How do you remove a mildew odor from a basement family room?
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You still have damp somewhere. Damp collectors or Bowls of salt to collect damp in the air. Or Hire Dehumidifier.............
It is not dry. Get yourself a hygrometer ($10 at any hardware store) and monitor humidity in the room. If you find humidity higher that 50% you need to bring it down. You didn't say where you live but if it's like where I live the humidity outside is always higher than 50%. You will need a dehumidifier.
I run two dehumidifiers in my basement whenever the heat is not on. They are not inexpensive to operate but it is the cost of doing business.
charcoal for bbq...put in disposable aluminum pans around the basement for a week
having been flooded more than once in the basement, this smell in usually associated with mold, some of which can be toxic. There may be an area that water filtered into that may still be damp....like under the floor (if the basement is finished) and should really be looked into. If you have insurance for flooding I would give them a call and they can evaluate the situation. please don't ignore this as more damage can be caused down the road, not only to the home but also the family. Get some air circulating and maybe "sniff" around to find where the smell is strongest. They maybe just do a small hole in the lower wall to see what's going on. You'd be surprised if walls could talk. Anyway, hope this helps and best of luck!
Set up an oscillating fan for circulation. If you move the air around it should dry properly. Check to see if you have any white or black mold anywhere and if so clean up with a bleach and water solution to kill the spores.
The bleach will help with stains and clean up the mold or mildew you find, but will not kill the spores, vinegar is needed for that. The vinegar will also take care of any bacteria that may be forming around those areas. Please find where the odor is coming from, it could even be coming from inside a wall from the footings or the lower part of the studs absorbing some of the water and may not have dried out. It could be hazardous to your health or anyone else, especially if they are sensitive to mold. My daughter had an orchid that wouldn't dry out and started to get moldy. She didn't understand why she didn't feel good until I found this when she told me to check the plant because it didn't look healthy. I took it home with me to try to bring back its health and felt better almost immediately. She knows she is extremely sensitive to black mold, but never thought a plant could do it, so she never checked it.
I would call in a professional for this job, the longer it fester's, the more it's going to smell.