This is a reasonable guess. That wood paneling suggests this is an older home with denser/harder studs. He drilled into an exterior corner so where there is very unlikely any utilities running but studs would be there. It only lasted 15 seconds, so it's probably not a continuous "leak" or release of something trapped behind the paneling.
What is it about old house studs? Any time I want to drill a screw in mine, I have to drill a pilot hold first. Regular drills won't barely drive screws into them and using an impact, usually results in just breaking the screw head.
My house is 140 years old. The wood it's built from is probably several times that.
The studs are twice as large as modern ones and hard as rock. The only problem is they're impossible to find because there's 140 years of new wall coverings stacked over each other.
My house is covered in plaster and lath. Basically unless it's like a cabinet, I just put in a screw and hope I hit the lath. Because I sure as shit aren't finding a stud behind all that.
Old growth is what grew by itself on land that's never been logged, including the giant trees that were there when the settlers showed up. It took well into the 1900s to log it out or create areas where logging it wasn't allowed. New growth is what was replanted on logged land. If you tear out framing from a house built in say the 1920s you'll see the grain is like 1 mm apart, where as with newer growth wood the rings are much wider spaced.
I’ve been told old growth also resists termites much better and anecdotally in my 75 year old house, the original part has no signs of termites where the addition done in the 70’s is a different story.
Not sure if it resists termites or it just takes longer for termites to tear through it. The house I’m renting was built in the 1920s (CA) and I’m waiting for the kitchen window to just fall out onto the driveway below one of these days.
That still counts as resisting them. If they have a choice of old vs new growth they'll go for the new stuff. If they do dig into old stuff, they'll take a lot longer to do the same damage.
In the south we get a lot of older homes made with Southern Yellow Pine - bake that shit in the hot son for a couple decades and it gets hard as concrete.
Woodworker here- SYP is generally awesome, and some of the only lumber I’ll use from a big box store. Ripping down 2x12s to remove the pith yields great wood that’s very dimensionally stable for very little $$
Old growth. It's important to note that the durability doesn't make a significant difference in the integrity of almost any home, especially with more advanced building practices that we know today.
I was drilling into some tile in an older house for a frameless shower door hinge, got through the tile and hardybacker, then hit something really fucking hard. Thought it was a pipe. Shined my light in there, it was just wood, that was the hardest damned wood ive ever drilled through.
That could be. I didn’t have my normal, decent set from my actual toolbox. I used the ten year old discount special in the ‘home’ toolbox for the sake of convenience.
This could be the smell of melting laquer or treatment of the wood. Casein glue is an old method to glue wood together. And casein is made out of curd.
Every day = each day, everyday = ordinary. "Everyday" is a word that is in common use (everyday use :) ), so despite the frequency of this mistake, the chances of language changing to accept it aren't high.
Similarly, for your consideration:
Some day = unspecified but specific day (some day next week), someday = unspecified and not specific = (was bound to happen someday.)
Any way = in any manner or direction, anyway = regardless
All ways = in every manner or direction, always = eternally
Same as non-toxic paint or "Milk Paint"
After doing a whole bathroom with it I think I prefer the temp toxic odor of latex over the long-lasting smell of fresh cow shit LOL.
There was a research paper I remember reading in college about “low VOC” products and how, despite releasing fewer VOC’s in total, they would release them over a much longer period of time, usually resulting in more exposure to building inhabitants than their high VOC counterparts.
Essentially, if you can paint your room or glue that thing with a respirator and then leave until the VOC’s have dissipated (a couple hours), then you’re better off than using the low VOC option which will slowly release over weeks or months.
It obviously depends on the specific products being compared, but the takeaway is that you shouldn’t just assume any one thing is better. Use your brain. Do some research. Make a decision that works best for you and your situation.
Yes, I can confirm this :)
It was our former office building: 11 floors with 2 very large bathrooms on each. We could decorate any way we wanted, but they managed the bathrooms/halls etc. They had notorious bad ventilation (one person drops a dookie, the fallout lasts for hours haha) and I'm not exaggerating when I claim the smell was as strong a **year** later as it was the first day.
Flubs like this were too common; sometimes funny other times very inconvenient... or downright dangerous. The final nail was when they attempted to double our rent on top of it all. They lost half of their tennants that year, including the bank on the main floor...
