Hi all,

My husband and I bought a house that has an intermittent very strong odor. The house has cedar paneling throughout. The odor appears to be concentrated in a cedar panel near an exterior wall on one area of the house (1st floor). The odor tends to be very strong when the house is hot (we have strong solar gain) but at other times it may not even be noticeable. It is difficult to describe the odor, but it seemed plausible it could be a dead-animal smell, or urine, or even something musty. I would not describe it as an earthy smell. At its strongest, I feel I can taste the smell on my tongue. It was very noticeable today when the house warmed up, yet now (still warm) I do not smell it.

The house has had some rough times - burned down and rebuilt in 1990, and frozen and burst pipes in 2008 or 2009. (We bought it just after the repairs were done). A water/mold damage company did the clean-up after the pipes burst and said they did not find mold at that time. The house was also vacant a fair amount in the years prior to when we bought it (it is a ski house) and we know that at some point there were mice. We have sealed and are pretty confident we do not have mice now.

Can anyone help us figure this out? Thanks in advance.