4 Bad Smells Around the Home (and What To Do Next)

What’s that smell? If you’re planning to sell your home soon, it behooves you to ensure things smell more like fresh-baked cookies and bread rather than sewage. Sometimes, it’s hard to tell anything about a smell when you don’t know the cause.

You might have to do a little detective work, and once you discover the offending odor, you may be at a loss about what to do about the source. Fear not! Here are four bad smells around the home (and what to do next).

Septic System Stink

If you have a septic tank, you may have already encountered the distinct smell accompanying it when overflowing—not to mention several sights. If you recently encountered the issues associated with a tank due for a pumping and cleaning, here’s what to look and smell for. The stench of rotten eggs will fill the air, inside and outside the house. This is because the pH level of the tank’s contents has grown acidic, killing off the microbes that break down waste. Pumping and cleaning the tank is a job for a septic tank specialist rather than a plumber. They’ll quickly get rid of that odor and leave you with a refreshed septic system!

Garbage and Disposals

This should be an easy one to detect. If it smells like garbage, that’s probably what it is. Taking out the trash is just the first step toward getting rid of garbage stink. Make sure you’re cleaning out the liners, and scrub down the outside of the bin with household cleaner.

Sink garbage disposals are a different beast. Start by shutting off the power. Next, clean as much of the sink as possible. Then, drop or pour a garbage disposal deodorizer down the drain. You can also add a natural scent with peels from oranges, lemons, and limes and a healthy dose of baking soda.

Mice (or Worse) in the Walls

Death has a very distinctive smell; it’s a compound of rot, feces, and other nastiness. Keep this in mind when dealing with household pests. If you see a mouse, your first instinct might be to place rat or pest poison around the house. Unfortunately, doing so runs the risk of the creature dying after exposure in an inaccessible place.

As pests rot in the walls, the odor can grow overwhelming and last for weeks. Stick with traps or hire an exterminator. If the smell is persistent and you can’t arrange to open the wall near the source, keep the windows open, run fans, and place deodorizers. It’s unpleasant in the moment, but it will go away.

Miserable Mold

It’s important to be aware of this bad smell in your home and know what to do next because ignoring it can lead to health issues. Mold, of course, smells distinctively moldy—better adjectives might include wet, pungent, earthy, rotten, and otherwise gross. Mold lingers in wet and enclosed places. Check under the sink, the basement walls, bathrooms without windows or updated ventilation systems, and so forth. If you smell it but can’t find it, it may be in the walls. Call an inspector right away!