Oooooo That Smell

Our basement smells like pee. Correction, our basement USED to smell like pee. Caveat, it's not actually pee that is causing the smell in our basement.

Beginning a few weeks ago Laura and I noticed a musty smell emanating from the window area of the basement bedroom. This is why we called in Wall to Wall construction and this is why renting out the basement has been delayed by a few weeks. The Wall Boys took one look inside the wall panels and determined that 1) water was seeping through the exterior wall into the house, and 2) this water was collecting in the dirt that resided between our drywall and exterior wall. I wish that I had taken pictures of the repair process because the amount of dirt in that wall was mindblowing. Either way, the Wall Boys cut out a section of drywall, cleaned out all of the dirt and debris, re-pointed the interior portion of the brick wall (underground exterior wall), coated the wall with sealant, and replaced the old section of drywall. The work was slighltly more expensive than planned (additional $200 to re-point), but at least the problem was resolved. Right?

Fast forward to last week when I noticed that the smell was lingering. For a mental image, picture that our drywall near that window was brought to you by the letter "L." They fixed up the longer portion, but the ever important base that makes the letter a capital went uncared for. I am still kicking myself for not having them clean out the entire thing but there's no use crying over spilled milk. We were lucky and have a panel in that wall to afford easy access and a handy neighbor willing to lend us his Shop-Vac. So it was with complete disregard for our health that Laura and I took to sucking out that wall until it would suck no more.

The results? I'm fairly certain that at one point in time this section of the wall was a rats nest. The rationale? Among many other things (including two old beer cans) we sucked up a plethora of bones, insulation pulled out from the wall and balled up into what one might call a 'nest', and...half of a rat carcass.

Who knows if this is the cause of the smell or if similar rat nests were trapped in other portions of the wall when they fixed up the basement. What we do know is that this section is now Mat and Laura tested and Mat and Laura approved, and that is what really matters. With such a mess having been stuck in this wall for such a long time, it's unclear how long it will take to air out. I'm remaining optimistic and will scope it out again in a few days once the floors have been refinished.

The moral of this story? Thank god there is no such thing as a zombie rat.