A poltergeist named Stinky

[Hovannes]

Last week it smelled like a dead critter was in the front entry, but there wasn't.
Later in the day the stink moved away from the front door and into the laundry room, so
I spent the rest of the day moving stuff out of the laundry room and onto the patio table.
Once again there was no dead critter, and the smell left the laundry room.
This morning, he smell was back in the laundry room and in the kid's bathroom on the other side of the house as well.

Maybe an exorcism is in order?

[Del]

[Hovannes]

Stinky the poltergeist was really letting us know about him/her this morning, but right now Stinky is hiding.

Since nothing has died that I could find, we thought maybe there's mold under the house.
The last time we had a stink like this, it was from a broken pipe under the kitchen/laundry room.

I smooshed fresh Vick's up my nostrils, pried the crawl space hatch open in the pantry closet and took a peek
Nothing. Dry as a bone. I shine a flashlight down there towards the laundry room and kitchen, and still nothing.
I borrowed milady's un-Vicks nose, and she smelled nothing either.

This is bizarre.

[coco]

'scuse me

[Hovannes]

We got the plumber on the phone. He suggested exploring the other two floor hatches leading to the netherworld
I popped the one in the hall closet and the smell knocked me over---or would have knocked me over if I wasn't already on the floor prying up the hatch.
I still couldn't see any leakage with my flashlight though.

I need o Vicks up and there's one more hatch to go!

[Hovannes]

'scuse me

Burrito?

[Del]

Here's a thought:

Do you have a drain that doesn't get used often enough? If the drain trap dries out, it opens a vent to sewer gas.

I had a renter who rarely used the slop sink in her laundry room. Occasionally it would dry out and she would complain about the odor. Odor was intermittent, as you describe.

We eventually figured it out, and she ran some water down the sink every week or so. Never had a problem again.

[Hovannes]

Our plumber is busy through Wednesday, so I called a restoration contractor who can do an evaluation and run the bill through my Homeowner's.
That way we can see what's going on and what needs to be done, at least.
I think mold would be the worst-case scenario----been there, done that.

[Hovannes]

I had an inspection done this morning.
Something is dead (Jimmy Hoffa?) behind a jumble of ductwork.
The inspector suggested calling a very skinny pest control guy.
We'll see.
The pipes are OK anyway. and no mold.

[Del]

The dead thing will stop being dead, soon enough.