Tomorrow's project involves going over to Pelé's apartment and dealing with smells infiltrating into it.
Pelé really likes his apartment. He likes the location. He likes the rent. He likes the amenities
He does NOT like the smells that infiltrate through the south wall of his apartment. According to him, the smells are coming in through the recessed lighting fixture and the electrical outlets. It could be a neighbor smoking or it could be dead rodents in the walls.
My plan is to seal the wall outlet and switches with foam gaskets beneath the wall-plates (covers).
The openings in the recessed light "cans" will get high-temperature, foil tape. He uses LEDS, so cooling is less of an issue than if he used incandescent bulbs. If there are holes lanced in the can where we cannot reach them, the back-up plan is to pack the space behind the bulb socket with fiberglass
Did I mention the amenities?
Pelé observed that the smell is sporadic. His apartment has a fireplace. I suspect that the chimney pulls a vacuum when the wind blows from certain directions and creates a negative pressure in his apartment that pulls the stenchy air from the walls. I am going to make sure the damper is closed and show him how to check for drafts. That involves closing the glass doors and applying a sheet of "Saran Wrap". If it gets sucked into the seams, he has a drafty chimney issue.
As a renter, he can tape some plastic film over the glass doors and seams and drape a decorative cover over the doors when he is not using it. Not an elegant solution because he will have to deal with tape residue in late-autumn when he wants to start using it again, but it will reduce the unwanted air being pulled into his apartment.
Good luck.
ReplyDeleteHaving dealt with smoking and dead rodents in walls, I will claim both are icky and smell nothing alike. I have no experience with smoked rodents or rodents that are smoking. If/when SHTF, smoked squirrel may be back on the menu...
ERJ, I wonder if you can get some of the modern press down wrap to seal the fireplace off?
ReplyDeleteFortunately (to date) we have been spared any significant smells.
At one place there was a dead rodent in the wall , I could see it but could not reach it. However you could throw garden lime on top of it and that stopped the odor. Good luck -Joe T.
ReplyDeleteRodents in the walls are obvious. Rodent urine is potent and will be the dominant odor. Dead rodents in the walls are also obvious. It smells like decomp. It'll also go away after about a month as the rodent mummifies. The possibility of a rat dying in the wall is why you don't want to use rat poison if you have rats or mice in the house. They'll eat it and then die in the wall or ceiling.
ReplyDeleteIf the "south wall" is adjacent to another apartment and the smell is "human," chances are you have a pig living next door. We had issues with roaches in our apartment in Alaska. When the neighbors were evicted the landlord said "Pete, you've GOTTA see this!" The apartment was by far the filthiest human habitat I've ever seen! When the place was cleaned up the roaches disappeared. The were coming through the adjoining plumbing between the two kitchens. That brings me to the fireplace. The two apartments may be sharing a common stack. If so, good luck, unless you want to seal the chimney off altogether!
Great tip regarding plumbing pass-throughs. I will add them to the list.
DeleteI agree with Pete.
ReplyDeleteIf all else fails just eat more beans.---ken
ReplyDeleteRemove any odor sources if possible, seal away as you discussed, and then an ozone generator to remove the odors. They require careful implementation but they work.
ReplyDelete