M.D. asks from Fort Worth, TX on August 06, 2007
Weird Smell in House Following Lightning Strike
I know this is a long shot, but has anyone had an experience like the following? Last week we had a huge storm and my kids and I were upstairs when suddenly we heard a loud pop (almost like a gunshot) and the A/C unit kind of hiccuped. By that I mean it was running, went off for about 2 seconds then went right back on. The light in our play area never flickered, but after checking the bedrooms, I discovered several breakers had tripped. I reset them and we later realized that the DirecTV had gone out. Long story short, (too late) I think we got hit by lightning somewhere near our house (we called the fire dept the next day, they confirmed it was not actually our house that was hit). It caused some damage to our HDTV, but the worst part has been this awful smell that is strongest in the master bedroom (upstairs) and the laundry room (downstairs). It is not that noticeable once you've been home for awhile, but entering either of these rooms and especially coming home you cannot escape the smell. I cannot describe it, it's familiar but at the same time I can't say I've smelled it often before. It's not like burning rubber or electrical cords, it's really weird. My husband thinks when the power surged, maybe our lightbulbs got over heated???? Has anyone ever had anything like this happen and how can I get rid of this smell? We just had our home built 9 months ago, so we are not going anywhere anytime soon. I am so afraid that the smell is in the walls, like somehow the power surge/lightning messed up the wiring in the house. I have tried "coverups" like air fresheners, scented oil warmer from White Barn Candle Co., leaving out a bowl of fresh coffee grounds (supposed to absorb odors), but nothing has worked in removing the smell.
More Answers
C.G. answers from Dallas on August 06, 2007
I would contact a HVAC company and have them come and do an inspection of the unit. You could have possibly have some damage that is causing a smell. Also for the safelty of you and your family. If nothing comes up, call and Electrican and have them do a general overview of all your wireing. I know that when we had a plug going bad, you could smell something. Good Luck Let us know.
J.S. answers from Dallas on August 06, 2007
Yep, that happened to us May of 2006. Lightning struck our DirectTV satellite & ran through the house. Our appliances were safe, but our electronics were not. We were lucky that the wiring was only burnt on the outside of the house. It seems that you may have some burnt wiring on the inside of your walls. Get an electrician to check it out. Good luck!
R.F. answers from Dallas on August 06, 2007
Have you checked your AC unit? You said that it was affected during the storm - maybe something blew out in the unit and when the AC runs, the 'burned' piece is emitting some sort of smell through the vents.
J.A. answers from Dallas on August 07, 2007
You may want to try something like an ozone machine, When I worked for a carpet cleaning co. a while back and someone needed to get a strong smell out of a house or apt. then we would bring in an ozone machine and it would act almost like a transfusion machine for the space. As far as I remember you can't be there when it's working, but its supposed to work nicely. I would call carpet cleaning companies and ask about it. The company I worked for is in Arlington, if you would like their info let me know.
C.J. answers from Dallas on August 09, 2007
I'd make sure all the outlets were working properly, there could be some melted wiring or something and that's dangerous..
K.W. answers from Dallas on August 07, 2007
Have you checked your breaker box? We had this happen to us about 7 years ago. We lived with it for almost 3 weeks and just couldn't take it anymore. What happened was when lightning struck and caused a power surge it blew a breaker in the breaker box. NOT noticeable to use since for some reason the tripped breaker started working once we flipped it back. What had happened after about 7 different people coming to look at things in our house was the 2nd electrician found that the tripped breaker had actually blown up inside the box where you don't see the breaker because it is the back part in the wall. I apparently caught fire and smoldered out in the wall, but every time we had the lights or fan on in the room that breaker was conncected too it would spark the wires again causing the heat to burn them and they would smolder out again in the wall due to no air circulation.
Just speaking from experience on what happened to us. Granted the home we lived in was 20 plus years old then with the original breaker box, but I would imagine it could happen to a newer one as well. Might be something to look into. I know that smell you are talking about and it is almost nausiating.
Good Luck!!!
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