Thanks for your thoughts. The cellar does smell like mildew so it may be coming from there.
https://www.amazon.com/Bad-Air-Sponge-Absorbing-Neutralant/dp/B001SBMLAM I have used this in the past to absorb odors in an old house. You might start with one in the cellar. I found this review on Amazon:
I bought the Bad Air Sponge in August 2013 because I have a bedroom that was hardly ever used. We live in an old house with a full basement. The basement smell seemed to come up in this room, I would air it out and that would only last a little while. I put the Bad Air Sponge in it and to this day it helps with the room. It no longer has that basement smell. That has been 9 months and it is still working. Of course it is not as strong as it used to be, but the basement smell is still gone. see less
By Vicki C. Goodner on May 31, 2014
Here’s a summary and what we are doing. 1 million thanks.
Category one are things we may be trying. Baking soda and vinegar. Opening windows in the basement below the musty room. We will wash the walls with a mixture of water and bleach. Use the dehumidifier in the basement and also in the room. Buy something cold damp rid from Home Depot. Use the dehumidifier and the air conditioner.
Category two is things we would do if those don’t work. Find a damp specialist. Do deep cleaning of everything. Keep the heat on in the basement.
Category three is less desirable because it cost money. Get taser looking damp detecting tools. Infrared camera. Humidistat extractor. Plumber with camera for hidden leak.
WHAT WE DID YESTeRDAY: we brought the dehumidifier up from the basement and put it in the guestroom and ran it for 12 hours. We also put a saucer of baking soda and vinegar in the room. This morning, I cannot detect any mildew smell and the dehumidifier is almost completely full of water. I count this as success!
THE PROBLEM: We can’t be running the humidifier in the middle of the room if a guest is there and we are a busy Airbnb. However, we are hoping that once this damn hot summer is over, the smell will settle. Meanwhile, whenever we have a guest We will be putting humidifier in there. We have all these other great suggestions in case we need them. You guys are terrific helping other house. Thank you again.
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12 hours! Wow. I live in a dry climate so haven’t chimed in as I know nothing about the topic.
How much does the dehumidifier collect in 12 hours, i.e., what is full?
I used to have a basement. On a good day I could collect 1 or 2 litres for a 13 feet square room! I also had a fan system. Summer was worse because the basement was cooler. Dehumidifiers are cheap to run so no excuse for not using them.
Enough water so the bucket is pretty darn heavy. I think I’m oyster was getting into everything and if we can get in there and dehumidify in between guests, maybe we can keep on top of this. Things will dry out in the winter.
It’s a good solution.
We have had the same problem last year and cleaning the room with white vinegar was a good idea. We also used a dehumidifier (from HomeLabs 6 Best Whole House Dehumidifiers Reviewed in Detail (Winter 2024)) and carbon filters for odor control (here’s ours https://www.amazon.com/VIVOSUN-Inline-Control-Australia-Charcoal/dp/B01EV10FI0?ref_=fsclp_pl_dp_3 ).
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I feel your pain, Rachael52! We’ve had the same situation this past summer and fall, due to spring flooding in our basement where we’ve never had a problem before, and we, too, worried that our great reviews would be ruined. I hit on charcoal odor absorbers. The ones I have are made from bamboo charcoal, little fabric bags filled with it. I bought several and placed them around the basement. They’re a little pricey for what they are, but they work! You put them out in the sunshine to recharge them (tricky now, in winter, but I imagine you could put them in a sunny window.) It takes a few days to clear the air, but they work. Good luck!
Wash the basement with Clorox/water…I just use a sprayer…very quick. And a 10% solution will kill mold although I do make my mix higher concentration…but 50% isnt necessary.
We live in the middle Ohio Valley which is a very humid area. All three of our Airbnb houses are “old houses“ from 75 to 115 years old. They all have full basements and we have dehumidifiers in the basements, which helps considerably to lower the moisture level inside the houses.
The 75-year-old house has bad moisture problems in the upstairs bedroom closets. Due to a lack of insulation in the exterior walls, in the summer the difference in temperature between the exterior walls inside the closet and the cool temperature in the rest of the room causes condensation to form and run down the inside walls of the closets. I have found DampRid to be very effective in dealing with the closet moisture problem.
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