Foul odor in laundry room - has lasted at least 4 months...

[karceb1]

We found a few mice in the garage a few months ago & used traps and bait and sealed all holes... haven't seen any mice or had any activity since. We have had a nasty smell coming from behind our laundry room wall for about 4 months. The garage is on the same wall as the laundry room. We initially thought that one died back there, but can't believe the smell would still be happening at least 4 months later. One thought is that they perhaps built a nest in the wall and we are smelling the nest (?). Or the smell from the nest is in the insullation? We have cut small holes in the wall, but can't see anything back there. We only smell it when the weather is warm. The smell is definitely from behind the wall & doesn't have anything to do with the washing machine, drains or the sewer pipes (we've ruled those things out). Also we have never heared any noise from in the wall. We have looked around the wall outside the house and can't see anything and don't see any flies anywhere - inside or out. The house was built in 1998. Any ideas would be appreciated. It doesn't seem possible that a dead mouse could smell for this long, does it? If it is possible for the mouse smell to get in the insullation - should I just spray some odor neutralizer up there? I've tried putting baking soda all over the place and also leaving a bowl of white vinegar out.... which just gave me a vinegar/dead smell combination. Do I need to cut out more of the wall and have my husband go 'hunting'.... Thanks for any advice.

 

[Cookie]

Nothing worse then a dead mouse, or mice. I own a camp and had that problem once when the mouse fell into a can and couldn't get out. Well, it was awful, like the Amityville Horror movie with flies everywhere. The smell lasted quite sometime. Now, we were able to see it so, I can only imagine how awful it must be coming from behind a wall. I would imagine it could last unfortunately, sometime. In answer to one of your questions, if it were my house, I would ask my husband to cut out some of the wall to try to find it. That is just me. I would think, he would only need to cut the bottom out because the mouse would probably fall and be laying on the bottom. I doubt it is a nest. If it is they are really small compared to a full-grown mouse. Yuk.

 

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[nazrat]

We had the same kind of problem. It turned out that we had mildew inside the washing machine tub above the water line. I disassembled the machine and cleaned it once, which only cleared the smell for a short time. We ended up replacing it.

Might want to lean your head into the washer and see if it is the source of the smell.

-Tad