foul smell

[masswood]

Hello, I made the mistake of putting de-con under my house recently, now I have a foul smell coming from a couple of the heat registers. I know a dead animal is in the belly somewhere, I believe its only a mouse or mice. can anyone tell me how long it takes for mice to decompose and lose that smell. I put air freshners inside the affected heat registers and it seems to help, is there anything else I can do aside from opening up the belly and looking for the animal or animals? Thanks

Joe

[Sylvia]

The obvious answer is to remove the dead animals. If you don't want to do it, perhaps you can hire an ambitious teenage boy.

[rbonnie]

If you think it is in the heat duct, remove the register at each end of the home. Put a flashlight in one, and hold a hand mirror in the other. With the proper angle, you will be able to see the entire lenght of the duct.

[admin]

From www.mobilehomerepair.com


You know you have a dead animal when a sewer-like decaying smell gets worse every day. The hardest part of removing a dead animal from underneath your floor is to find the critter without tearing apart your belly and removing all the insulation. By knowing a few tricks you should be able to locate and remove the dead critter with very minimal damage to the belly. Critters tend to move into warmer areas when the weather outside gets cold. So the first line of defense before Fall gets here, is to be sure your skirting is solid with no holes and that your underbelly has no tears or gaps around pipes. But despite the best intentions, an occasional mouse or cat still seems to be inevitable. The first step to finding the darn critter is to narrow down in which part of the home the smell is strongest. Smell underneath your cupboards and down your floor registers. Once you’ve located the area of the strongest smell, it’s time to take a trip underneath your home. Before crawling underneath, line-up the following tools and materials. Carry them in a little box to minimize the number of trips because you forgot something. 1) Flashlight or work light2) Extension cord3) Belly tape4) Utility knife5) Heat gun6) Insulation7) Damp rag8) Periscope with light on top
Yes, you read #8 right. A periscope with a light on top is the biggest secret to searching inside your belly without cutting a giant hole. Periscopes can be found in some toy departments oan army surplus store. The periscope pictured here is from an army tank and can be occasionally found listed on various online auction sites for $30-$40. This periscope is particular suited to the job because of the wide, clear prism. It’s also very durable. If you don’t have a periscope or can’t find one, don’t fret. A flashlight and mirror can give you the same results.

This article was written from the long time experience of contractor, Mark Bower, the owner of Aberdeen Home Repair. For years Mark has been one of the best known hands on men in the manufactured housing industry.

Check out Marks book that covers all facets of manufactured home repair, The Manual for Manufactured Home Repair & Upgrade

As you would expect from the title, The repair and upgrade techniques described in this manual are specific to manufactured homes. This book will answer most of your questions on manufactured home repair and show you how to repair and maintain your home, and also great methods for upgrading it.

Available in print version and now also in e-book version for instant download.