Hello everyone,
I had my rental property - a single family home with crawl space - (miami, FL) tented last week on wednesday, to treat it for termites. 3 days later the house smelled awful. We concluded we have a dead animal (rat, rodent, squirrel or other) in the crawl space which must have died during the tenting. We have not located the animal yet and most likely will not go under the space at all, its almost impossible. A pest control professional advised he could throw in there bags with powder that would aid in the odor control and he is the only one authorized to buy the bags. I did not get details of what the powder is. I have not tried his solution yet because he has been busy doing other jobs. What do you recommend I immediately do to take care of this problem? Can I do something now and what product and where should I buy it?
Thank you,
chloe1
Likely will not go under the space at all, its almost impossible. Almost impossible or really impossible? The only way to know what is going on under your house is to inspect it.
Whatever the pest control guy plans on tossing into the crawl space would be an odor absorber. Simply tossing an odor absorber into crawl space would not eliminate the odor. At best it might lessen it somewhat if the bags landed in the area of the dead animal. Too, the dead animal could be trapped inside a wall void. The odor will not dissipate until the animal is completely decomposed. Depending on size, this could take weeks or months.
In the meantime, spray enzyme cleaner/deodorizer inside the home. Look for OdoBan, Nature's Miracle, Out, or other brand. Activated charcoal from pet store, kitty litter, baking soda, and coffee grounds are frequently used as odor absorbers. Here's a link to Odor Absorbing Bags used by professionals: http://www.cleartheair.com/shop/dead-animal-smell-remover.html
If the dead animal can be found, removal and treatment of the area for odor is best.
I just went into an inacessable crawl yesterday, it took about five minutes to get in and find the dead animal. And I'm fat
I don't know what odor absorber he would be using, but the I'm the only one that can get it line is as old as I am
We used to tell people that when we used Maxforce products
It was not a lie because Maxforce was for sale to professionals
What we failed to also say is that Maxforce and Combat are the same products made by the same people.
The only way to get rid of the odor is to get rid of the animal either through physical removal or decomp
Removal will cost about $300, decomp will take time. How much time depends on the size of the animal and where he died among other things
Any odor eliminator would simply be some form of enzyme that attacks the odor causing bacteria, it may help in speeding the decomp time some but I don't think that much
Twelvepole did you get my message
You don't receive PMs
Thank you so much for your helpful comments. I have decided not to follow this person's suggestion, it was just going to be a waste of money and time. I called around and got someone to come and go inside the crawl space, hopefully find the dead animal and remove it, and then fog or spray something called Bac-azap , an odor eliminator, in the crawl space for a while, enough that the odor will be significantly diminished... Have you got an opinion of this approach?
That's what we do, pretty standard
The Bac-a-Zap sounds like the AlphaEliminator that we use
Supposedly it is an enzyme that attacks bacterial scent molecules
But even if it is just a fancy deodorizer it will mask the smell until it goes away naturally
Our charge for dead animal removal is $295, which includes the AlphaEliminator
If you can't rent the place until the odor goes away it is money well spent
They will also give you an estimate on prevent a repeat incident, if they are doing their job properly
Tags: dead, animal, odor, crawl, space, crawl space, dead animal, odor absorber, almost impossible, crawl space would, enzyme that, enzyme that attacks, find dead, find dead animal
