Expert: Richard Taylor, AIA - 2/18/2008

Question
We live in a townhouse. Our spare room is against the wall and aove the back corner of the neighbours garage in whichs she feeds stray cats.  Not very clean,and very smelly.  In addition, we have had mice in the walls.  My question is, is there anything reno-wise we can do to prevent the smell from penetrating that room.  It smells the same as her garage so we are guessing it is more from that than any dead rodents. We have stripped the wall paper and painted.  Not replaced the rug as yet but have cleaned it.  We plan to sell the house and hope to get rid of the smell first. Any suggestions?

Answer
Jackie - thanks for your question!

As you've no doubt discovered, bad odors get absorbed into building materials.  There's not much you can do to get rid of all of the smell that's already there; you can cover it up, but that's a temporary solution at best.

You need to remove and dispose of all of the material you can (plaster, drywall, insulation) then thoroughly clean and treat the remaining construction with a commercial odor-removing product.  Next seal up all areas where rodents (and odors) might enter - remember that mice can get through an opening as small as 1/4".

Cover the construction with a layer of vapor barrier like Visqueen, and tape and seal all the corners and joints.

Finally, replace the wallboard or plaster.

Solutions like this aren't permanent, however.  The permanent solution is to modify the neighbor's activity.  This is clearly infringing upon your rightful use of your property.  I would be surprised if your local government doesn't have an ordinance against this kind of activity - for just the reasons that you're experiencing!  Contact your local health department or code compliance officer for more information.

Hope this helps,

Richard Taylor, AIA
www.rtastudio.com
www.rtaplans.com