ᐅ Apartment Renovated – Unpleasant Odor?!

Hello,

I am new here and not sure if this is the right place to ask.

I have a big problem and am getting desperate.
Situation: A relative inherited a house and converted it into two apartments. Since we no longer got along with the previous tenants of the old apartment, we decided to move in there. Because a man with a dog had lived in the apartment before, it was in rather poor condition.

So we renovated the entire apartment together with the landlord.

Flooring:
Laminate was installed over a stone floor.
Only the kitchen has vinyl flooring.

Walls:
In the hallway, we decided to cover the walls with textured plaster.
All other rooms were freshly wallpapered.

Of course, all old wallpaper was carefully removed beforehand and the new wallpaper was professionally installed.

We only painted the ceiling.

There was no moisture in the apartment, and it was ventilated well throughout the summer.
The electrical wiring was also newly installed beforehand.

Now, the problem. After moving in, we started noticing an unpleasant smell in the apartment.
The first thought was, of course, that it’s a new place and everything still smells new. But after about six weeks, the same smell is still there or maybe even worse.

When you stay in the apartment for about five minutes, you no longer notice the smell — it becomes familiar.

But when you leave the building, the clothes smell strongly, musty. We all have office jobs and have already been addressed by friends about the strange odor on our clothes. Sometimes the smell is even noticeable on newspaper left on the table for a day.

It feels like the smell is everywhere in the apartment.

Of course, moisture measurements have already been taken, but all results were fine.

We have tried vinegar, coffee, and various air fresheners, but without any success.

P.S.: The apartment is ventilated well every day.

Maybe someone with expertise can help me here...

Thanks in advance for any answers!

Best regards, Manu

Were you able to identify a specific room where the smell is strongest?
Musty odor is usually linked to moisture. Could it be near the washing machine, sink, basin, toilet, etc.?

Is the floor concrete, like a concrete slab? It’s probably safe to rule out any leftover pet accidents.

Does the smell get worse when it rains or after several rainy days?

Is the apartment located under the roof?

What type of musty odor is it—more like what you’d expect from a swamp or wetland, or more like damp clothes left wet for days?

Are all the traps working properly? Maybe there is an open waste soil pipe somewhere, and the smell is coming from that.

I also spontaneously thought of a drainpipe.

It was similar for me in a rental apartment, the same history. No idea where it came from. It took several months until it stopped.

So, you can’t pinpoint a specific room that smells the strongest.

There is a strong odor coming from the bathroom drain. We have already removed the trap but found nothing. However, the smell is different.

Yes, before installing the floor, the surface was cleaned thoroughly.

We have the feeling that when we turn on the heating, the smell gets worse. It’s the same with clothes: when it’s cool, they smell less than when you are sitting in a warm room.

The apartment is on the second floor of a building, but not an attic apartment, so we have a flat ceiling and we can use the attic as storage. The roof was redone five years ago and is dry.

The house had problems with the wastewater system, but everything was supposedly cleared by a drain cleaning service.

The smell is musty, old, simply put, I don’t really know how to describe it... damp, like sometimes in an older lady’s home when the apartment hasn’t been ventilated properly.

@lastdrop: Okay, then I’m maybe a bit relieved that the smell might go away on its own.

What about the doors? What about the windows? Could the smell be trapped inside there?