Persistent musty odour in airing cupboard and flat

[adamt11]

Hi,

I have a long-term issue with a persistent musty, earthy odour throughout my council-rented flat. It's particularly annoying because the musty smell gets inside all of my clothes and belongings.

The smell is present in every room of the flat and is particularly strong when opening the airing cupboard, where the odour is more yeasty/beer-like. I read that the airing cupboard might be acting as a chimney, drawing up dispersing odour throughout the subflooring space (which apparently is all connected). It would explain why there's a musty smell in every room despite no visible signs of mould or rot.

I have temporarily covered the airing cupboard floor using a bin liner and masking tape to reduce airflow from below (I didn't cover all the gaps). I feel that doing this has slightly reduced the overall smell in the flat, and when I opened the cupboard the smell is certainly less intense. However, it's only a 20% overall reduction and the smell is still present in my clothes.

A council surveyor will be coming round in a week or so to inspect the airing cupboard. I would like to know what I should say especially if they try to say it's normal and there's no issue.

Thanks in advance.

 

[endecotp]

Is there a flat downstairs? Are they brewing beer in their airing cupboard?

 

[adamt11]

Is there a flat downstairs? Are they brewing beer in their airing cupboard?

Yes there's a flat downstairs. It only vaguely smells of stale beer, it's really just more of a strong, musty smell.
When they smoke downstairs that smell comes up too, but that's just a cigarette smell and not the constant mustiness I'm describing.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Yes there's a flat downstairs. It only vaguely smells of stale beer, it's really just more of a strong, musty smell.

They will need to investigate the flat downstairs, and maybe the ceiling of the flat downstairs, to see if there are any water leaks, from the pipes under your floor.