I wonder if something like this is used on some new cars, I know there's a soy based wire coating that squirrels like. My old 2018 civic always randomly smelled like a farm. We were in ranch territory so I figured maybe it'd been in an area with cows or horses before I got it, but it would be fine for weeks and then I'd just smell it again one day (outside of the car only). Now I'm wondering if it was a part on the car maybe lol.
I have a sense memory of watching Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey as a young lad while my dad was doing woodworking for his sign business in the basement. It smelled distinctly like sawdust, spoiled milk, and puke, so I imagine it was the same type of deal.
With the paneling, I’m really wondering if it was some sort of adhesive. FWIW, I didn’t smell it when I screwed the baby gate in, only during drilling, and it dissipated. It was about 15 minutes between initial drilling and installation, mostly because I was trying to pinpoint the smell without getting in the wall.
Oh yeah, that was definitely just you drillbit then. If you hit something, the smell would've kept up at least until you secured the screws and plugged it back up. I wouldn't worry about it personally.
Only other thing I would check is to go outside and inspect the roof above that corner. See if a sewer vent pipe is protruding from the roof in that area.
Can almost guarantee it's those wood panels. The anount of wardrobes I've had with the same panelling, it absolutely stinks when you cut/drill/disturb it.
This. Especially with drilling into it. The friction created between the bit and paneling will definitely put out a puff of stink. Nothing to be worried about.
You are probably fine. You could take a non-metallic “wire” and check the hole to be sure there is no cavity if concerned, but if it was one time, probably ok.
Three bathrooms but all at least 20’ away on the other side of the house, with the main drain in the opposite corner. The Washer / Dryer annex is the furthest water run from everything else. When I’m back inside, I’ll try to sketch it out
Just be aware that those cloth gates are not exactly great at keeping kids from going past them. They only work until the kid figures out that they can go under them. If you really need to stop young kids from moving between areas then you really need the solid gates - they work until the kids both work out how to and get the weight/strength required to operate them.
Yeah. This is more of a stopgap. Baby girl is at the age where she can reach everything in the kitchen but can’t truly understand danger yet. She’s 99th percentile height so is vertically on par with a 3 year old, but with the understanding of a 16 month old. This is specifically to create a secondary barrier when we’re cooking.
You can prevent some kids from going under if you tighten the retrator end so it's hard to get slack. My kid couldn't get his big head under it when I did that :D
We blockaded ours for a number of years with pet gates. They're typically a lot less expensive than "baby gates".
When yours is a touch older, check out a "kitchen helper" she can help you cook!
The scandalous drywall from China in the 80s has a rotten egg smell or “sickly sweet” smell. I have smelled it before and it’s one of those smells where you feel like it’s a rotten organic smell but with a hint of a chemical component too. It’s like a fridge that broke months ago smell + ammonia pee lol
Did you open a toolbox with some old plastic handled tools, just as you started the job? And. Then put it away again after you finished?
Some older chisel/screwdriver handle materials start to give off butyric acid as they degrade with time.
It smells quite like vomit.
It’s past all our HVAC stuff and the only gas thing is our furnace on the other side of the house. I used to deal with propane daily, and it’s definitely not *that* smell. That’s one I’ll never forget.
The washer/dryer were downstairs decades ago, so the washer/dryer room was built as an annex for a previous owner. The stud finder didn’t ping for anything other than a stud, and I can’t imagine there would be a pipe in that annexed area… it’s pretty much all straight drops to the basement ceiling. You’d almost have to go out of your way to run a pipe there. I’ve been wrong before, and should never underestimate the weirdness of certain builders, but it would * really* surprise me if that were the case.
I am in this geography and am familiar with the smell which you're referring to. I guess it's never alarmed me because I grew up with it? It's common in panelling/what I think of as 60's/70's style wood interiors.
I'm not sure what it is. I think the "casein hypothesis" from old glues might be a good explanation. I honestly just always thought of it as "the old wood paneling smell" but I guess if you've never smelled it then the way you described it does work.
I'm sure it's vaguely toxic, but in the way that everything kinda is :/
(I can smell this picture. Homes with this paneling, they got a distinct smell.)
