I bought a small house in June 2015, which I have not been able to move into in all this time. It is financially ruining me. What I thought was an odd smell that would leave with the sellers, has turned out to be a constant, unidentifiable odor that I can't live with. Just when I think that I've reduced it to a tolerable level, it comes back. I've had a dozen professionals in, builders, plumbers, remediation experts, and realtors. I've cleaned ducts, painted every wall and ceiling, had a driveway lifted to improve drainage, did an ozone treatment (which worked for about 3 weeks), but all to no avail. The odor is not like anything that anyone has smelled before. If I knew it would solve the problem, I'd readily tear out walls or pull up floors, but since I don't know what the smell is, or can identify where it is originating from, I just can't afford the expense. Can't draw a direct cause effect between weather events and odor increase/decrease, though it does get worse sometimes when it rains, but it might be related to higher wind, since it gets bad sometimes even when it hasn't rained. No signs of water damage in the house, which is about 60years old, 850sq ft, slab on grade, 4-side brick. The attic doesn't have the smell. The kitchen and bath were remodeled 2 owners ago, but not high quality work. Most recently it has been suggested that one of my plumbing vents may have failed in the slab or wall and is causing odor to come in house. At that persons suggestion, we poured bleach down all the drains, then sealed them to see if the bleach smell enters the house. Unfortunately, I bought a cheap bleach that doesn't have a strong smell to begin with so I am going to redo the test. I'm skeptical this is the issue because the smell in my house doesn't smell like sewer gas. Question: Would the odor coming in from a broken vent be different than normal sewer gas odor?

no - a broken vent releases sewer gas

check INSIDE any curtain rods left by previous owner(s) - if a divorce, strange things may happen

it just maaaaay be malicious vandalism - dead fish, mice, etc. left behind in hidden spots

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"Measure Twice & Cut Once" - Retired U.A. Local 1 & 638

All window treatments have been removed and/or cleaned. I've heard the old tale about the woman who forced her ex to sell cheap by tainting the curtain rods. That is not a factor in this situation. It is not the smell of a decaying animal. As mentioned, it is an unidentifiable odor.



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then, you have an unsolvable problem



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"Measure Twice & Cut Once" - Retired U.A. Local 1 & 638

Do you have air admittance valves under the sink? Are you on municipal sewer, or private septic system?



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I see you are springfield il. That is the town I live in also. I have had the identicle problem. I moved out smell so bad. Finally after all the plumbers and gutting the house it turned out the pipes under concrete in the basement were old and bad. I insisted the last plumber to run a camera in pipes and they saw the problem. I dont know why they never did that before. I had to move out it was so bad. Still in process of work. Its awful



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