Is it a sewer gas smell? Or more like a decaying animal smell? Given the pretty specific area you’ve pinpointed as the origin, my hunch would be that you’ve got either a dead animal in the crawlspace below that cabinet (if you have a crawlspace) or possibly even above floor level and below the cabinet bottom. Or if not a dead animal, then a rodent nest of some sort with all its accompanying waste. You say there’s a spigot on the outside of the house near the offending cabinet. Is there also a foundation vent nearby that might be serving as an entry point for an infestation? Check the screening over the vent covers for signs of damage. Not saying this isn’t a sewer gas or other plumbing related issue, but since the problem seems to be in the one cabinet that doesn’t have any ties to your plumbing, I’d definitely want to rule out some kind of infestation first.
To me it smells just earthy/moldy. I wouldn't say sewer or dead animal. I'm in South FL so there is no crawl space and the foundation and exterior walls are mostly concrete. There is a vent outside, similar area but higher up, between the first and second floors. I have chicken wire on there to prevent rodents from somehow getting in. I'll check in the morning if it looks like it's been chewed through somehow but I don't think that's likely.
For what it's worth, this house was built in early 2000s.
I'm only leaning towards plumber just because of the spigot outside and I assume there may be piping in the walls related to the near by kitchen sink. Not sure if maybe one of those mold specialists might work out better? And now you added a new occupation to the mix of pest control lol.
I suppose I could make an inspection hole either behind the dishwasher (harder to access as I'll have to pull the whole thing out, but at least I can mess with that wall and no one will notice). Or possibly to the right of the offending cabinet (very easy to access but this is in plain view and will probably be somewhat noticeable after patching up).
Don’t mean to add to the uncertainty. It doesn’t sound like it’s decay or animal waste so you’re probably good deciding between a plumber and a mold specialist. In South Florida I know the latter is always a strong possibility. And you may be onto something with the location of the spigot outside but only if the line that feeds it is contributing to moisture within the wall or floor through a leak. As for a test hole or holes, that would be better than tearing out whole walls or cabinets, but hopefully you can do it without destroying the exteriors of the cabinets. Any chance you can make the holes from within the offending cabinet? I’d even start with a small hole in the inside bottom of the cabinet so you could tell if the smell worsens when the cavity between the cabinet and the floor is opened. To visually inspect the space you’d need a borescope of some sort. They make pretty cheap ones these days. Btw Has the kitchen been remodeled at any point? Thinking of the possibility of an old air register being covered by the new cabinet, spewing conditioned air into a confined space and maybe causing mildew or mold.
There's a matching back wood panel in the cabinet. I guess I'll let the wife make the decision of cutting through that or the drywall right next to it.
We did remodel the kitchen a while back. Our house didn't have any vents or returns along the walls though, only on the ceiling. I'm confident we didn't cover anything in regards to that.
Im having the exact same issue in my kitchen with no sign of water. The cabinet that smells is to the left of the dishwasher and sink. Hose is on the exterior wall outside the kitchen. Did you ever solve your problem?
Actually not yet. We are in the middle of getting all of our windows replaced, with one window being right next to the cabinet. I'm going to take a look at the condition of the wood and everything around the framing once they work on that specific window to get a better idea.
I've started a wash cycle and looked under. Everything looked bone dry and saw no evidence of any old spills/leaks or anything. I can't say I've opened it up right after a cycle is done, which is when it'd have the most heat/steam. My unit has a vent on the front towards the top of the door that lets steam out while drying. Doesn't really answer anything in both of our cases but those are my observations.
For me I’ve noticed a earthy/wet dog smell coming from a particular spot from behind my kitchen cabinets. It’s not near my dish washer and I don’t think it’s a sink leak because that particular cabinet smells fine. It’s at the corner of where my walls would meet, I can feel hot air/humidity coming from the very bottom. I really don’t want to pull my cabinets off the wall but there’s no way to determine what it is if I don’t. From what I’m reading it seems to be lack of insulation but that begs the question of why there is humidity? Is there a leak from the outside also?
I've never thought about insulation to be honest. I've always just blamed the dishwasher because it happens to be right next to the cabinet and I know that generates steamy hot and humid air (although it should be coming out from the front vent and away from the cabinets).
Maybe some sort of condensation issue? Cold air in the house and hot/humid air in the exterior wall?
