning red oak wood? And if so do you keep a supply in the basement or in the house or near the house? Red oak smells like cat piss to me. More so when it's green but can still smell it when it's dry.

I built a heating system back in 1983 and had the woodstove in a small building 6' from my house. I could store 2 rows of wood 7'x10' ea. If there was red oak in that building we all could smell it in the house too.

 

[Circle B MN]

Perhaps being drawn in from a sewer pipe...? Any dry traps in the house..? Perhaps a run of pipe that has not been used in some time. An open inspection or cleanout..?

 

[Bcat22]

Might be a stretch, but is it ladybugs?

This time of year is always when they're infiltrating homes, getting inside and dying etc. These bugs emit a very potent odor, especially when threatened. Could they possibly be getting in the walls of the home etc and the smell is permeating through?

i gotta go with this theory. they can get into the smallest cracks and bunch together to stay warm for the winter. they might be in the over hang for your roof near her room. look for little dirty looking spots near her windows, even if you cant see the bugs, you might see signs of them.

that being said, i had a renter who let her cat piss all over the floor in the utility room of my rental. its been 8 years, new carpet and painted the subfloor with high gloss paint and i can still smell it if the house has sat emptie for a few weeks. i would think if it really was a cat though that you would smell the worse off spots when sniffin the floor, i know i can.

good luck, i know how annoying a bad smell can be

 

[nomak]

Ok folks I have a great mystery I cannot figure out.
Every fall my daughters room smells like cat pee for about 2 months oct-nov. we don’t own a cat, nor have we ever owned a cat the 15 years we have been in the house.
This year the smell is VERY strong so much so we don’t let her sleep in there. My wife and I have been on our hands and knees smelling everything. Last weekend I took EVERYTHING out of her room and cleaned her carpet with a pro machine. I also washed her walls down all to no avail.
Since the smell begins around the same time I fire up the wood stoves I was thinking it has something with the slight negative pressure it creates. But I am grasping at straws. Any Ideas?

Dont know if this applies but is it possible a squirrel is in the wall by chance other rodent beside mice or rat.. I once had a squirel in my sons room in the wall and had to remove the insulation and replace due to the smell it left behind. of course all this was done after the squirel problem was done away with. just a thought because it is getting colder at night and some squirels choose a warm wall of a house versus a nest of leaves in a tree..HTH...

 

[Wood Scrounge]

I'm going to seal the window up with some plastic this weekend I think I can isolate the room from the outside to determine if the smell is on the inside or outside.
there in no plumbing on that side of the house.
if I can't find it in the next week or two I will yank the carpet and paint.