I've noticed a musty, earthy smell in my first floor council flat ever since I moved in. The smell gets inside my clothes and belongings which obviously isn't good. The floorboards are bare (no carpets or lino), but are in good condition and have no surface signs of mould or rot.
I decided to use a small camera to look underneath the floorboards. I put the camera through the gaps where the radiators go through the bedroom and lounge floors and also down the shower pump cupboard in the wet room. The material that looks clumpy and chalky is under the bedroom and living room, while the darker wood is under the wet room. I know some material is to be expected, but does any of this show red flags? Incidentally there was a leaky pipe underneath the wet room floor a few years ago and a lot of black mould inside the old pump cupboard, which they replaced when they fixed the underfloor pipe.
Looking at this, what could the problem and solution be? How likely is it that the debris is the main cause of the musty smell inside the flat (probably through the release of VOCs)? What should I focus on telling the council surveyor when they come round? Should the council be expected to lift all the floorboards and remove the debris? (seems unlikely they would). Is ventillation i.e. air vents the key? I haven't seen any vents on the outside walls of the building (my flat is on the end of a row). Is the 'solution' to cover the floors with carpet to try to block the smell, and how effective would this be? I can't imagine people who choose to have bare floor boards in their homes through choice or necessity putting up with these smells. Or is there another way of dealing with odour coming from the subfloor void?
I decided to use a small camera to look underneath the floorboards. I put the camera through the gaps where the radiators go through the bedroom and lounge floors and also down the shower pump cupboard in the wet room. The material that looks clumpy and chalky is under the bedroom and living room, while the darker wood is under the wet room. I know some material is to be expected, but does any of this show red flags? Incidentally there was a leaky pipe underneath the wet room floor a few years ago and a lot of black mould inside the old pump cupboard, which they replaced when they fixed the underfloor pipe.
Looking at this, what could the problem and solution be? How likely is it that the debris is the main cause of the musty smell inside the flat (probably through the release of VOCs)? What should I focus on telling the council surveyor when they come round? Should the council be expected to lift all the floorboards and remove the debris? (seems unlikely they would). Is ventillation i.e. air vents the key? I haven't seen any vents on the outside walls of the building (my flat is on the end of a row). Is the 'solution' to cover the floors with carpet to try to block the smell, and how effective would this be? I can't imagine people who choose to have bare floor boards in their homes through choice or necessity putting up with these smells. Or is there another way of dealing with odour coming from the subfloor void?
