Effie
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Dealing with musty smellMy bath was not long ago depositing bath water out the bath onto the floor below. This soaked the adjacent floor of the airing cupboard. It was moldy and horrible by the time I discovered it.
It has had weeks to dry out and the door has been left open as much as possible to help it along. I gave it a clean yesterday to remove the last remains of dried out mold. Didn't smell too bad. I chucked a load of bicarb on the floor (plyboard sheet type stuff, far as I can see) to absorb any residual odour and left it overnight. I've hoovered the bicarb out and shut the door. Leave it longer than an hour though and it smells strongly musty and not very nice again.
Any tips to make it stop smelling grim? I'd quite like to be able to put the towels away again at some point.
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Lorrainelovesplants
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Can you lift the floor at all? Check if there is any screw? If so, maybe lifting it and aiming a portable heater in to just dryout underneath?
Cant think anything else but time.
Oh, or perhaps a couple of drops of lavender oil on the floor (just to make it smell a bit less yuk?)
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goosey
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You could try wiping over with a soution of washing soda crystals, which is a good general purpose disinfectant.
Aren't smells when something is rotting? The oxygen feeding an organism? Hope you don't have to have it all out.
As has been said, time... 
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Effie
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There is no fixings visible to remove to lift it up. To be honest the pipes all run up the back, and things in this house have a habit of breaking when disturbed as it's all so shoddy. So I'll leave it be to dry out some more.
I was going to chuck it all in the other big cupboard - only that seems to be developing mold at the top where a flue was removed once upon a time I think and they just stuffed the hole with copious amounts of polyfiller
A yurt is looking more and more attractive.
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12Bore
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Do you know anyone with a dehumidifier? It can take ages for flooring cavities to dry because of the lack of airflow. Our bathroom basin waste pipe leaked for a few days last Christmas - we only noticed when a bit of the dining room ceiling fell down! At least taking down the ceiling meant that the fresh air could get to the wet bits.....
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vegplot
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Is it possible to drill largish holes (32mm) into the floor to provide a better air flow. If it's musty it's likely there is rot still going on.
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Effie
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The repair guy the agent uses seemed unconcerned by the sheer amount of water that must have soaked in (I only noticed when it started coming throught the kitchen ceiling and running out the back of a wall cabinet. I think it soaked a great deal of the floor under the carpet in one of the bedrooms too, as that smelt odd.
It sounds awful, but I'd be quite happy to come home one day and find the entire kitchen ceiling had fallen in. It'd save every cheap bodge job they've done here breaking on a regular basis.
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12Bore
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| vegplot wrote: | | Is it possible to drill largish holes (32mm) into the floor to provide a better air flow. If it's musty it's likely there is rot still going on. |
Good idea, that amount of water is going to take ages to dry out, even with airflow. Sadly it's prolly in the plaster of the walls too.
Quote "I think it soaked a great deal of the floor under the carpet in one of the bedrooms too, as that smelt odd." Your carpet or theirs? Was it "damaged"?
Ps, What kind of horse does the repair guy ride to work, he sounds a right cowboy!
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Effie
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It isn't my carpet, if it was I'd be complaining loudly.
The repair guy couldn't be trusted with a horse. I was just about to make unkind comments about the kitchen worktops appearing to be stuck to the wall with no more nails, and then lengths of copper pipe put under the front corner to hold them up - when he proudly said he fitted it!
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vegplot
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Does your agent know your thoughts about John Wayne?
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Effie
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 John Wayne is the back up cowboy for when the No 1 guy is way. The primary one I haven't really seen much of except for when he came to pick the lock of the lounge window because they can't come up with a key for the upvc inbuild lock between them.
I should have known really. Any house that has an inventory that fully notes the hall carpet is essentially filthy should have rung alarm bells. Instead of noting that, why didn't they just get it cleaned?
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Lorrainelovesplants
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I would, to cover myself, take photographs and keep them, just incase this comes back to you, should you leave this place. The last thing you would want is them withholding your deposit for work that is thir fault.
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