the smell of a dead critter in the basement

[-JQ-]

My dog is a cattle dog...only works with moving objects. I need a cadaver dog because I cannot find the obviously present dead vermin

[blind bat]

I live in a only New England house built in 1847. The house sits atop a granite foundation concealing a dirt crawlspace. To make matters worse we have an unused chimney that squirrels love to fall down. It took us a while to figure out that flies in the house meant there was something dead somewhere.

Guess who the wife appoints to the duty of dead critter removal?

[SiG Lady]

Though the critter was never seen or found, we could surely SMELL it: I noticed (one hot summer day) a rather putrid odor coming from one of my living room wall heater vents... and an even stronger odor (same variety) coming from under the kitchen sink--which was on the opposite side of the vent wall. Maintenance came in and opened up the under-sink sheetrock (and we nearly choked on the smell) and opened up a chunk of the wall near the little heater vent and performed a pretty thorough visual exam of the areas. We saw nothing.

The smell died off come the winter cold.

The following summer the odor returned, though admittedly not as bad. After that season it went away.

We subsequently blocked (with screens) some of the vents in the roofs that allowed washer-dryer venting because birds were finding their way in and nesting there, clogging the vents if nothing else. We figure that either a rodent OR a small bird had FALLEN into the wall through one of these un-screened vents and died in place, stimulating our olfactories in an annoying way. Ever since the screens were installed, we've had no further problems.

[GentlemanJim]

I know that smell

A few weeks ago, when I turned the swamp cooler in my shop on, I made a rather loud TING sound

Several days later, when I returned home from a trip, It stunk BIG TIME

Turned out a medium size rattle snake got whacked by the squirrel cage, and was dead in the bottom.

I am not pleased snakes are climbing into my cooler

Unwanted critters have an uncanny way of getting places they don"t belong

Jim

[Round_Gun_Shooter]

Sorry for discussion type post but i have found THIS works on everything I have tried it on.

I have used it for:

Squirrel dead on carpet in unoccupied house for three months

Field mice urine and death in vehicle HVAC system (When dealer told customer it would cost $1200 to repair)

Dead rodent in cellar

Dead Raccoon in attic

And it's designed use, fuel oil leak at heating unit

If you have a forced air HVAC system, spray some on the filter

I hate odors and use both the spray and the powder in my service truck to eliminate the smell from fuel after servicing heat equipment.

Good luck

Edited August 28, 2011 by Round_Gun_Shooter

[CocoBolo]

I know your pain, closed off half the house for months, Spend days with one of those camera's on a tube poking around the under belly of the house looking for it. We had a large colony of Racoons, Possiums, and snakes living a comfortable life under there, the central heat duct had a mojor leak and it was keeping them nice and warm.

Gentlemanjim I'll trade you some copperheads for a rattler, the wife put the cats water by the back door, we have a really bad drought here, you step out the back door in the dark on the way to work and there is a 6 foot copper head, crap!

[-JQ-]

Sorry for discussion type post but i have found THIS works on everything I have tried it on.

Good luck

Where do you buy it? I don't want to have to call them to find local dist...kinda lazy I s'pose.

They don't seem like they want to sell it on line.

Thanks Round gun!

[warpspeed]

What you need is a Terrier. My Welsh Terrier is a death machine for all small moving critters. Almost to a fault. She does not seem to be able to tell the difference between a cat and a skunk.

[Larry White]

Jimmy ?

[Round_Gun_Shooter]

Sorry for discussion type post but i have found THIS works on everything I have tried it on.

Good luck

Where do you buy it? I don't want to have to call them to find local dist...kinda lazy I s'pose.

They don't seem like they want to sell it on line.

Thanks Round gun!

Heating supply companies that sell Rectorseal. Call the 800 number in the link above and ask for a dealer near you. Or send me a PM and I will get you some powder and spray.

[2alpha]

I spent a huge amount of time trying to find the dead critter in my house. In the end found there was no water in a trap in the basement plumbing allowing the stench to enter the house. I learned something about plumbing the stinky way.