It may start as a feint tiny sound that you swear you hear but you pass it off as just a branch on the roof or maybe just your imagination. It’s not all day and when you ask your husband to listen of course it’s dead silent. A bit perplexed you try and put it out of your mind. You could be ironing or or reading a book some days later and again this far away sound catches your attention. You’ve narrowed it down to a section in the ceiling or a 6 foot area of the hall but when you investigate closer you can’t hear a thing. By now you sound like a kook unless of course others have heard it too and it’s difficult to know what to do. “Maybe if I just leave it be it’ll find its way out” you say to yourself in a kind of hopeful way.
Sure enough it’s been a couple of days and you haven’t heard a thing. Problem solved and you’re on with your busy life when another feint curiosity has got your attention. Not a sound this time but a pungent whiff of something that smells caustic. Like smelling salts for a mummy this aroma alarms you but it’s only temporary and just like your sound, you’re not sure where it originates. Since it didn’t last long you go about your day but this dreaded odor begins hitting you in waves. Now sounds are one thing and easy to deny but smells of a rotting carcass are entirely different. The smell is constant by now and putrid and even the most reluctant husband has got to take action.
This is just one scenario of course but no matter how it happens, smells of death in the wall have got to go. The 2 biggest problems with odors in the wall are. #1–Figuring out exactly where the smell is. I’m not sure why but sometimes you put your nose to a wall and just swear you’ve got something dead right there on the other side only to find out later it was several feet away. You may think tracking down a smell is easy but I’ve even had trouble finding a 20 pound opossum (click that link if you dare) . This brings up problem #2. Opening a wall can get quite expensive and if you don’t get the exact spot you’re forced to try again. Cutting the hole is no problem, ceiling it up is the trick.
Here’s a quick video of a call I did for a smell just recently. It illustrates the problem with mice in the wall and both the homeowner & I were sure that all the evidence led to just one spot. To see how I cut the holes and sealed them up take a look at my article “The Ten Minute Bath Trap.” It’s an excellent and professional way to get to your problem with very little damage and looks ‘clean’ when you’re finished. In the end my best advice is to just let the experts handle it . I think you’ll be glad you did. Good luck.
