understairs / electrics cupboard smell

[sm_jamieson]

Just an observation really, which may elicit no responses ... I was round at a neighbour's whose shower would not work. Of course I looke= d under the stairs at the CU at some point. I suddenly thought, this smells= exactly like my under-stairs cupboard. And my mum's. All these houses are =

30s houses with solid walls, etc. The rest of the neighbour's house does no= t smell like mine at all due to the type of cooking that is done. If I had to describe the smell, it is slightly musty but that is not all. I= think there may be a smell from the old lead paint in there (they do not t= end to get redecorated), the lacquer on the traditional wooden fuse box mou= nting plate and other mild pongs. Buts its surprising how evocative the smell is. Simon.

[Tim+]

I suspect it's just the smell of the under-house air that's giving it its scent. Under stairs cupboards tend not to be carpeted and there are often holes for wires or pipes in the floor too so there's much more opportunity for scents to rise through the floor.

Tim

[Adrian C]

under the stairs at the CU at some point. I suddenly thought, this smells exactly like my under-stairs cupboard. And my mum's. All these houses are 30s houses with solid walls, etc. The rest of the neighbour's house does not smell like mine at all due to the type of cooking that is done.

think there may be a smell from the old lead paint in there (they do not tend to get redecorated), the lacquer on the traditional wooden fuse box mounting plate and other mild pongs.

I've a mostly Bitumen smell in mine - recent work on the incoming electricals. But holes below lead to occasional draughts of stale air full of the remnants of dead rats, fungus, discarded builders takeaways, leaking drains, and no doubt centuries buried cavemen, failed builders and dinosaurs producing their own pongs... Old wood also has a particular smell. Floor was also once laden with parquet flooring (varnished often) and bitumen backed lino.

[harry]

ked under the stairs at the CU at some point. I suddenly thought, this smel= ls exactly like my under-stairs cupboard. And my mum's. All these houses ar= e 30s houses with solid walls, etc. The rest of the neighbour's house does = not smell like mine at all due to the type of cooking that is done.

I think there may be a smell from the old lead paint in there (they do not= tend to get redecorated), the lacquer on the traditional wooden fuse box m= ounting plate and other mild pongs.

Probably the timber used back then. Much better than the shit we get now. I had a house with pitch pine joists two hundred years old. Very strong smell,especially when sanded/cut.

[sm_jamieson]

ooked under the stairs at the CU at some point. I suddenly thought, this sm= ells exactly like my under-stairs cupboard. And my mum's. All these houses = are 30s houses with solid walls, etc. The rest of the neighbour's house doe= s not smell like mine at all due to the type of cooking that is done.

l. I think there may be a smell from the old lead paint in there (they do n= ot tend to get redecorated), the lacquer on the traditional wooden fuse box= mounting plate and other mild pongs.

When I cut some bedroom ceiling / loft floor joists a while ago, the resino= us smell that ensued made me actually lean back and go "aahhhh" ! My loft floor is 3x2s and the deflection is remarkably small for the spans = when you stand on it up there.=20 Simon.

[Brian Gaff]

Mine also smells of deteriorating plaster and damp squeezy mops.

Brian