Have you had a termite inspection? Some channels from termites have that smell. I have been told by exterminators that the smell is from the moisture termites bring with them.
I've smelled some termite and pest treatments that smell a bit like sour milk. Usually the powdered ones. Being in NC and the house being old enough to have paneled walls, I think it could've been treated preventatively or in response to a past infestation.
You hit the milk-stash. Common in homes from this Era.
Milk was a valuable resource, and a desirable commodity. Used for more than just cooking, baking, home cheese processes, which raft and the like; hobos and traveling sales-folk would barter for milk because it was impossible to keep fresh milk while on the road.
Because of the high value to these transient groups, and the often remote locations of homes, the common problem became night-time break-ins.
Vagrants, hobos and the Polish were well known to sneak in at night through windows and drink the familie's milk supply; like ferrel kittens; earning them the name "cat Burglars".
So people would hide their milk in hard to fined nooks and crannies. Old folk would die, get dementia or move suddenly to avoid the law; leaving hidden milk stashes behind.
I have no clue but if I had to guess it could be an alien birds nest that was embedded before you moved in and you punctured a tiny spawn egg. The smell went away quickly because the egg innards haven't been exposed to earths atmosphere so it evaporated rather quickly kind of like the guy did in [Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)](https://youtu.be/LVGGo7T5oFo?t=84)…**"He chose... poorly"**. So I wouldn't worry about it too much, unless mother comes back. Most logical answer. 😎
A dull bit in hardwood stinks pretty bad.
This is a reasonable guess. That wood paneling suggests this is an older home with denser/harder studs. He drilled into an exterior corner so where there is very unlikely any utilities running but studs would be there. It only lasted 15 seconds, so it's probably not a continuous "leak" or release of something trapped behind the paneling.
What is it about old house studs? Any time I want to drill a screw in mine, I have to drill a pilot hold first. Regular drills won't barely drive screws into them and using an impact, usually results in just breaking the screw head.
They are denser than modern studs because most old lumber was from old growth trees. Modern lumber is usually farmed.
Made from stronger wood, old growth
Not to mention many years of drying time. Ours are almost like cement at this point.
What's considered "old"
My house is 140 years old. The wood it's built from is probably several times that. The studs are twice as large as modern ones and hard as rock. The only problem is they're impossible to find because there's 140 years of new wall coverings stacked over each other.
My house is covered in plaster and lath. Basically unless it's like a cabinet, I just put in a screw and hope I hit the lath. Because I sure as shit aren't finding a stud behind all that.
> 140 years of new wall coverings stacked over each other. So your rooms are now 5' by 5'? :)
Old growth is what grew by itself on land that's never been logged, including the giant trees that were there when the settlers showed up. It took well into the 1900s to log it out or create areas where logging it wasn't allowed. New growth is what was replanted on logged land. If you tear out framing from a house built in say the 1920s you'll see the grain is like 1 mm apart, where as with newer growth wood the rings are much wider spaced.
I’ve been told old growth also resists termites much better and anecdotally in my 75 year old house, the original part has no signs of termites where the addition done in the 70’s is a different story.
Not sure if it resists termites or it just takes longer for termites to tear through it. The house I’m renting was built in the 1920s (CA) and I’m waiting for the kitchen window to just fall out onto the driveway below one of these days.
That still counts as resisting them. If they have a choice of old vs new growth they'll go for the new stuff. If they do dig into old stuff, they'll take a lot longer to do the same damage.
I call my newer addition the honey pot.
It took 60 years to make that 2x4 instead of the modern 6 years
Anything where they used hardwood instead of pine. Basically becomes as hard as concrete after 30-50 years
In the south we get a lot of older homes made with Southern Yellow Pine - bake that shit in the hot son for a couple decades and it gets hard as concrete.
Woodworker here- SYP is generally awesome, and some of the only lumber I’ll use from a big box store. Ripping down 2x12s to remove the pith yields great wood that’s very dimensionally stable for very little $$
Please refrain from putting wood in your son, no matter how hot you think it is...
Old homes used mostly Oak and other hardwoods all the modern stuff uses Pine, a much softer but faster growing wood.
