The First Word That Came to Mind Was ‘Putrid’

It was that bad.

Paula came and got me. I needed to go in one of our bathrooms, as it didn’t smell right. For the love of fresh air, she was right. It was awful. The nasty smell was coming from the exhaust fan in the ceiling. With some quick deductions I was able to figure out what the cause was.

For a number of years we had birds fly into our master bathroom exhaust vent and move around. We never thought too much about it, as they would come and go, never hanging around. Because of this, I went to the other side of the house and looked up. You could faintly see small flies flitting around the exhaust opening from the foul-smelling bathroom. This could only mean one thing. Some birds had built a nest in the vent, hatched some babies and never returned from a foraging trip for worms. Unfortunately, the little ones perished and the circle of life took over on their remains.

A trip to the top of my 24’ extension ladder with my shop vac allowed me to remove a good portion of the abandoned nest, but unfortunately, not all. This was going to require a trip up in the attic. A very careful walk, stepping only on the roof trusses, got me to the edge of the house where the venting exited. The fix was to replace the 6’ of flexible hose between the hard vent and the outside.

The moral of this story and my advice to everyone reading this? Get vent covers and put them on immediately. If a really tall ladder is not your thing, then hire the nice handyman to do it for you. Trust me – you don’t need this smell in your house.

Exactly what you want – “forever” peace of mind