Your home is your oasis. It should make you feel good, it should look well, and it should smell like roses. Okay, maybe not like roses, but pleasant enough to keep you sheltered for prolonged periods of time. If you’re experiencing some unusual smells like rotten eggs or urine, then it may be time to take a closer look at what you may be housing under your roof. Different smells can diagnose different issues in your house, but when they’re too unusual or strong, then it’d be best to hire a professional like an exterminator or HVAC technician so they can help you get rid of the source.
Here are some of the weird smells you may have in your house and what they might mean.
Decomposition
If your home smells like something has died in it, chances are something did in fact die in your home. Smells of decaying fruits or other foods can be a sign that there is either a lost potato somewhere between your cabinets or a rodent or other critter that’s decaying in a hidden spot in your house. Additionally, it can help come to a conclusion if you can spot at least 3 signs you have a dead animal hidden in your house: foul odor, insects, and droppings. If these signs check out, then you most likely have a dead animal in your home.
Gym Room Stench
Another smelly smell you may face is that of a sweaty gym room. This type of stench usually indicates you may have some debris or bacteria building up inside your HVAC ducts. If this is the case, it’s best to contact an expert in HVAC systems to give your ducts the proper regular maintenance they need. Additionally, three common AC odors include electrical odors, gunpowder smells, and mildew odors. So if you encounter these smells, be sure to check your AC unit first before continuing your search.
Cat Urine
A usual smell you may encounter in your home or garden after a rainy day can be cat urine. Cat urine smells are usually disregarded as stray cats leaving their marks. However, it’s important to be careful with this smell because it can indicate that there is a highly toxic black mold lurking in your house. Additionally, you could look out for flu-like symptoms like stuffy nose, nausea, fever, shortness of breath, and skin irritation. So if your house didn’t belong to a cat owner in the past, and if you don’t have any boxwood shrubs in your landscape, then you should consider protecting yourself properly prior to cleaning the mold or calling an expert to take care of it.
Rotten Egg
This one’s a classic. If your nose catches a wisp of rotten egg in your home, you may want to not light up a match anytime soon. This smell can be caused by a natural gas leak in your home. Natural gas is clear and odorless, but to prevent any tragedies, gas companies add a foul odor compound that gives it this peculiar rotten egg smell. It’s easy to distinguish and prevents numerous accidents.
Fishy Odors
Fishy odors can be an indicator that an electric component in your house may be burning. So if you know you haven’t cooked any fish in your house, then you should call an electrician as soon as possible. This foul odor can be caused by faulty breakers or outlets, overloaded circuits, and overheated insulation. These incidents can also have burn smells, in which case it’s easier to identify. Additionally, it’s best to take prompt care of this because it could cause a fire in your home.
Although there are many more smells that can creep up on you in your home, these take the cake for the most common and weirdest smells in your house.