Smell in flooring

[reprosser]

We have purchased a 1989 single wide to live in until house is built. The back door leads into a laundry area - which leads into kitchen. The floor in the kitchen and laundry room is raised about 6 inches. The trailer had a sour smell which we have narrowed down to the laundry room (mostly). This is a sour clothes / wet dog kind of smell - not urine.

Further investigation indicated that the smell seemed to be coming from the floor, so I removed the top layer of vinyl, thin wood sheet, and original vinyl, and am now down to the sub floor in the laundry room. The pile of scraps stinks to high heaven, but there is still an odor inside after we cleaned and deoderized the sub floor. Then found that the outside door also stinks, so I removed it. Odor is greatly reduced, but still lingers. I checked under the floor (up thru the belly) and did not notice a smell or water damage.

I am wondering if the smell maybe soaked into the flooring all the way into the kitchen - and I will need to remove the new and old vinyl floor? Would you expect the smell to work it's way into the kitchen this way. The flooring that I removed in the laundry did not seem to be water damaged, and was not wet - just smelly.

Before I tear out the kitchen floor, I plan to prime and seal the sub floor in the laundry area, and thoroughly clean the walls. If we still have some smell, the only thing I know to do is rip out the kitchen floor.

Other ideas?

thanks for any suggestions
rick

[DCDiva]

Confused about the floor raised 6 inches--you are sure there was no water--like a flood,or the roof leaking and running down wall and getting under the floor--I use and love odor-x it http://odorxit.com/--I took a chance when I ordered it thinking--yea right this will work--when we got our current project--2 mobile homes and a house on 1 property--we had a male cat that lived and sprayed part of the mh and a really nice couch/love seat--reason they left it--and in the house--where we stay while working--we live 3 hours away---the bath has carpet and the men in the house before we bought it must have had really bad aim--you could not breath--hard to hold breath and potty lol---I used the odor-x-it --in Nov 2009--the smell has not returned---plus I have 5 dogs/3 cats--U can spray a litter box and not smell it or a dirty diaper--great to use in a carpet cleaner too--yes I sound like an ad but I love it lol I wished I could be paid to advertise it lol--the bottle makes 4 gallons so u could mop the floor and see it it helps w it--shipping is fast too

[Greg]

Rick, Hi & welcome. It sounds to me like some one did a "Bubba" style repair job. From what you describe the sub floor needs to come up and be replaced. The job is not real had to do, but will take some time to do right. If you do this job, replace the Partical board with Plywood or at the very least OSB. If Mold is involved, you may want to use a mask for protection. Greg

[reprosser]

Thanks for the replys

Some info update.

The sub floors are plywood (greenish tint, so maybe treated)
The actual sub floor does not seem to stink when I (hesitantly ) get my nose right down there, but there is a lingering odor in the air. Because of constant chance of rain over the last 2 weeks, we shut all the windows each day, so the trailer cooks in the heat between visits. It has not had a good chance to air out.

I opened up the "belly" and pushed aside the insulation to look at the underside of the sub floor, and can find no evidence of water damage - and it smells like wood and insulation, no hint of sour or musty smell. No evidence of mold. Now, I did not inspect every square inch with flashlight and magnifying glass, but pretty sure the problem is top-side.

The "style" of this trailer is a raised kitchen ( I don't like the tripping hazard, but.. .) From underneath, I can see the up to the bottom of the raised floor (there is no primary floor with a additional floor 6 inches above it - so no secret space between floors )

Obviously, a new vinyl floor was wanted/needed, so a layer of thin paneling/plywood was put down over the original vinyl, and then new vinyl was put down over the wood - so we have a sandwich effect of subfloor-vinyl-panel-vinyl in the kitchen and laundry.

If there was some laundry accident that flooded the floor, the liquid could have soaked into the wood panel of the sandwich around the edges - and soured, or maybe the new vinyl was added after an accident. This is the only explanation I have been able to come up with.

