…or possibly a mouse?
Whatever rodent it may be, it’s decaying under the floorboards somewhere – and the smell is extremely unpleasant!
The obvious solution is to find and remove the offending carcass. However, that isn’t the easiest of tasks if you don’t know exactly where it is, or the cheapest option if it means pulling up floors, cutting chunks out of plasterboard walls, dismantling kitchen units or removing sections of the ceiling to find the offending rodent.
In situations like these, often all you can do is simply endure the odour until it eventually fades away. The amount of time it takes for a rodent to decompose can depend on a wide variety of things, including its size, the temperature, the humidity levels and if decomposers like bluebottles (or blowflies) can gain access to the deceased rodent. All these factors will determine how long the unpleasant smell can linger. Unfortunately it can take anything from three to five weeks, or even longer in some cases for rodent bodies to completely decay.
The odour may taken even longer to dissipate if the liquids released during the decaying process are able to seep into the structure of your property.
Opening windows to allow natural ventilation and using electric fans may help to disperse the odour. Using DIY deodorisers to try and mask the smell, or trays of baking soda and peppermint oil (if you believe this old wive’s tale) can help on a small scale.
If you want to make sure that you or any visitors or customers don’t smell that rat, then Rentokil’s Rodent Odour Control service could be the answer. It uses unique, specially developed scenting cubes that effectively mask the odours associated with rodents.
The discreet Ambius cubes, with Premium Scenting by AirQ are unlike most commercial air fresheners. The fragrance emitted from the cube behaves like a vapour (due to the small droplet size of the scent released) and can remain in the air for up to four hours at a time.
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