Stale Bedroom Smell

Joined
23 Jan 2008
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Location
Lincolnshire
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United Kingdom
Hi all, This is probably going to sound strange but hopefully someone may be able to offer some kind of explanation or advice. We live in a 4 bed detached house which is 4 years old. We have developed a rather unusual smell in one bedroom on the middle floor. We can only liken the smell to that of Stale Cigarette Smoke. The thing is, no-one in the house smokes, nor has anyone smoked in the house...ever. This smell only affects this room and disappears if we open the window and ventilate the room. We have removed everything from the room and washed the curtains and carpet and cannot smell anything on the floor, walls or ceiling. Yet if we close the door and window at night, the stale cigarette smell is back again by the morning. There is'nt any mold growing on the walls nor can we feel any damp patches anywhere. We are also pretty sure that the smell is not coming in from outside as it occurs regardless of weather conditions or wind direction. Has anyone ever experienced this sort of problem before? Many Thanks for reading. Stu
 
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My first thoughts when i read this was possibly a loose connection on one of your sockets or switches.
 
I know what you mean alastairreid, but it is not that sort of smell that you get from electic arcing. It is more like someone has regularly smoked in the room and the stale smell of cigarettes/nicotene is impregnated in the walls. Although we cannot find any damp patches or signs of mold anywhere, one of the bedroom walls backs onto our main bathroom and another wall backs onto the main bedroom shower room. Possibly something may be slightly damp within the stud walls. We were wondering if it is possible that a type of mold or mildew could be causing the smell?
 
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Quite possible the shower cubicle is leaking.
The previous house to the one I'm in now was only 13 years old when I bought it and there was a stain on the ceiling downstairs within months, right under the shower cubicle. It only needed the shower cubicle regrouting to cure that dampness.
But 10 years after that, when I gutted the bathroom, the floor under the shower cubicle was rotten. The lowest 500mm or so of plasterboard backing the tiles was rotten. All the mortar supporting the tray was damp. But there were no 'visible' signs of dampness.

I suspect the only non-invasive exploration you can do is:
Check the grouting and/or tiles for any sign of potential damp penetration,
With a meter check for any sign of dampness around the perimeter of the shower cubicle.
Perhaps, using a little "See-Snake" camera, inspect inside the stud walls/floors. Something like this:
http://www.redboxinspection.com/?gclid=CMmMkYmjj6kCFYIKfAodVSEsqQ

Available for hire.

After that, I think, it's quite invasive exploration.
 

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