The only solution is to take a good flashlight and follow your nose.

You’ll think the sewage lines are overflowing. Invariably, some of these will die in your house, leading to a horrific smell. This can be reduced by having a well sealed house, but they’re clever and they’ll find any little opening to get in. In my area, the field mice flood in ever winter. #2 – there might be a dead mouse/animal somewhereĭuring the winter, mice and other critters want to come in from the cold and live in your home. Once you’ve lived with one, you’ll wonder how you managed without it. Every modern home should have one of these. If you don’t know about HRV’s and ERV’s (heat recovery ventilators and energy recovery ventilators) read this short post. So if you live in a tight house, you want to ensure you have adequate fresh air or your house will get stale and smell. That’s why building best-practices call for a certain amount of fresh air circulation. You can’t just air-seal the house and have a healthy house. The problem is, many builders and architects don’t understand that a house is a complex system.

#1 – your house might not be adequately ventilatedįirst, let me address the energy efficient house issue.

It’s one of the reasons that there’s been a backlash against tight houses. In fact, with tight, energy efficient homes, this has become even more of an issue. People often ask: “why does my house smell?” Often, this is during the winter because your house is sealed up for months, with little fresh air. Yes, that’s your illustrious author making the “stink face”

House smells like rottenwood in vents