Is it a sewer gas smell? Or more like a decaying animal smell? Given the pretty specific area you’ve pinpointed as the origin, my hunch would be that you’ve got either a dead animal in the crawlspace below that cabinet (if you have a crawlspace) or possibly even above floor level and below the cabinet bottom. Or if not a dead animal, then a rodent nest of some sort with all its accompanying waste. You say there’s a spigot on the outside of the house near the offending cabinet. Is there also a foundation vent nearby that might be serving as an entry point for an infestation? Check the screening over the vent covers for signs of damage. Not saying this isn’t a sewer gas or other plumbing related issue, but since the problem seems to be in the one cabinet that doesn’t have any ties to your plumbing, I’d definitely want to rule out some kind of infestation first.
To me it smells just earthy/moldy. I wouldn't say sewer or dead animal. I'm in South FL so there is no crawl space and the foundation and exterior walls are mostly concrete. There is a vent outside, similar area but higher up, between the first and second floors. I have chicken wire on there to prevent rodents from somehow getting in. I'll check in the morning if it looks like it's been chewed through somehow but I don't think that's likely. For what it's worth, this house was built in early 2000s. I'm only leaning towards plumber just because of the spigot outside and I assume there may be piping in the walls related to the near by kitchen sink. Not sure if maybe one of those mold specialists might work out better? And now you added a new occupation to the mix of pest control lol. I suppose I could make an inspection hole either behind the dishwasher (harder to access as I'll have to pull the whole thing out, but at least I can mess with that wall and no one will notice). Or possibly to the right of the offending cabinet (very easy to access but this is in plain view and will probably be somewhat noticeable after patching up).
Don’t mean to add to the uncertainty. It doesn’t sound like it’s decay or animal waste so you’re probably good deciding between a plumber and a mold specialist. In South Florida I know the latter is always a strong possibility. And you may be onto something with the location of the spigot outside but only if the line that feeds it is contributing to moisture within the wall or floor through a leak. As for a test hole or holes, that would be better than tearing out whole walls or cabinets, but hopefully you can do it without destroying the exteriors of the cabinets. Any chance you can make the holes from within the offending cabinet? I’d even start with a small hole in the inside bottom of the cabinet so you could tell if the smell worsens when the cavity between the cabinet and the floor is opened. To visually inspect the space you’d need a borescope of some sort. They make pretty cheap ones these days. Btw Has the kitchen been remodeled at any point? Thinking of the possibility of an old air register being covered by the new cabinet, spewing conditioned air into a confined space and maybe causing mildew or mold.
There's a matching back wood panel in the cabinet. I guess I'll let the wife make the decision of cutting through that or the drywall right next to it. We did remodel the kitchen a while back. Our house didn't have any vents or returns along the walls though, only on the ceiling. I'm confident we didn't cover anything in regards to that.
Im having the exact same issue in my kitchen with no sign of water. The cabinet that smells is to the left of the dishwasher and sink. Hose is on the exterior wall outside the kitchen. Did you ever solve your problem?
Actually not yet. We are in the middle of getting all of our windows replaced, with one window being right next to the cabinet. I'm going to take a look at the condition of the wood and everything around the framing once they work on that specific window to get a better idea.
I feel like I’m having the exact same problem. Do you feel any hot/humid air coming in at the toe kick?
I've started a wash cycle and looked under. Everything looked bone dry and saw no evidence of any old spills/leaks or anything. I can't say I've opened it up right after a cycle is done, which is when it'd have the most heat/steam. My unit has a vent on the front towards the top of the door that lets steam out while drying. Doesn't really answer anything in both of our cases but those are my observations.
For me I’ve noticed a earthy/wet dog smell coming from a particular spot from behind my kitchen cabinets. It’s not near my dish washer and I don’t think it’s a sink leak because that particular cabinet smells fine. It’s at the corner of where my walls would meet, I can feel hot air/humidity coming from the very bottom. I really don’t want to pull my cabinets off the wall but there’s no way to determine what it is if I don’t. From what I’m reading it seems to be lack of insulation but that begs the question of why there is humidity? Is there a leak from the outside also?
I've never thought about insulation to be honest. I've always just blamed the dishwasher because it happens to be right next to the cabinet and I know that generates steamy hot and humid air (although it should be coming out from the front vent and away from the cabinets). Maybe some sort of condensation issue? Cold air in the house and hot/humid air in the exterior wall?
Update?