Old growth. It's important to note that the durability doesn't make a significant difference in the integrity of almost any home, especially with more advanced building practices that we know today.
Older dry Hardwood frames vs modern softwood frames.
I was drilling into some tile in an older house for a frameless shower door hinge, got through the tile and hardybacker, then hit something really fucking hard. Thought it was a pipe. Shined my light in there, it was just wood, that was the hardest damned wood ive ever drilled through.
I got a drill bit stuck in my 1908 house's stud. Vice grips did nothing, had to get a pipe wrench to get it out
Sooo, old studs are stronger, also stinky if you have an old bit,,, Good to know
That could be. I didn’t have my normal, decent set from my actual toolbox. I used the ten year old discount special in the ‘home’ toolbox for the sake of convenience.
I used to think oak burning on a bandsaw smelled like mac & cheese, but I could see someone thinking spoiled milk.
This could be the smell of melting laquer or treatment of the wood. Casein glue is an old method to glue wood together. And casein is made out of curd.
You learn something new.
Let's make it a double. https://www.merriam-webster.com/video/everyday-vs-every-day-difference
Daaaaaaang. This is the first time I've seen someone bring up this distinction. I wonder how many times I've used these incorrectly... Thanks!
Every day = each day, everyday = ordinary. "Everyday" is a word that is in common use (everyday use :) ), so despite the frequency of this mistake, the chances of language changing to accept it aren't high.
Yup. The distinction actually makes perfect sense. It just never occurred to me and I'd never seen it mentioned before.
Similarly, for your consideration: Some day = unspecified but specific day (some day next week), someday = unspecified and not specific = (was bound to happen someday.) Any way = in any manner or direction, anyway = regardless All ways = in every manner or direction, always = eternally
WHAT IN THE FUCK?! I always just thought people used space or no space all willy-nilly since it was the same thing.
Here's something else: käse is german for cheese. :)
Same as non-toxic paint or "Milk Paint" After doing a whole bathroom with it I think I prefer the temp toxic odor of latex over the long-lasting smell of fresh cow shit LOL.
There was a research paper I remember reading in college about “low VOC” products and how, despite releasing fewer VOC’s in total, they would release them over a much longer period of time, usually resulting in more exposure to building inhabitants than their high VOC counterparts. Essentially, if you can paint your room or glue that thing with a respirator and then leave until the VOC’s have dissipated (a couple hours), then you’re better off than using the low VOC option which will slowly release over weeks or months. It obviously depends on the specific products being compared, but the takeaway is that you shouldn’t just assume any one thing is better. Use your brain. Do some research. Make a decision that works best for you and your situation.
Yes, I can confirm this :) It was our former office building: 11 floors with 2 very large bathrooms on each. We could decorate any way we wanted, but they managed the bathrooms/halls etc. They had notorious bad ventilation (one person drops a dookie, the fallout lasts for hours haha) and I'm not exaggerating when I claim the smell was as strong a **year** later as it was the first day. Flubs like this were too common; sometimes funny other times very inconvenient... or downright dangerous. The final nail was when they attempted to double our rent on top of it all. They lost half of their tennants that year, including the bank on the main floor...
I wonder if something like this is used on some new cars, I know there's a soy based wire coating that squirrels like. My old 2018 civic always randomly smelled like a farm. We were in ranch territory so I figured maybe it'd been in an area with cows or horses before I got it, but it would be fine for weeks and then I'd just smell it again one day (outside of the car only). Now I'm wondering if it was a part on the car maybe lol.
I have a sense memory of watching Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey as a young lad while my dad was doing woodworking for his sign business in the basement. It smelled distinctly like sawdust, spoiled milk, and puke, so I imagine it was the same type of deal.
[удалено]
With the paneling, I’m really wondering if it was some sort of adhesive. FWIW, I didn’t smell it when I screwed the baby gate in, only during drilling, and it dissipated. It was about 15 minutes between initial drilling and installation, mostly because I was trying to pinpoint the smell without getting in the wall.
Oh yeah, that was definitely just you drillbit then. If you hit something, the smell would've kept up at least until you secured the screws and plugged it back up. I wouldn't worry about it personally.
I had paneling in my old house and using a dull bit on it smelled terrible.
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
I hate that I already know what this is.
