Ideas for making a basement smell fresh

[Anonymous]

Our basement had a sewage leak a month ago. Everything was cleared up and fixed but it still has a vaguely unpleasant smell.
What is the best way for me to make it smell better. Should I get activated charcoal - where do I even buy that?
Or should I buy an air purifier and do those even work? Would putting a couple of fans in there help?

[Anonymous]

What kind of flooring do you have in the basement? If it's carpet, did you replace the carpet and pad? How humid is the basement? Do you run a dehumidifier there?

[Anonymous]

Do you have a window you can keep open?

[Anonymous]

We have a basement that gets damp during heavy rains. So we do the following and it's much better:
Dehumidifiers in damp corners (2)
Fans blowing on damp corners (2)
Air filter in the middle

Might be overkill but it's much much more pleasant down there.

I have done charcoal too. But not as effective as fans/dehumidifier to get the excess moisture out of there.

[Anonymous]

DampRid. Nothing will ever remove the smell completely but this stuff works wonders.

[Anonymous]

Lampe Berger- oil burning lamp with the unscented oil. It supposedly has some sort of catalytic burner that removes odor. All I know is that my brothers neighbor in a NY brownstone had a sewage issue that came through the wall and this was the only thing that got rid of the odor.

THey sell them at The Nest Egg is Fairfax and possibly other places. The lamp oil is flammable, so it is difficult to ship and should not be burned unattended.

I think there are other brands of this style of lamp too.

[Anonymous]

+1 dehumidifier

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all these ideas. We do have new carpet. I think the Windows also open. Maybe I will try all the suggestions either one by one or in combination.

[Anonymous]

Dehumidifier all the way. Especially in this weather.

Once it gets to be fall/less humid/70 or below, open the windows regularly.

[Anonymous]

Dehumidifier is key. You can also get an deodorizer powder for the carpet that you shake on and vacuum up. I used that and it seemed to help with musty smells. Strosniders has a section of odor products

[Anonymous]

Gonzo packets. They are rechargeable. I like them better than the activated charcoal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lampe Berger- oil burning lamp with the unscented oil. It supposedly has some sort of catalytic burner that removes odor. All I know is that my brothers neighbor in a NY brownstone had a sewage issue that came through the wall and this was the only thing that got rid of the odor.

THey sell them at The Nest Egg is Fairfax and possibly other places. The lamp oil is flammable, so it is difficult to ship and should not be burned unattended.

I think there are other brands of this style of lamp too.

Just don't keep the midnight oil burning. That would be a harder smell to get rid of if your house burns down.

[Anonymous]

Does that oil lamp actually work? It is hard for me to believe that it does much.

[Anonymous]

Dehumidifier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lampe Berger- oil burning lamp with the unscented oil. It supposedly has some sort of catalytic burner that removes odor. All I know is that my brothers neighbor in a NY brownstone had a sewage issue that came through the wall and this was the only thing that got rid of the odor.

THey sell them at The Nest Egg is Fairfax and possibly other places. The lamp oil is flammable, so it is difficult to ship and should not be burned unattended.

I think there are other brands of this style of lamp too.

This sounds so dangerous. Anything that burns is going to pollute the air more than clean it.