Smell help - need to pick your brains

InsaneCdn

Well-Known Member
Next politically-incorrect question... any chance of a dead body hanging around there somewhere? Not necessarily human, but... it's a smell that really permeates...
 

DammitJanet

Well-Known Member
You have an issue with cracks between your apartment and the downstairs apartment. Something isnt tight enough if the smells are getting from one floor to the other. In other words, it isnt sealed tightly enough. By any chance are any of the walls brick? That is common for the mortar to become porous over time and the odors from one unit to find their way to the other units. Pretty much the only way to stop that is to go back over the mortar with maybe sealant to seal them completely. Maybe paint the brick with one of those paints that stop odors. As far as floors go, if you can get your landlord to go for it, I might attempt to put down another vapor barrier but this time with a sealant that contains an odor blocker. With the pipes, you need to have good caulking in his house and yours. He should not have any holes in his house that would allow his apartment smells to leave his apartment except for his fan over his range and of course, his open windows.
 

Mattsmom277

Active Member
I think Janet is probably correct at the steps that can be taken to minimize odors coming up to your apartment.

My aunt lives in a building and she is highly sensitive to cig smoke. The tenant below her smoked for years and my aunt was constantly ill from it coming up to her apartment. Her building is well kept but it was pretty much how Janet described. She could tell when the tenant was away and could tell the moment tenant returned because tenant would light up downstairs and she could smell it. So I can see how nasty body odor could creep into your space.

Of course management cannot make your neighbor bathe. Could they not alert neighbor that offensive odors are finding their way outside the apartment and notify them that they must correct the situation? It could be worded to imply it could be garbage or stale laundry etc and to please rectify whatever problem is causing odors to travel to other units, thus impeding the reasonable enjoyment of other tenants living spaces.
 
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HaoZi

Guest
Janet, I'll have to ask if they have some of that stuff available, I didn't even think about that. No, the buildings aren't brick, but I do have drafts in some areas.

Inc - not to be gross, but I can tell you this, it's a living smell. And I won't explain, but I can tell the difference between human decomp, possum decomp, rodent decomp, reptile decomp, and other mammal decomp. Don't ask, but yes, even smoking my nose is that good as long as my sinuses aren't acting up. And maggots have their own nasty smell, too. There are reasons upon reasons I'm no longer a criminal justice major.

MM27 - I think they've tried repeatedly, and that's why it's not as bad as it has been in the past, but the fact that it continues (even at a lower level) is why it's permeating.

ETA: I have found that when the smell comes up in the pipes (in, not around, I don't even what to know what they put in the garbage disposal to make that!), that Drano crystals does a wonderful job of clearing that up.
 
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Star*

call 911........call 911
Go to a cleaning / after disaster clean up place in your town. I'm thinking Ozium. Ask them if there is something that will permeate your dwelling - I know ozium is fairly strong - perhaps you could get a timed metered spray for your apartment? Perhaps they will have a suggestion of something that will saturate your house and soak into theirs? Maybe spray into your carpet to de-stink Peppe La Pew's house? Maybe you could start sending him samples in the mail of Body wash?

I know for a fact that cigar smoke, body odor, animal odor - even extreme cockroach infestation is NOT a reason for eviction in a HUD situation because we used to get contracts to clean them. If this is how a person chooses to live? This is their choice. DHEC says - then it is YOUR choice to move. Someone else will surely and gladly take YOUR apartment.
 

SRL

Active Member
Go to a cleaning / after disaster clean up place in your town. .

I think this is a good idea. They deal with odor clean up all the time.

Could sewer gas be at least part of the problem? It would explain why he would smell, as well as the seeping apartment odors.
 
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HaoZi

Guest
Go to a cleaning / after disaster clean up place in your town. I'm thinking Ozium. Ask them if there is something that will permeate your dwelling - I know ozium is fairly strong - perhaps you could get a timed metered spray for your apartment? Perhaps they will have a suggestion of something that will saturate your house and soak into theirs? Maybe spray into your carpet to de-stink Peppe La Pew's house? Maybe you could start sending him samples in the mail of Body wash?

I know for a fact that cigar smoke, body odor, animal odor - even extreme cockroach infestation is NOT a reason for eviction in a HUD situation because we used to get contracts to clean them. If this is how a person chooses to live? This is their choice. DHEC says - then it is YOUR choice to move. Someone else will surely and gladly take YOUR apartment.

OMW I just googled that stuff and it's expensive! Only if they'll bill the neighbor will I order that!

Just to clarify for everyone, it has been confirmed through several sources that it biological and mostly body odor sourced smells. Him, his clothes, etc. Yeah, I know. It's even worse when they do laundry. Like, once a month. This is why I invested in a counter-top washer and a spin-dryer of my own and my neighbor takes her clothes to her mom's.
 

SRL

Active Member
I googled eliminate body odor room and one option that came up were industrial-type products for eliminating body odor in locker rooms and similar places. That might be worth looking into.

This was the first of this type link to show up: http://www.clearoma.com/sports.html

I suspect anything that works well, isn't going to be dirt cheap. Sorry you're having to deal with this.
 

buddy

New Member
I had a room-mate once who had terrible bo and she told me other people had told her that too, she was very sweet but had this problem. It was a live in work situation so we had to share a room in a group home we were working in. I literally could not sleep at night. She would shower and put deodorant on and the smell was in her deodorant, her bedding everything. I have never experienced it since. I can believe it can get that bad. Do they have pets too...?? maybe there are layers of smells.
 

AnnieO

Shooting from the Hip
:sigh: Ugh...

Here's something a little interesting... Can you stand the smell of patchouli oil?

