So i woke up the other day and my house smelled like a dead thing...

[Callipygous]

i got up in the morning and my mother decided to start my day off by informing me that i get to go crawling around under the house. several rooms smelled like a rotting carcass. after much exploration in the crawl space and a little testing to see when we could and couldnt smell it we decided that the dead thing must be in the heating system. we cant smell it under the house, we cant smell it when we tape off the vents, otherwise it reeks like all hell.

 

so now i have a couple questions. my mother seems inclined to leave our vents taped up and wait for the thing to decompose and pass out of the stink phase of its rotting. i think this is a bad idea for a couple reasons. first, sanitary... how good can it really be to have a dead rodent in the system that blows air all over your house? second, what happens when we use the heater again? if this thing has fully decomposed doesnt that mean well be blowing pieces of dried rotten rat all over our house?

 

i could handle removing the thing from under the house or in the attic, but i dont really feel up to taking apart and reassembling our heating system... what are your thoughts? is it a health risk? is it worth paying lots and lots of money to have someone come in professionally and open up our vents?

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

Open your vents and try to find it. If you leave it there it's only going to grow bacteria and spread it throughout your house.

[Callipygous]

lol... im sure. but finding it ourselves isnt really an option. im not comfortable with disconnecting the ducts under the house which limits our search to what we can see from the floor vents. so i take it hiring someone would be worth while?

[Phi for All]

Is your basement finished or do you have access to the ducts and piping? It's not a big deal to remove the tape and the 2-3 screws that hold the pipes--the sheet metal tubes that lead from your ducts--to the boots (the metal fitting your vents drop into). Undo the screws from the boot and the pipe should slide back toward the duct until it's clear of the boot, then pull it off (usually the pipe is only screwed into the boot) and dump it in a trash bag (a rat will go plop).

 

If your pipes aren't accesible, or the rat is in the ducts, well, then you're humped.

[Callipygous]

Is your basement finished or do you have access to the ducts and piping? It's not a big deal to remove the tape and the 2-3 screws that hold the pipes--the sheet metal tubes that lead from your ducts--to the boots (the metal fitting your vents drop into). Undo the screws from the boot and the pipe should slide back toward the duct until it's clear of the boot' date=' then pull it off (usually the pipe is only screwed into the boot) and dump it in a trash bag (a rat will go plop).

 

If your pipes aren't accesible, or the rat is in the ducts, well, then you're humped.[/quote']

 

its not really a basement. its a crawlspace. i have access to the ducts in that i can see them/lie on the ground next to them. i cant get under them. any assembly would be taking place in about 2 feet of room between the dirt and the floor of my house. basically its a total pain in the ass.

[Mokele]

Ok, if I'm reading you right, the house, like one of my old ones, has a heating system with ducts that are underneath the house (in the crawlspace) and the heat (and stink) comes up from vents in the floor, yes?

 

Well, could you get a small mirror of some sort, unscrew the grates on the floor vents, stick it in, and with that and a flashlight, have a look around? If you have a roto-rooter you might be able to use that to reach the mouse/rat/hobo/whatever and pull it out.

 

Mokele

[Callipygous]

yes, you read correctly.

 

the use of a mirror uncovers no rats/mice/hobos, but i can only see about 2 feet before it hits the main ducts and turns to either side.

[Mokele]

Crap. Multiple mirrors?

 

Alternatively, do you have a nice vacuum cleaner with a *really* long hose? You could map out the vents, and stick the hose down (with the cleaner running) in particular ways to try to just suck the little bastard out.

 

Mokele

[Mokele]

Do you have a video camera or webcam with a long cord? You could tie a string to that (so you don't lose it) and use that to look around down there.

[Phi for All]

I know it's a PitA, but you can get into the duct work without having to take it apart. Borrow or buy a pair of "tin snips" (sheet metal cutters, red-handled for right-handers, green-handled for left-handers), some duct tape, some sheet metal panning (usually a 3' square of sheet metal) then get in the crawlspace with the snips, tape, panning, a hammer, and a straight-bladed screwdriver.

 

Pick a place in the ductwork under the room where the chupacabra smells worst, hold the screwdriver with the tip at a 45 degree angle to the bottom of the duct (edge on, not flat) and smack the blade of the screwdriver with the hammer to punch a hole in the duct big enough to get the tip of the snips into.

