Bad smell in living room/hall

[rconnell]

Hi, we just bought an upstairs maisonette (Enter own door and go up stairs then into living room). There is an awful smell at the top of the stairs and into the living room. It has now been there for >2 months. We have lifted the carpets and removed wallpaper of the walls and there is nothing left but the structure of the building (plasterboard walls and concrete floors).
It is a musty smell but there is no mould and it is not near any sewer pipes (the bathroom has been gutted as we are replacing and there is no smell in there).
We are stumped as to what might be causing the smell - any ideas on what it is or how to remove it would be welcome!

 

[Alarm]

Lift a floorboard.

 

[rconnell]

Hi, the floors are concrete. The stairs are wooden so we are going to lift one of them tomorrow to have a look but don't believe it will help as it smells like its more on the landing/living room ie where the floor is concrete

 

[KenGMac]

Question?

Are there any "void" / vacant properties near your flat?, If so the smell can emanate from one of them.

When you first viewed the property was the smell there?

One thing you may wish to consider is getting the Local Authoritys "Environmental Health Department" involved they can at times be very pro active in assisting ? They have power to investigate and control a potential nuisance or potential public health issue.

Having worked in older maisonettes in Darnley in Glasgow, one thing to check is that the fan assisted vent in the toilet is working. More especially that the extract is actually extracting air and not blowing it back into the bathroom. The way to do this is seriously simple, hold a single piece of toilet tissue against the extract and see if the paper is sucked towards the grill / vent, or blown away from it. If the fan is working in reverse, or there is a blockage in the system somewhere then the paper will blow away from the vent grill. this problem is a landlord issue,

 

[foxhole]

Previous owner have pets?

 

[KenGMac]

foxhole makes a very good point.

I saw one home in a property similar to yours that had two very large dogs, never walked , but kept in one room. The room had no carpets, just floorboards, with a concrete bison floor below.

On vacating the home the housing association had to strip out the flooring and "sanitise2 the concrete.

Having said that if when you first viewed the property it would have been very, shall we say "pungent" with doggy odours

 

[misterhelpful]

Just a thought: Is there a loft hatch at the top of the stairs where the smell could be eminating from?

I remember a number of years back that one of my neighbours enjoyed more than the odd puff of a certain substance and the smell would come through the partially open loft space (terraced house). I decided to block the ends of the attic space up and that stopped the smell. Could this sort of thing be a possible cause in your case. If so, it could be a dead bird or something else causing the smell, if there is even a loft/hatch there.