Is it coming from your basement, possibly? Is it affected by humidity?

I'm sure there are commercial janitorial deodorants, but I'm not sure if they are just heavy perfumes. There is a whole industry sub-specialty in cleaning up scenes where violent crimes and unattended deaths have occured, and I'm sure there's a deodorant used for that!

There's a product I have used to clean up really stinky pet pee/poop odors. Not Nature's Miracle which doesn't work as well, IMO, though it's more commonly cited. The one I like is Get Serious which can be had a big chain petstores (PetSmart is where I get it.) It really does work, though it takes while for the full effect. The bottle says it works for all kinds of odors, beyond pet ones.

It's a pity you are under such time pressure. However, I will say this, if you've opened you stud cavities and are having it reinsulated, you probably are having it vapor-barrier-ed too. That and sheetrock should trap a lot of the smell inside.

Also keep in mind that you want those cavities dry as a bone before they're closed in, so any liquid you apply has to have time to evaporate completely.

I'd have someone else come over and sniff, as well. Perhaps you're just oversensitive to it.

HTH,

Molly~

A coat of shellac will seal in most odor-causing compounds.
After that, try some lemon oil.
Casey

There is a particular kind of paint, used in mold remediation, that is applied to the inside of walls, including the wooden studs. Sorry, I don't know the name of the product.

Wow! I gotta say, drywall in a Week....we've never been so lucky!!!!

We usually have 6 months or more for things to "air out" as Hubbie says, "Nothin' works better than time". Plus we end up adding steel and wood I beams to stuff, not to mention all the shimming of the walls...Sigh.

Anyway, I don't know if this is a should do- but When I had that musty smell, I used watered down bleach in an old spray bottle and Lysol.

Good Luck!

OK we couldn't find the Get Serious stuff at PETCO. We came home and vacummed really well and washed the floors w/Jomax and sprayed the wall joists and everything we could reach but insulation. We opened the windows and left for a couple hours. On our return my husband said " it smells neutral" which is a good thing. So we will spray again tomorrow and use the vapor barrier on the walls after the insulation is done. I think we have it licked. Thanks for the help ! Caroline

Nope still hsa that "public bathroom " smell. I don't know what to clean next. I think it might be the drains/traps so it won't be fixed til plumbing is complete and we can run water. Our crawlspace is very clean and there is no mold etc. all droppings are gone. May get the protein/enzyme spray from my son that they use at his restaurant in the dumpster. He says it really works.

Our house has a 'smell' too. A lot of it disapated as the walls were gutted and left to breath (about 10 weeks in our case too!)... however, we have had rain the last few days and it's comming back. The insulation and vapour barrier went into one room, and it seems ot have helped, hopefully once everything is done (and the carpet in the remaining room is either up or steam cleaned) it will smell fresher. I think the smell is just IN everything (wood, brick, subfloor, old plaster/drywall etc) and I'm not sure you can really get rid of it.

lil geek : I think you are right. It has been rainy here too and that intensifies the odor. Also my contractor said today that the trap for the shower is open . I didn't know that so I just poured a gallon of water down that with some Jomax in it. I think you are correct that vapor barrier and sheetrock and paint and new floor....OK it will probably be fine. I just obsess about smells !! Good luck on yours ! Caroline

I shellac'd two antique dressers on every interior surface to get rid of moldy and powerful mouse urine smells. No smells left to this day. BUT you must use an orange shellac, not the weaker blond shellac. Ask for 4lb cut orange shellac at a good paint store or woodworker supply store. If you are still troubled by smells, it is your only hope. It is also the only thing that will seal out water stains and tannin bleed, or knots in wood. ps--it would be alot faster and easier to spray it rather than brush it on large rough surfaces such as old studs. Good luck.

Have you considered sewer gas (which doesn't always smell like sewage)? While opening the walls, you might have created a space for a leak from the sewer stack to seep into other rooms. Have you consulted a plumber about this?

I dealt with a weird "pipe-smell" when I bought this house. Turned out that the tub did not have a P-trap and the standpipe clean out-thing wasn't sealed. I still get a whiff now and again and suspect further trouble with some drains (the smell is mainly around the kitchen drain and dishwasher) or perhaps a clogged vent, but it's nothing like it was before.