We recently moved into a house that had stood empty for some time, and we're having a lot of trouble shifting an unpleasant musty smell which we're concerned may be a sign of mould. It's the kind of smell you would associate with damp and is quite strong around the entrance hall and living room, and to some extent the downstairs toilet, but not so much the other rooms or upstairs except when the windows are open and the smell drifts through the house. At first, we kept internal doors shut to prevent it spreading and just tried to air the problem areas, but since then we've been opening all the doors and windows to get a really good through-draught. We tried using a carpet cleaning machine and a dehumidifier but it made little difference. We have also removed blinds and used bicarbonate of soda on the carpets, along with white vinegar - all the usual stuff recommended for odour removal. Despite persisting with this for a few weeks, it doesn't seem to be getting any better (although confusingly, it does seem to fluctuate with no obvious pattern as to when it's better or worse).
The house is a mid-80s build and is generally very well-maintained, with no visible signs of damp on carpets or interior walls. The exterior walls have some slightly green areas on the lower brickwork, but nothing that I'd regard as out of the ordinary. There is a large brick fireplace in the living room with white residue on the bricks, but it looks like effloresence rather than mould. It's very hard to pin down the smell to a precise area - it just seems to linger in the air, but it must be coming from somewhere. I keep wondering if there's damp underneath the floor somehow, but then there's nothing growing on the carpets and no feeling of dampness.
The smell is strong enough that it clings to clothes, bags etc and is quite noticeable when we leave the house, and it's a bit of a worry as I know there are health implications if we have mould spores floating around, not to mention the risk of contaminating all the soft furnishings, books or whatever else that we've moved into the house. As we rent the place, we've obviously taken this up with the landlords, but they seem nonplussed about it, saying they're not aware of any issues and the house was their own home for a good number of years before they downsized and decided to rent it out (we're the first tenants). Annoyingly, the smell wasn't quite so strong when they came round. For the time being, we just agreed that we'd spend a bit longer doing what we're doing and see if it improves, but it has only improved marginally at best, except for the odd moment when it seems to ease off for no obvious reason. We haven't really 'gone heavy' on this with the landlords as we were keen to get things off to a positive start with them and try what we could to solve it ourselves, but we're beginning to wonder if we might need to get a specialist in to try and figure it out. I don't know if the landlords would be liable for that when there's no visible signs of mould or damp, but it's pretty unpleasant so we're reluctant just to try and live with it. I'm also concerned that it might get a whole lot worse as we move into colder, damper weather and can't ventilate so much.
So, if anyone has knowledge or experience with this kind of issue - suggestions of things to try or potential causes to investigate - I'd be grateful for any advice.
The house is a mid-80s build and is generally very well-maintained, with no visible signs of damp on carpets or interior walls. The exterior walls have some slightly green areas on the lower brickwork, but nothing that I'd regard as out of the ordinary. There is a large brick fireplace in the living room with white residue on the bricks, but it looks like effloresence rather than mould. It's very hard to pin down the smell to a precise area - it just seems to linger in the air, but it must be coming from somewhere. I keep wondering if there's damp underneath the floor somehow, but then there's nothing growing on the carpets and no feeling of dampness.
The smell is strong enough that it clings to clothes, bags etc and is quite noticeable when we leave the house, and it's a bit of a worry as I know there are health implications if we have mould spores floating around, not to mention the risk of contaminating all the soft furnishings, books or whatever else that we've moved into the house. As we rent the place, we've obviously taken this up with the landlords, but they seem nonplussed about it, saying they're not aware of any issues and the house was their own home for a good number of years before they downsized and decided to rent it out (we're the first tenants). Annoyingly, the smell wasn't quite so strong when they came round. For the time being, we just agreed that we'd spend a bit longer doing what we're doing and see if it improves, but it has only improved marginally at best, except for the odd moment when it seems to ease off for no obvious reason. We haven't really 'gone heavy' on this with the landlords as we were keen to get things off to a positive start with them and try what we could to solve it ourselves, but we're beginning to wonder if we might need to get a specialist in to try and figure it out. I don't know if the landlords would be liable for that when there's no visible signs of mould or damp, but it's pretty unpleasant so we're reluctant just to try and live with it. I'm also concerned that it might get a whole lot worse as we move into colder, damper weather and can't ventilate so much.
So, if anyone has knowledge or experience with this kind of issue - suggestions of things to try or potential causes to investigate - I'd be grateful for any advice.
I would guess at least half a year but possibly a fair while longer. We have had the windows fully open near enough all day long for the past couple of weeks and the smell just seems to persist and drift around on the breeze but never actually goes.
Sounds like it's time to get back onto the landlords to see what they're prepared to do about it, given that we've tried everything we can reasonably think of.
