Ask the Architect

A smell we can’t find

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Q. Each spring for the past few years, we’ve had this horrible smell in our house, and we’ve searched high and low but can’t locate where it’s coming from. We’ve had exterminators and animal-control specialists look, but nobody can find the source. What can you suggest we look for or try? It is hard to go to that part of the house, the smell is so bad.

A. A few years back, another reader wrote about the same kind of problem, but their issue wasn’t seasonal. It was so intriguing that I had to go and look and, unfortunately, the smell was as bad as they described. The initial problem wasn’t solved, because we just didn’t look far or long enough, but the smell was ever-present. A second trip — and more questions about sounds, smells and timing, and a search for every tiny opening in the siding, soffits, roofing and other exterior areas — revealed nothing. Then we discussed the attached garage, and how the attic was accessible from inside, not outside. We found the answer when the owner pulled down the section of ceiling where the smell was worst, revealing the carcass of a cat that had gotten into an open garage door, climbed some stacked boxes and fell into a tight space where it couldn’t get out.

Animals seek warmth in cold weather, and a space to birth their young and protect them. In the winter, raccoons, with strong claws and opposing thumbs, like humans, manage to pry open siding, roofing and vents to get into warm spaces, and just as it happened in my own home, give birth right overhead, in the ceiling. We even heard the cries of the mother and, weeks later, saw those cute little offspring scampering across our roof. The amniotic fluid not only left a stain on the ceiling but also a horrendous smell.

We learned about diseases from the toxic cleanup specialist our insurance covered to remove the mess. Our home was converted into a hazardous cleanup site where the entire area, back to the bare wall studs, was removed and sprayed with surfactants (cleaning and coating solutions) to get rid of the dangerous fluids and defecation the raccoons left behind. Our ceilings had become their bathroom. One of many things I learned was that viruses, such as toxoplasmosis, can be spread once the animal is in your home, causing neurological damage to cats and dogs. Our elderly dog started showing symptoms, and had to be euthanized when she could no longer function. Old age weakened her, and the suspected virus was too much.

You need to really study your home’s every nook and cranny, where even a small animal, such as a mouse, could get in. Mice climb and squeeze into spaces as small as a dime and may birth or die and decompose there. Isolate the worst area and have a specialist do the removal. Good luck!

© 2016 Monte Leeper. Readers are encouraged to send questions to yourhousedr@aol.com, with “Herald question” in the subject line, or to Herald Homes, 2 Endo Blvd., Garden City, NY 11530, Attn: Monte Leeper, architect.