I’ve got to get serious about cleaning this old house.
I moved into this rental a few months ago because my lease was up on my old apartment and I struggled to find something of the same quality.
The first time I checked this place out, I kept noticing that it smelled like someone had been burning incense in here just minutes before I arrived. That must have been the case. When I got the keys and drove over here alone to start cleaning, it smelled horrible inside. It smelled like a mix of sewer gas and mold. Thankfully the sewer gas odors were easy to remove. Every sink here has an air admittance valve underneath because of a lack of rooftop air vents for the plumbing system. These air admittance valves break over prolonged years of use, so simply replacing them is usually all you have to do to get back to normal again. Sadly, the mildew odor wasn’t as easy to address. At first, I couldn’t find any mold outside of the bathroom shower. After I cleaned and sanitized the tile grout, I kept noticing the same odor throughout the house. I went on the hunt for water damage but found none in the most common places, like underneath sinks or near the water heater and air conditioning unit. However, I decided to look at the ductwork after finding no mold on the air conditioner itself. Disgustingly, I found mold growing in the metal ductwork behind several of the ceiling vents throughout the house. After the fourth contaminated vent, I dropped my tools and called an HVAC cleaning company. I hope that getting the ductwork professionally cleaned will remove the nasty odors from this old house.