Posted on 08/12/2010 7:04:14 PM PDT by txroadkill
Need Freeper advice! Just got home from vacation and have discovered a horrible odor in the house. Ive tracked it down to one of the center walls and Im guessing that either a mouse or a squirrel died between the walls. Its a two story house so short of tearing down the dry wall I have no idea how to handle this. It stinks bad and is made worse by the 105 degree Texas heat. Any advice would be greatly appreciated; I dont even know who you would call for something like this!
Where did you go on Vacation?
Someplace cool I hope.
Remove the baseboard for a place to drill test holes.
IF you’re determined to look.
I’ll take your word for it.
If you have never done this before call a professional.
The smell should be gone in about 7-10 days
A blow fly will make a beeline for it!
Before you try any of the above 'rip it all out' tricks, try something very simple: Run water through all the sinks, tubs, showers, toilets for five minutes or so. You may just have some evaporation that took place in the 'traps', giving you some odiferous funk factor. If so -- instant fix. A touch of vinegar down the drains won't hurt, either.
Fascinating!
Standard drywall repair generally is not difficult with proper tools, materials, and experience. Carefully cut and save the hole for repatching later ( do not use a hammer ) ; saves lots of money and time.
Some spray on textures and other fancy textures can be a real challange.
Matching faded paint can be tough.
If really dead, then the mouse will dry out soon ( days ? ) and the smell should go away. If it is still alive or if the mouse moved its whole family in...then there is a bigger issue.
Is it making noises at night when the lights are out and the house is quiet ?
Port Isabel, it wasn’t much cooler but the fishing was great and the kids spent the whole week on the beach; they said you could hardly taste the oil!
At 105 degrees, that's likely the reason the poor rodent died.
Just leave it and the heat will eventually just cook the stink out of it.
Spend as much time as you can outside the house for the next few days, shop, eat out, visit friends. The odor will fade pretty quickly next week.
You can go the the trouble and expense of tearing up your walls but the mouse/rat smell will be gone soon and it might be hard to find it even after you tear your house up.
Oh and while you are out buy some scented candles.
LoL!
Visiting beaches Obama wont visit eh?
Its 105 degrees here.
We aint spending no time outside LoL
Desert life can suck at times, but we sure do guffaw at the blue states while they watch the Rose Parade at anything below 75 degrees.
Alternatively, a skunk may have sprayed under the house.
I didn’t say sit in the back yard. I said shop, visit people who have a/c, go to the movies, go to the library. Good grief we have had this happen twice here in our house, it stinks but it doesn’t last that long.
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