We primed the sub floor in the laundry with Kilz last night, so we will check the smell on Friday night when we return. Not expecting much difference, but I though I would give it a try before ripping up the rest of the kitchen floor sandwich. And then the next step would be to replace the sub floor.

[Greg]

If there is no obvious water damage the floor may be OK and just airing out the home will help.

Is it possible that a drain trap is dry or leaking? I am not wild about the subfloor/vinyl/wood/vinyl set up. I think I would pull up everything down to the subfloor and see what you are working with. Greg

[reprosser]

It is weird.

As we have removed the major offenders (flooring, door, wall) in laundry room, the smell has diminished, but is still quite noticeable in the kitchen area. We have been able to leave the windows open and air out for 4-5 days. This makes it easier to "sniff" test and locate sources now. The particle board lower cabinets (next to the laundry room) had an odor, so we primed and painted them, but the smell came thru, and I ended up scrapping the cabinets. We also found that the metal frame around the door (that we removed) smells, and we cannot seem to clean off the smell. That surprises me. Since I will have to purchase a replacement, the frame will go away, but I wonder what can soak into a metal door frame such that cleaning does not remove the smell? (Using a "pro" version mold killer and de-odorizer)

The level of smell is such that I would probably do a final cleaning and hope that the smells of everyday living would slowly overcome the sour lingering smell. My wife is highly allergic, and very sensitive to smells, so I have to find and remove the source before we can move in. I expect now to have to pull up the sandwich floor in the kitchen before it is all said and done.

Greg - what is it about the floor that concerns you? Is it unusual to lay a panel down over old vinyl and put new vinyl down? (I would pull up old vinyl and replace it myself, but I can see where it would be quick and easy to lay down a layer of thin wood and cover with new vinyl.)

This used trailer is becoming more of a chore than I bargained for...I have not even gotten a good start on the water damaged frame repairs that are needed.

At least I got the roof leaks fixed (Coated the metal roof)

[Greg]

My concern about just laying down new floor over old is the fact that you are dealing with odor issues possibly caused by water. If the original sub floor is damaged or has mold just covering the problem is not fixing it, it WILL come back to bite you.

At the very least remove the vinyl and check everything for damage. There are people that will just cover a problem and call it "Fixed". As long as you get down to the sub floor and make sure it is in good shape you should be OK.

It WILL be a lot of work, but well worth it when you are done, trust me I know what you are up against. I totally gutted our daughter"s right down to the studs, joists & Trusses. Took about 6 months, but I know it is right. Greg

[reprosser]

The kitchen floor (2 layers of vinyl and paneling) have been removed. Hopefully, after cleaning and airing out, the smell issue will be solved...

And What Is The deal with mobile homes and staples!!!

There must be 4 staples per square inch on the kitchen floor. I will be spending hours pounding in staples to get a walkable floor. Tried pulling some out, but they mostly break off. Hope the laminated floating floor will work with a "textured" sub floor.

Seeing the same thing with the framing. 20 staples to hold down a 10" 2x4 on the sill between wall studs?!?? Do assemblers get paid by the staple?

[Greg]

Very simple, when building Time = $$$$$. The faster you build them the more $$$$$. Staples are faster than screws and cheaper than nails. Greg

[reprosser]

Staples are faster than screws and cheaper than nails.

I will agree on "faster than screws", but when you use 5-10 staples where it would only take 1 nail - not so sure they come out cheaper
Those stapler guys/gals must REALLY love their job - or maybe they should turn the selector from full automatic to semi-auto...

[joedirt63]

just think if you relpaced all the areas that used staples with nails or screws you'd probly lighten up the tailer so much that roof wiehgt would never be a factor. and it would be as sturdy as a stick house but on a metal frame . all the sub flooring i put down and the walls i moved or put up where assembled with outdoor grade deck screws and liquid nails. just hope i don't have to go back into those places again.