Damp Smells Explanation
Firstly - happy new year to all you damp geeks and property people. Secondly - 'It smells damp'...What does this actually mean? If I take a house brick and put it in a bucket of water for a week, and then remove it and then smell it, what will it smell of? Earthy bouquet - hint of vanilla? No, in reality it is not going to smell of anything.
By James Hockey
.avif)
So what do we mean when we speak about a damp and typically musty smell?
A 'damp' smell is not the moisture itself because clearly, the introduction of moisture to inorganic materials like bricks and mortar, produces no discernible odour.
It is the introduction of sufficient moisture to ORGANIC materials which results in a musty smell, via a process we all know of as DECAY or DECOMPOSITION.
What do I mean? Consider what happens when the leaves fall from the trees in Autumn each year. What happens? Do those leaves build-up year on year, do we have to physically remove each and every leaf which falls from the trees throughout the land?
No, if left on the ground they are wet and rot/decompose away. A primary decomposer is fungi.
It is the circle of life :)
Anyway, it's a natural process and when we expose organic materials to sufficient moisture, the mould (fungi) spores which are ubiquitous and in the air all around us right now, the right conditions can be created for germination and off it goes.
