Alright, I need to post this before the hilarity is lessened.
I begin by posing this question, “If I were a dead thing where would I be?”
Apparently in the life cycle of buying a house (condo) there comes a brief hazing period for new homeowners. Jess and I can attest to this first hand.
We have had this …well, odd funk coming from our basement for a couple of months now. The smell comes and goes and is more noticeable at certain times than others. As our cat hides down there during thunderstorms we assumed that the smell was coming from …well, her. However, this weekend Jess and I went on a “Find that smell” adventure.
We searched Hi and Low in that basement. We re-organized, swept, swiffered, and washed the floor. We thought we were in the clear… that is until last night when we were doing laundry.
The smell was back, and like a Bruce Willis film, it came with a vengeance. That’s it. I had had enough and I put my nose to the grind-stone in hopes of winning the “finding that smell” game. I had noticed a faint smell when I went to fill the dryer earlier this month. I assumed that with our cat, Katie, and wet clothes, 1 plus 1 = 2. This made sense considering I described the smell to Jess as remotely like “wet dog” or “wet animal.”
This brings me back to my original question. “If I were a dead thing where would I be?”
The answer…as you probably have already guessed…The Dryer.
We stopped the laundry and pulled up the lint trap to find living “bugs” and a few small hard white things in with the dryer lint. “Are those… bones?” asked Jess.
After a slight freakout, I with tools and Jess with a gloves & a bucket-o-chlorine, we attacked the dryer. Yes, no need to call the coroner, at 10:30 last night Jess and I removed not 1 but 2 WAY dead (we think) chipmunks, their “bug” friends, and more fur than I care to discuss from our dryer.
Gross…freakin aye, yes.
Apparently they had crawled into the outside dryer exhaust vent, traveled down the air chute, and got stuck at the base of the dryer exhaust. I could not tell you how long they had been there…but it was pretty aweful. Jess and I spent 2 hours removing dead parts, chlorining, scrubbing, and washing the Bejesus out of our dryer and surrounding floor. In fact, it was a good thing that today was garbage day, because we were able to get everything out of our house, including a few dryer parts that won’t be missed.
Needless to say, I will be making a home depot run after work so we can finish our laundry….animal free.
5 Responses to “Warning! Homeowners at Work?”
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So, last night I ran to Home Depot and purchased the needed hardware to finish the repairs on our dryer. However, Home Depot is now at the top of my shit-list. I can’t walk into that store without spending $50. I don’t know how it happens…it just does. I’m like a kid in a candy store.
While I was standing there, in the 4-mile isle of metallic venting pieces and dryer plumbing, I noticed a sign. The sign was warning people not to use vinyl dryer exhaust hose as it is quite flammable. Guess what we have (had) during the “hot animal” debacle? …Vinyl dryer exhaust hose.
It was bad enough that we had dead things in our dryer…but come to find out that we had a recipe for dead animal ignition. Needless, to say, I also purchased a new aluminum exhaust hose.
I will be returning to the big HD to purchase an exhaust pipe outdoor “Cage” cover to prevent animals from finding their way in ever again.
The fun just never ends here in Madison.
$14.69 for a new small-spaces dryer exhaust vent
$9.95 for a new aluminum exhaust hose
$13.00 for chlorine, gloves, a broom & dust-pan, and 2 wash-clothes
Spending 2 hours removing dead things from a dryer with your new wife…Priceless
Boone,
I agree, this is definately a Cindy story! chipmunks, mice living in cars. Hey they need a warm place to stay!
Cindy
Hi,
We have an odd funk in our dryer too! We tried to take the dryer apart but to no avail. We don’t know how to get to the funkiness. Did you take the dryer apart??? We believe it is a bird or a squirrel and it has got to go. Any advice you can give would be appreciated.
Signed,
2 girls equipped with surgical masks and kitchen gloves
Hi Karen,
I am TRUELY TRUELY sorry to hear about your critter funk. We actually did wind up taking the dryer apart…or partially apart. It was pretty simple though.
Just remove the exhaust pipe near the bottom on the back of the dryer. (it should just pull off by hand.) This is where we “found our dead thing/s.” The back of the dryer (ours anyway) just has a thin metal plate that came off with 8 screws. From there, as you so eloquently put it, was surgical masks & kitchen gloves time.
Fortunately, we were able to salvage the dryer after a hearty bleaching and scrubbing session from the dryer exhaust fan out. However, the exhaust pipe was a lost cause and had to go.
If you have further questions, please let me know.
I wish you the best of luck on your funk hunt!
~Boone
We have a worse situation. My 16 year old daughter took sheets out of the washer and put them in the dryer. She didn’t look to see if the dryer was empty, and since there wasn’t much to put in the dryer, got everything in, closed the door turned it on and left before realizing that the cat we have had for 17 years was in there.
I was in another state when I got the phone call from a hysterical wife that she found the cat dead as she emptied the dryer. I had to come home in the middle of the night and “handle” it all.
The problem we have now is that anytime you turn the dryer on it has an awful smell.
The cat was dead, but not in that bad of shape. There wasn’t a lot of blood and fur, and she was only dead in the dryer for about 4- 5 hours before I got home.
How can we get rid of the odor? I am trying drying rags soaked in vinegar right now, but I am open to any suggestions you might have!
PS- My daughter doesn’t know she killed the cat. We just told her my wife found her dead in the utility room. (She’d never forgive herself!) I need to get this issue resolved before she puts two and two together.