We spent a few days trying to figure out the source of "the smell" that had now taken over our home. We spent the weekend with windows open and candles lit, cleaning every nook and cranny for the source of the smell. Is it a lost diaper? Sippy Cup gone very wrong? maybe a kid hid food somewhere and its rotting? We noticed that with the A/C off, it seemed to get better. So on Monday, when the smell had gotten so bad that I couldn't get out of the house fast enough, I called Patrick and insisted that something must have died in our air ducts. Could he please send out someone who can help me look in them to determine what happened?
Well, the poor guy who came out could make it to the den before gagging. He exited through the kitchen door, masked up, and came back in armed with Febreze to lead the way. He agreed that it was horrible and could not find and evidence that anything was in an air duct. He got us some air neutralizer that helped with the smell, but certainly was not enough.
The next day, Billy and Alex arrived with sheetrock knife in hand and we began looking for the stinky animal. After 6 holes in the ceiling, and no dead animals, Alex climbed into the return air and began cutting holes in the wall. On his second hole he declared, "Oh, Mr. Billy, it's my lucky day!" He had found the dead animal, a HUGE raccoon had fallen into the wall and died. It was so gross that Mike and Billy exited the house. Poor Alex and I worked together to get the raccoon out of the wall and out of the house.
After cutting away the sheetrock from the other side of the wall and cleaning the 2x4's with bleach and lysol, Alex and Billy left and the sheet rock repair team arrived and began patching our holes. They finished the next day and we were happy that it was such a quick fix. The scent, however, took its time completely leaving our house.
I am happy to report that the scent is now gone and we are back to the usual culprits of stink in our house...dirty diapers:)
