If you are particularly house proud, you are probably keen to make sure that your home always smells its best. This is a really important part of that, and you’ll want to know that you are able to keep your guests happy in this way too. The truth is that there are so many possible reasons why a home might not smell its best. And if there is a specific funny or strange smell that has recently appeared, that’s probably something that you want to pay attention to.
Part of the reason for that is that it could indicate a more serious underlying problem. But at the very least, you’ll want to make sure that you are going to deal with the smell so that your home is nicer to live in. With that in mind, here are some of the more common causes of strange smells around the home, and what you can hope to do about them.
Rotten Eggs
You might have noticed a smell of rotten eggs in your home. Actually, this could be much more dangerous than you think. Sometimes it’s the result of natural gas being leaked. Natural gas is used for cooking and heating in around half of US homes, and from time to time there is going to be a leak of it. However, in its natural form it doesn’t actually have an odor. So what gas companies do is they add a chemical that smells like rotten eggs to the pipework. This means that when it leaks, you really smell it - and your instinct is to run away.
So if you unaccountably suddenly smell rotten eggs, you’ll want to vacate the premises immediately, taking your family with you and not taking anything else on the way. You should then call the emergency services and explain that you think you have a gas leak. With gas, it’s best not to take any risks whatsoever.
Something Fishy
If you suddenly smell something a little fishy in the home, and you have not been cooking fish, alarm bells should start ringing. As it happens, the smell of fish is very similar to a smell that can occur when something goes wrong with electricity in the home. Specifically, this can happen when an electrical component is overheating or even burning. Clearly, that can be a hazard and could lead to a fire in the home, so it’s best if you take action as soon as possible.
Turn off the fuse board if you can and it’s safe to do so, and then call an electrician, making sure not to use any electrics in the home until they have declared it safe to do so. As with gas, when it comes to electricity you really don’t want to take any risks, and you’ll find that it’s absolutely best to make sure you are paying close attention to this so that you can avoid getting harmed.
Sewage
Sometimes however, things smell like exactly what they are, and you’ll know straight away that you’ve got a problem. A good example is sewerage. If you smell the smell of a sewer in your home, you’ll know what that is right away, and you’ll want to do all you can to deal with that as soon as possible. Having this smell in the home is the kind of thing that is always going to be unpleasant, and you’ll certainly want to manage it as well as you can and as swiftly as you can too.
Generally this is going to refer to some problem with your sewerage system. It may be that it’s blocked or that there is some other problem going on. You might need a cast iron pipe repair to get it up and running, or it might need a plunger. In any case, you can try tackling this yourself, or you can call in the professionals to ensure it is done more effectively and with less harm to yourself and your family.
Take care with sewerage - you don’t want to get ill from it, which can easily happen.
Wet Dog
One of the strangest experiences is when you think you can smell a wet dog, but you don’t own a dog and it hasn’t been raining. This is more common than you might think, and it happens because it’s not actually only dogs that smell like this. In fact, there are a lot of animals that do. So if you can smell this smell in your home, you might want to go searching for some rodents that could be living in the home somewhere.
Very often, this smell is a sign that you have a mouse or a rat somewhere. Clearly, you’ll want to be rid of them. If you are not sure but you want to be extra careful, consider calling in a pest control expert. They are the best way to deal with this, and you’ll be clear of the pest so much quicker, which is going to make for a much better home in no time.
Gym Smells
If your home sometimes smells like a gym, it could be down to a number of things. However, one of the most common culprits is that it’s something to do with your ventilation. Very often, it’s a build up of bacteria on your ventilation shafts, and this is something that you are therefore going to want to look into. It could be that they just need a clean, or if it’s particularly bad you might need to replace them entirely. In either case, make sure that you are looking into this as soon as possible before it gets any worse.
With any of those smells, you should make sure that you are taking action as soon as possible, just to make sure.
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