Nasty smell when gas fire on: please read - very odd!

[fathertobe]

Not sure where to post this.

We moved into this house (1850s) about a month ago and I've noticed an odd problem ...

There is a double reception room downstairs. In the front half of the room, there is a coal-effect gas fire - ie fake coals and you light it.

A few weeks ago I heard the unmistakeable scratching of a small animal in the wall cavity in the rear half of the reception room. I assumed mouse but given the floor is tight floorboards, I couldn't do much about it.

Now, I've suddenly noticed a nasty smell coming from under the floorboards in the rear half of the reception room. To me, it's the smell of small animal corpse rotting. I've had it in previous houses. But, and this is the strange bit, the smell is only detectable when we have the gas fire in the front half of the reception room on!

Any ideas before I start the quite tricky job of lifting floorboards? E.g. what could be the physical explanation of this oddity? Is there anyone I can call? Who deals with this kind of problem?

Thanks in advance.

 

[masona]

How about removing the air-brick and shine a torch with a mirror before taking the floorboards up.

 

[bernardgreen]

When the fire is alight the air currents will be different, warm air in the room will rise. If it can escape up the chimney or via doors into hall etc the air to needed to replace it may be coming up from under the floor boards. If so then the odour will come with it.

 

[fathertobe]

Thanks for these comments.

There is no air-brick; so that might be tricky. Essentially the whiff is coming up through the floorboards.

As for the air current explanation, that does sound sensible. So now I'm wondering how long a small animal takes to decompose vs taking up floorboards. Any thoughts?

 

[bernardgreen]

Thanks for these comments.
There is no air-brick; so that might be tricky. Essentially the whiff is coming up through the floorboards.

An air brick would reduce damp and other nasty problems ( such as prolonged smells trapped in dead air ( ie non moving air )

As for the air current explanation, that does sound sensible. So now I'm wondering how long a small animal takes to decompose vs taking up floorboards. Any thoughts?

Can be a few weeks. Depends on size of corpse. temperature, dampness and anything else down there.

 

[fathertobe]

Thanks. It actually a party wall. Do people put air bricks in party walls?

 

[masona]

Air bricks should be mostly in external wall, it's unusual not to have air-bricks with sub wooden flooring unless they have been rendered over(?)

 

[chessspy]

It's a trap!

 

[RigidRaider]

If you read up on chimneys you will appreciate how a burning fire reduces the pressure inside a room by sending a column of hot air up the flue. You will then understand why the smell is getting sucked up between the floorboards.

Best just to live with it - the corpse will dry out in a couple of weeks and stop smelling.

 

[Agile]

Best just to live with it - the corpse will dry out in a couple of weeks and stop smelling.

But that was in January 2007 !!!

I am sure the corpse will have dried out by now!!!

Anyway he is having the rear room remodeled from a bathroom into a bedroom now.

Tony