 

Cut a big enough hole to stick your head and shoulders through and find the offender (watch out for the edges of that hole, sheet metal burrs are sharp). When you're done, cut a big enough piece of panning to cover the hole and seal it up with duct tape. When your folks sell the house they can charge more because you now have a custom duct-cleaning access port.

[Mokele]

Cut a big enough hole to stick your head and shoulders through and find the offender (watch out for the edges of that hole, sheet metal burrs are sharp).

 

Alternatively, use a mirror and flashlight and some protection for your arms and hands. This'll avoid cuts to your face or even worse, while needing a smaller hole.

 

Mokele

[Callipygous]

the plot thickens.

 

the smells progression has been taking some odd turns. the heater is in the center of the house, it drops below the floor and then 4 ducts come out of it. one to the family room, one to my room and the master bedroom, one to the dining room/family room area at the front of the house, and one to the office/bathroom etc. so picture a cross under the house.

 

the first place we noticed the smell was in the left branch of the cross, at pretty much the same time as we noticed the smell in the right branch. now my mother has started to notice it in her bathroom, which would represent the top branch of the cross... my bedroom is on the way to her bathroom, but she cant smell it in my room at all (i cant actually smell it anywhere and the only reason i still believe her at this point is because the cat has also been spending some time sniffing the vents)

 

 

anyway... the point is we have no idea where in the vent it is, and given the fact that she noticed it in the office and the family room at about the same time were tempted to think there may even be more than one...

 

i do have a webcam with a cord, if i get determined enough i may find a way to put that and a flashlight into the vent tomorrow.

[YT2095]

I gather the ducting is the thin galvanised steel plate type, could you get something like a short bit of rubber hose (a few inches) and tap along the pipes, the sound should change when you get to where the body is, that`ll at least give you an idea to within a foot of where the offending article rests.

 

just a thought

[Callipygous]

good idea YT, but unfortunately they are wrapped in insulation, which would be easy to remove, but a pain to put back.

 

also, i forgot to mention. we already have tin snips, no borrowing necessary. i think they are yellow handled though...

[Phi for All]

also, i forgot to mention. we already have tin snips, no borrowing necessary. i think they are yellow handled though...

Yellow handled are for straight cuts, right or left-handed and they'll do nicely. YT gave me an idea. If the insulation isn't too thick, pick a section of duct and give it a good thump. The idea is that if the dead weasel body is right there you'll hear it thump back as it falls. This is a very low-tech method but may help you locate it fairly quickly.

 

If that yields no results, I'd try the webcam in the piping. Got something small on wheels you can strap the cam and a flashlight to? Custom Lego car, maybe?

[Douglas]

How about if you go to a rental store who has a powerfull vacumn with a 30 foot hose.

 

My built in vacumn system (with 30 foot hose) is powerfull enough to suck and hold a small cat.

[Callipygous]

My built in vacumn system (with 30 foot hose) is powerfull enough to suck and hold a small cat.

 

which you know because....

[Douglas]

which you know because....

Because I sucked up a dead squirrel in the engine of my car.

[Callipygous]

sooooo

 

the people who installed the ducting in my house are... how do we feel about swearing on this site again? anyway, i dont like them. i build a little cart to carry my webcam and a very small flashlight down the duct. unfortunately, due to a combination of the ducts being filthy and installed at an angle, i cant roll the cart all the way down to the main duct. it branches off of the main at a 45 degree angle, then turns back straight to the wall when it gets to the boot.

 

i was able to open up one of the ducts and look down it, without finding the hobo. i only managed to look one direction down the duct, so for all i know it could be off in the other direction, or it could be in any one of the other 3 main ducts in our house, or in the heater itself....

 

basically, im swamped.

 

 

oh yeah... i can smell it now too.

[YT2095]

I'd try the webcam in the piping. Got something small on wheels you can strap the cam and a flashlight to? Custom Lego car, maybe?

 

Or something like a trained Ferret, the sort they take on Rabbit hunts for going down the holes, if you have a collar and string, you may get a good idea of how far down the pipe the corpse is when the string stops pulling, you could use that distance as a rough guide.

IIRC, the duct pipes aren`t 100% air tight,so perhaps a dog could find it from the outside?

the other idea I had would be to open up an end, send a ferret down the pipe with a string to come out the other end, then tie one of those large tripple Pike Hooks on it, the sort used for large fish and then drag that down the pipe, it`ll stick in the body with as little as a few grams of force and doesn`t come out easily, the only problem is, it could also catch on any uneven metal edges just as easily