If so... (I like it) - it will cover up a LOT of smells. Including BO and weed. It's sort of gained a reputation for being used by "dirty hippies".

There's a place near my house that sells it, and a little goes a LONG way - also, Yankee Candle has a patchouli scented candle. Head shops probably carry it, too... It's been a while since I was in one...
 

witzend

Well-Known Member
It doesn't matter whether it's biological or the guy just stinks. He's ruining the marketability of his apartment by stinking it up. Call HUD and tell them to inspect that apartment. Your manager is not ever going to bring them into that apartment. They can get low/no costs loans from HUD to manage the smell issue, and HUD will absolutely force him to deal with it before they sign off on the final loan. It's affecting your livability, and it needs to be dealt with. Make sure that HUD knows they need to inspect that apartment. It's just a phone call.
 
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HaoZi

Guest
Last inspection they tossed someone like this, so it wouldn't surprise me if maint team steered HUD their way. I'll ask maint how it went down last time, because when I said something they asked if I could hold on until this inspection (I asked about two weeks ago), so... I think they're planning to have HUD get them out or force them (neighbors) to do whatever needs doing that the landlords and maint can't force them to do (or scare them into it or something). I'm not sure exactly what, but I know the lead maint guy has some idea up his sleeve about how to fix it or get them out, and it involves this HUD inspection, but he didn't tell me what it was.
 

witzend

Well-Known Member
I think they're planning to have HUD get them out or force them (neighbors) to do whatever needs doing that the landlords and maint can't force them to do (or scare them into it or something). I'm not sure exactly what, but I know the lead maint guy has some idea up his sleeve about how to fix it or get them out, and it involves this HUD inspection, but he didn't tell me what it was.

I hope so! Sounds like a plan!
 
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HaoZi

Guest
Shoot Witz, I was hoping you'd have some idea what he was planning! Between you, Hound, and a couple other ladies, I think you could run HUD nationally yourselves and do a better job of it, y'all certainly seem to know so much about the ins and outs of it that it leaves me confused, lol. C'mon, drop me a hint, pretty please. Or an idea of what you'd plan.
 

Star*

call 911........call 911
Get SUsie Star to come with that black robe of hers. ROFL.....and do that chant thing she did in college - that would scare the tar out of me.
 

susiestar

Roll With It
First, go get some charcoal, the kind you burn in a grill, and put it in a dish in the oven. It will absorb the odor and help get it so food won't smell like that. This guy would have been BFF's with my bro about 15-20 yrs ago. As near as Dad and I can figure, Bro chose his friends by how bad they stunk. Some of them were so bad that five min in the house, with-o ever coming out of my room, I knew they were there. Bro brought one such friend home for Xmas because the friends were mostly international students, and my dad told him the guy had to go less than 24 hrs later. My dad has never, before or since, insisted that a guest has to leave. Bro was angry because in this guy's home country when you invite someone to stay they come and stay as long as they like, even up to months at a time. Dad informed him that this is the USA and if the guy didn't want to be sued for the bedding his odor had ruined, he would leave. We had to have 2 couches and a recliner professionally cleaned and had to throw away a mattress and all the bedding and towels from the guest room and bath the guy stayed in.

So yes, I do know that odor that you are talking about. It is NASTY. Charcoal will absorb almost every odor, and you don't lite it or burn it. Just put it in a pan or dish in the oven and on other surfaces.

Clove oil can most affordably be found in the candy making/Wilton area of stores like Hobby Lobby and Michaels. LorAnn, the co that makes the flavored oils for candy making and cooking, is owned by the Wilton company. A little goes a LONG way, and it helps with toothaches too.

Your BEST friend if you live in an apartment is the maintenance guy. I worked in a store owned by a guy who owned a lot of college rental property. Repairs were mostly a joke if you already lived there, but if you wanted them you had to know someone. The best someone was always the maintenance guy. From my first college apt, there were always cokes and beer in the fridge and I told the maintenance guys to help themselves. I also left fresh baked cookies on the counter, or muffins etc... usually with a note to them to enjoy them. When work orders for my apt came up, they were fought over and the manager could NEVER figure out why. If they were not telling her, I sure wasn't, lol.

So be nice to your maintenance guys and they will probably help get the guy evicted. I hope they do because that smell is AWFUL.

In the meantime, charcoal is one thing that the guys who are paid to clean high end hotel rooms that are nonsmoking but someone smoked in them anyway recommended - my mom had some as students. She was floored to hear they got $1-5 thousand to clean a room that had been smoked in. Not at the budget hotels, of course, but at the really high end ones. This was 10 yrs ago and I am sure there are chemicals that work faster, but charcoal is amazingly powerful.
 

flutterby

Fly away!
I would wipe your counters, cupboards (inside and out), floors, baseboards, and walls with vinegar and water. I would then keep bowls of apple cider vinegar in the cabinets. Peppermint candles work best for covering smells, but they only cover it. You can also try Odo-ban. No advice on how to get rid of the smell inside the oven.

I couldn't stand it. I'm so intensely sensitive to smells - it makes me sick. There are very few smells that I can tolerate. I hope this HUD inspection fixes it.
 

SRL

Active Member
First, go get some charcoal, the kind you burn in a grill, and put it in a dish in the oven. It will absorb the odor and help get it so food won't smell like that. This guy would have been BFF's with my bro about 15-20 yrs ago.

I'm pretty sure I read that regular charcoal for the grill has chemical additives to promote burning that make it unsafe for this usage. I think it's deactivated charcoal that's used for filtering and absorbing.
 
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HaoZi

Guest
I forgot, the fish stuff is carbon (used to refill filters), not charcoal, but it also absorbs odors. One guess what I forgot to pick up while I was at Wal-Mart.
 
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