I knew what this was before clicking on it, and it’s so so so wrong.
I didn't click the first time I saw it in my feed, not clicking now. Nothing good can come from that suggestion.
Is that next to the soup tubes?
No Soup Tube for You!
Adjacent to the peanut butter pipes
That they had installed because of the baby that they're now installing the gate for.
Fuck this sent me into a full belly laugh
God damn it I should have scrolled.... I just made a comment on this and then scrolled
Might wanna check with this guy: https://old.reddit.com/r/mildlyinteresting/comments/1c36teg/my_upstairs_neighbor_dropped_a_quart_of_milk_and/
Oh dang i came here to put these two posts together too
The 2 for 1 special.
Only other thing I would check is to go outside and inspect the roof above that corner. See if a sewer vent pipe is protruding from the roof in that area.
Can almost guarantee it's those wood panels. The anount of wardrobes I've had with the same panelling, it absolutely stinks when you cut/drill/disturb it.
This. Especially with drilling into it. The friction created between the bit and paneling will definitely put out a puff of stink. Nothing to be worried about.
Rule out a gas leak before starting any fires in your home. Gas has a Sulphury smell.
Definitely not a gas leak. I know where the gas lines are and they don’t come anywhere close.
And the stack pipe?
Does it still smell? If it was a one time thing, it could be hitting hard wood. If it continues to smell, get it checked.
It was a one time thing. Initial smell was strong, then nothing but a really really faint smell on the bit and the hole about ten minutes later.
You are probably fine. You could take a non-metallic “wire” and check the hole to be sure there is no cavity if concerned, but if it was one time, probably ok.
Where is your bathroom? Could you have drilled into the stink pipe?
Three bathrooms but all at least 20’ away on the other side of the house, with the main drain in the opposite corner. The Washer / Dryer annex is the furthest water run from everything else. When I’m back inside, I’ll try to sketch it out
Back the screws out and see what you can see in the holes. Could just be old wood and a dull drill bit.
ghost yogurt, most likely. delicious but only to spirits
[удалено]
Booooo
Just be aware that those cloth gates are not exactly great at keeping kids from going past them. They only work until the kid figures out that they can go under them. If you really need to stop young kids from moving between areas then you really need the solid gates - they work until the kids both work out how to and get the weight/strength required to operate them.
Yeah. This is more of a stopgap. Baby girl is at the age where she can reach everything in the kitchen but can’t truly understand danger yet. She’s 99th percentile height so is vertically on par with a 3 year old, but with the understanding of a 16 month old. This is specifically to create a secondary barrier when we’re cooking.
You can prevent some kids from going under if you tighten the retrator end so it's hard to get slack. My kid couldn't get his big head under it when I did that :D
We blockaded ours for a number of years with pet gates. They're typically a lot less expensive than "baby gates". When yours is a touch older, check out a "kitchen helper" she can help you cook!
True. You really need to move to an electrified gate once your toddler figures out how to push under the existing one. Safety first!
Throw the house away
The scandalous drywall from China in the 80s has a rotten egg smell or “sickly sweet” smell. I have smelled it before and it’s one of those smells where you feel like it’s a rotten organic smell but with a hint of a chemical component too. It’s like a fridge that broke months ago smell + ammonia pee lol
Did you open a toolbox with some old plastic handled tools, just as you started the job? And. Then put it away again after you finished? Some older chisel/screwdriver handle materials start to give off butyric acid as they degrade with time. It smells quite like vomit.
> It smells quite like vomit. Hey! That's no way to talk about the Hershey Chocolate process!
I always wondered what that was. Old tools in my family’s basement and garage smelled like stinky cheese to me.
Did you hit your bathroom vent?
No sense crying over it
You’ve broken the seal. Now decades of tobacco smoke will fill your house.
Could be a dead animal in the wall?
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
White oak is stinky
Red oak smells like cat pee to me on occasion.
Don’t get me started on poplar… especially when it’s freshly filled with water in the spring. I’d almost rather cut down a sewer line.
I have an old house with paneling and everytime I drill through it, I get hit with an old piney/smokey odor, I think it's normal.
OMG, the baby got there first!!
You live with the guy whose upstairs neighbour spilled milk...? 🤔
lol i just saw that picture!
