Have you noticed a rotten smell coming up through your floor? And is it even worse if you go outside around the perimeter of your house? And does the smell seem to have intensified over the past couple of days? Well, the good news is that you now know where the smell is coming from – your crawl space. The bad news is that you may not know what’s causing it or how to fix it.
The smell could be the result of a couple of things. First ask yourself if the smell is on the musty side or worse yet, on the rotting side. Determining which it is will help you figure out what the culprit is.
Musty/Moldy – If the small is musty, it means that moisture has collected. Are there items in the crawl space that shouldn’t be there? Like trash that has blown in or items leftover from a past repair? If there are and they’ve gotten damp or are sitting in water, they’re rotting and could be casting off a dank odor. The other problem could be mold. Crawl spaces often have earth floors which attract and hold moisture. And moisture means humidity which encourages mold to grow. That mold can and will cause any wood in the space to rot and voila! It smells! The bad news is that mold can be very harmful to our respiratory system – mold is bad!
Concrete Floor – What if you have a concrete floor in your crawl space? What could make that smell musty? The short answer is humidity – something that all of us in Florida are used to. High humidity means moisture that seeps into the concrete, forming bacteria that smells. If your concrete floor is older, it will have developed cracks which are the ideal place for moisture to collect and mold to grow.
Gaggy Stinky – Now if the smell is so stinky that it almost makes you gag, it’s probably because of a dead animal. After all, crawl spaces are the Ritz Carlton for vermin! That includes snakes, squirrels, rats, etc. And nothing smells as bad as a rotting animal. If you’ve ever smelled one, you know exactly what we’re talking about. It can be gut wrenching! And don’t forget, animal feces emit odors also. Long story short, you don’t want vermin in your crawl space dead or alive!
You know that your crawl space smells, but chances are you probably don’t really want to crawl in there to determine what is causing the stink. If you do happen to venture in there, do you know what to do to get rid of the smell? Yes, you can dispose of items or carcasses, but that won’t eliminate the problem or the smell. That’s where you need a professional to step in. Not only can they tolerate the smells (hard to believe, huh?), but they will know what to do so that the problem doesn’t recur.
How A Professional Can Help Get Rid of Stinky Smells
Our professionals will inspect your crawl space and determine the cause of the odor. They’ll treat the odor with a variety of solutions at their disposal, including a natural treatment that acts as a disinfectant and deodorizer leaving behind a fresh clean scent. This treatment is ideal for water damaged areas.
After removing any debris (including dead vermin), we’ll make our recommendations as to how to avoid this in the future. It could include having leaky pipes fixed, suggesting ways to improve the air flow and ways to block the entrances so little animals don’t enter.
Don’t live with the smell! Call us as soon as you notice it. Remember, the smell will only get worse with time!
(Outgoing links go to our sister company: Crawl Space Odor Eliminator)
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