As I entered the old house, my nose detected the trace of rodent urine and feces somewhere, and then a smell that I could not distinguish at all. I take pride in the fact that my nose has discovered awful things like mildew deep in the walls that curse the lungs of small children in a home, and this new odor was bothersome because it was so unfamiliar to me.
When I told the homeowner that rodent smell was there, she admitted that they had learned of that problem and were dealing with it. But the other smell...she said, "Come take a look in the master bedroom"....
As I was turning the hallway corner to go into the room, the strange smell of old honey and rotten wood kind of mixed together revealed a nasty BEEHIVE that had existed up in the ceiling! The previous owners had put a new roof on top of the old roof, and bees had nestled in between the surfaces and created a new home for themselves. The thing became so massive and productive that the honey dripped into the wall and onto the hardwood floor seeping into everything and ruining the surfaces. This was a venture that took a LONG time to create, and the previous owners must not have heard the buzzing!
So...if you EVER HEAR YOUR WALLS OR CEILINGS HUMMING, you may want to get an expert to come & take a look, because the damage can be quite extensive AND expensive to repair.
