Where is this Urine smell coming from?

[theonyxguy]

We own a 90 year old, 2.5 stry house that has been converted to a

4-plex. About a week ago there was a strong smell of urine and seasoning in our kitchen. We thought it was a tenant cooking some kind of meat (sometimes meat smell like that). But since then, just the urine smell has been coming and going.

Our unit is on the main floor, in the kitchen I had piping and drain installed about 1.5 years ago for our washer and dryer. The dryer doesn't vent outside. There are no washrooms in any of the other units on that side of the house except for ours.

The smell seems strongest behind the stove which is right next to the drain for the washing machine. It's also where an old, non-functioning chimney stack is located.

I was wondering if:

a) could mold smell like that, from not having the dryer vented, even though we open windows and turn on a fan.

b) moisture could smell like that, from possibly a leak in the roof running down the chimney

c) could it be the drain from the washing machine, but shouldn't this smell more like sewage rather than urine. (There was a trap installed)

Any advice and/or ideas would be appreciated. :?

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Yes, it could still be building moisture and mold.

You'd think so, but could there be a leak and mold forming? Could the hose leak a bit where it goes into the drain?

[Doug Miller]

[snip]

Have you checked for critters living in the chimney? Raccoons don't smell real pretty.

-- Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt. And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?

[Jim R]

Okay, this might be a longshot - but I noticed a faint urine-like odor in the house a couple weeks ago. It turns out that the Bradford Pear in the yard was blossoming and with the windows open the not-too-pleasant fragrance was wafting into the house. Any flowering trees and open windows?

[stretch]

Vent the dryer outside. Even if that is not the problem, you should do it anyway to reduce the chance of mold from moisture buildup.

Stretch

[Doug Kanter]

Are any of the toilets NOT tightly attached to the floor, perhaps with bad wax rings?

[Chip C]

Spoiled food can smell like urine. I once had the misfortune of handling textured vegetable protein that was a full year past its sell-by date. Its reek was identical to cat's piss.

Chip C

[Goedjn]

[Goedjn]

Mice got into the stove (and/or dryer) and have pissed all over the insulation? If the smell gets stronger when you use the oven, that's probably it.

[Dan_Musicant]

:We own a 90 year old, 2.5 stry house that has been converted to a :4-plex. About a week ago there was a strong smell of urine and :seasoning in our kitchen. We thought it was a tenant cooking some :kind of meat (sometimes meat smell like that). But since then, just :the urine smell has been coming and going. : :Our unit is on the main floor, in the kitchen I had piping and drain :installed about 1.5 years ago for our washer and dryer. The dryer :doesn't vent outside. There are no washrooms in any of the other :units on that side of the house except for ours. : :The smell seems strongest behind the stove which is right next to the :drain for the washing machine. It's also where an old, :non-functioning chimney stack is located. : :I was wondering if: : :a) could mold smell like that, from not having the dryer vented, even :though we open windows and turn on a fan. : :b) moisture could smell like that, from possibly a leak in the roof :running down the chimney : :c) could it be the drain from the washing machine, but shouldn't this :smell more like sewage rather than urine. (There was a trap :installed) : :Any advice and/or ideas would be appreciated. :?

My guess would be that you have an animal or nest of animals going there, probably under the house. I had that and had to basically scare them out. It's a long time ago now, but in my case I think it was a family of possums. There's various strategies depending on what species you are host to. Loud music, but in my case I believe I put a container of ammonia down there and the fumes freaked them out and they went bye bye. Before doing that, I opened one entrance to the crawl space and was very careful to seal all other entry to it. So, they had an out. Once I was confident they were all out (I placed a layer of fine sand at the one entrance/exit and watched for little critter prints), I closed off the remaining access and to my knowledge have never had a similar problem.

Dan

[Dan_Musicant]

:On Tue, 26 Apr 2005 08:57:40 +0000, : [e-mail] (theonyxguy) wrote: : :>We own a 90 year old, 2.5 stry house that has been converted to a :>4-plex. About a week ago there was a strong smell of urine and :>seasoning in our kitchen. We thought it was a tenant cooking some :>kind of meat (sometimes meat smell like that). But since then, just :>the urine smell has been coming and going. :>

:>

:>The smell seems strongest behind the stove which is right next to the :>drain for the washing machine. It's also where an old, :>non-functioning chimney stack is located. :>

: :Mice got into the stove (and/or dryer) and have pissed all over :the insulation? If the smell gets stronger when you use :the oven, that's probably it.

Before replacing my refrigerators with a new one, I had a rodents' nest under at least one of them. They do some pretty foul stuff in there. The guys who moved my new refrigerator into my kitchen told me that it was apt to happen again if I didn't make it impossible for them to get under the refrigerator. It gets nice and warm under the condensor and they like it in there.

Dan

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Now that is good information to have. I just have to figure how to use it to my advantage. Like under the back seat of someone's car in the summer.

[Doug Kanter]

A bag of mussels works much faster, although I am not at liberty to reveal how I know this. :-)

[Oscar_Lives]

It comes from a penis or a vagina, silly!

[John]

[John]

[John]

[JFF]

[John]

[frankjester]

Let me guess. Your mother never taught you how to piss in the toilet. Change your underwear more often, and wear a condon between pisses.......

Frank