Musty Bathroom Odors

[Moonflower]

Hi.. I'm new here, and found your group from a friend's assistance in navigating the web.

I was wondering if anyone of you could help. I'm a 30-something mom, recently gone through an annulment. The house is in shams, as there no longer is a man in the house.

First off, how do you get rid of the musty smell from tiled bathrooms? Ours is fairly old, and the smell seems to be emanating from somewhere. I've tried cleaning and scrubbing it to death, but nothing works.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

[Joseph Meehan]

You are doing half the job. The second half is to ventilate the bath. That may be as simple as leaving the door open. If you have a window try opening it (just a crack in cold or hot weather).

There is also a possibility of a mechanical problem. If the above ideas don't work, have someone inspect it. You may have a leak or hidden mold damage. Those will only get worse and more expensive to fix.

[m Ransley]

To me mustiness is associated with mold or sewer gas, laundry bleach kills mold so clean everything with it, or the wax ring on your toilet coud be bad

[Moonflower]

Oh, thanks. Much appreciated help. Though I wouldn't mind opening the window on the bath, I try to keep it shut coz I have a lot of peeping toms. :-) Not the up-close type, but the ones with scopes and binoculars and such.

Don't ask me how I know. It's fun frustrating them from time to time.

[Moonflower]

Thank you so much for the help... I will try that.

[Proctologically Violated©®]

What the others said. You should proly keep the window open after showers, but also might want to try a cheap dehumidifier, to really dry the space out, behind the walls as. $139 at Sams. Could also be wood rot under the tub area. Mebbe if an outside wall to the bathroom is available, you can poke a hole in it for either a look, a whiff, or to put a little muffin fan, to circulate dry air.

[Tony Hwang]

Hmmm, If you don't control the moisture in the bath room all your hard work is wasted. You'll never solve the problem.

[Joseph Meehan]

You may need to add a power vent. If there is moisture being trapped in that room there will be mold.

If you are in the habit of leaving the door shut, maybe you should leave that open.

[moonflower]

Hmm, you know what guys? It getting better now.

[Joseph Meehan]

As it gets colder outside, it generally gets dryer inside. The problem did no go away, it was only reduced for a while, but it will come back.

[moonflower]

Oh? :-( Well, thanks for the info. Will be observing that, dearie.