1971 built house with musty smell. Solid brick walls downstairs (two rows of bricks no breezeblock) with timber frames upstairs. The house has concrete floors, but has a strange 2-3 inch timber floor to allow pipes underneath (see pics).
When we viewed the property it was occupied by three elderly people so I assumed it was just old furniture, fittings etc and the smell would dissapear.
A year on and the musty smell has not dissappeared. Before turning out attention to doing up the house (garden now finished) I would like to fix the smell obviously.
The previous occupants lived in the house for 27 years, but prior to this I have been told that the property lay empty for a while during which the pipes burst. This may have been before or after the strange timber floor was installed I dont know.
House has:
Where should I start looking to eliminate possible causes of the smell ?
I wondered if the smell was caused by lack of air circulation under the strange flooring. Since there is no airbricks there would be no air circulation underneath.
When we viewed the property it was occupied by three elderly people so I assumed it was just old furniture, fittings etc and the smell would dissapear.
A year on and the musty smell has not dissappeared. Before turning out attention to doing up the house (garden now finished) I would like to fix the smell obviously.
The previous occupants lived in the house for 27 years, but prior to this I have been told that the property lay empty for a while during which the pipes burst. This may have been before or after the strange timber floor was installed I dont know.
House has:
- No evidence at the bottom of the walls of damp or black mildew marks in corners. No flaking wallpaper.
- We do not get condensation on windows.
- Have lifted some floorboard sheets and can see black marks in some areas, but the concrete floor is dry with no sign of wetness.
- Concrete floor doesnt even look like its had a screed to smooth, so is very rough.
- The house does not have any air bricks on the outside, against an inside wall.
- Smell is really bad in the cupboard under the stairs.
- Drains run along the edge of front and back of house, but appear not to be blocked.
- No musty smell upstairs (apart from sons bedroom)
Where should I start looking to eliminate possible causes of the smell ?
I wondered if the smell was caused by lack of air circulation under the strange flooring. Since there is no airbricks there would be no air circulation underneath.