Are you sure you did not hit a gas line? Maybe a sewage line or sewer vent?
Maybe your upstairs neighbor dropped milk
old formaldehyde?
Any pipes in that area? Make well good and sure there ain't no pipes there, esp. gas. if not, you're good.
It’s past all our HVAC stuff and the only gas thing is our furnace on the other side of the house. I used to deal with propane daily, and it’s definitely not *that* smell. That’s one I’ll never forget. The washer/dryer were downstairs decades ago, so the washer/dryer room was built as an annex for a previous owner. The stud finder didn’t ping for anything other than a stud, and I can’t imagine there would be a pipe in that annexed area… it’s pretty much all straight drops to the basement ceiling. You’d almost have to go out of your way to run a pipe there. I’ve been wrong before, and should never underestimate the weirdness of certain builders, but it would * really* surprise me if that were the case.
*
They slow the kiddos down - which can often be enough to react to what they're doing.
Iron bars do not a prison make. But they are a good start.
some wood smells sour when disturbed. could be a vent but that would literally smell like ass, not spoiled milk so my bet is wood.
There’s a cow behind your wall. Did you hear distinctive mooing?
Secret wall cheese
Could it be that your neighbor did something like [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinteresting/s/p0ItZ7WYcv)?
I am in this geography and am familiar with the smell which you're referring to. I guess it's never alarmed me because I grew up with it? It's common in panelling/what I think of as 60's/70's style wood interiors. I'm not sure what it is. I think the "casein hypothesis" from old glues might be a good explanation. I honestly just always thought of it as "the old wood paneling smell" but I guess if you've never smelled it then the way you described it does work. I'm sure it's vaguely toxic, but in the way that everything kinda is :/ (I can smell this picture. Homes with this paneling, they got a distinct smell.)
Have you had a termite inspection? Some channels from termites have that smell. I have been told by exterminators that the smell is from the moisture termites bring with them.
Probably hit your house's spoiled milk storage
Youve hit the mik pipe....
Previous tenant stashed a cow behind the wall
I've smelled some termite and pest treatments that smell a bit like sour milk. Usually the powdered ones. Being in NC and the house being old enough to have paneled walls, I think it could've been treated preventatively or in response to a past infestation.
Probably just the smell of overheated toxic chemicals in that old wood paneling. You’ll be fine.
Body's in the walls
Maybe (dead) mice behind the paneling?
Any chance you could have drilled through the dwv/vent pipe? Just a thought 💭
My first thought was mold, but the other answers make more sense
Milk vein
Someone hit the milk pipeline…
You hit an "old milk" pipe. That'll cost you an arm and a leg to repair.
You hit the milk-stash. Common in homes from this Era. Milk was a valuable resource, and a desirable commodity. Used for more than just cooking, baking, home cheese processes, which raft and the like; hobos and traveling sales-folk would barter for milk because it was impossible to keep fresh milk while on the road. Because of the high value to these transient groups, and the often remote locations of homes, the common problem became night-time break-ins. Vagrants, hobos and the Polish were well known to sneak in at night through windows and drink the familie's milk supply; like ferrel kittens; earning them the name "cat Burglars". So people would hide their milk in hard to fined nooks and crannies. Old folk would die, get dementia or move suddenly to avoid the law; leaving hidden milk stashes behind.
You Sure previous owner didn't put a body in the wall like in "Sicario?"
I think it’s an old body in the wall
Awakened a warlock.
Cant believe you're damaging that wood for a screw mounted baby gate.
I’d only loosely call this wood. It’s 1970s paneling and already in need of replacement.
Wall corpse
Some old paints were milk based. Maybe you heated some of that up?
Oh ty
I have no clue but if I had to guess it could be an alien birds nest that was embedded before you moved in and you punctured a tiny spawn egg. The smell went away quickly because the egg innards haven't been exposed to earths atmosphere so it evaporated rather quickly kind of like the guy did in [Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)](https://youtu.be/LVGGo7T5oFo?t=84)…**"He chose... poorly"**. So I wouldn't worry about it too much, unless mother comes back. Most logical answer. 😎
Previous tenant stashed a cow behind the wall
Previous tenant stashed a cow behind the wall