Asked on Sep 29, 2012
What can I do to eliminate a moldy smell out side?
by Deborah R
+1
I love having my windows open but there is a mold smell. This is on the west side of my home. It is some what shaded and there is little vegetation(weeds). Small trees in the fence row and a lot of leaves on the ground. This area is about 8 foot wide and approximately 20 feet long. To which of only half of this is on my side of the fence. What can I do to improve the smell?
4 answers
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Have the leaves and such raked up and taken to the compost or bagged and put out for the trash. Keep it mowed and spray teh area with 1/2 cup of baking soda in your miracle grow sprayer attached to the hose. Include the bottom 1 ft up from the ground of your foundation and the mold should dry up and the smell improve....unless it's in the neighbor's yard...Let me know how that comes out...
![Sharron W]()
Sharron W
on Sep 29, 2012
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The dampness of the soil combined with the shady area is in most cases the cause of the off odor your experiencing. As Sharron suggested, removal of any dead vegetation will help prevent these odors from being produced. I do however not think baking soda sprayed on the ground or foundation will do much if anything. In fact adding additional moisture to the ground may make it worse. Ideally you should try to cut back on branches and allow at least one to two hours of sun on the ground to help dry out the soils and that will go a long way in removing this odor.
![Woodbridge Environmental Tiptophouse.com]()
Woodbridge Environmental Tiptophouse.com
on Sep 29, 2012
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The only thing I would add to the very good suggestions that you have received above would be to make sure that you have good ventilation in that area. If you have a privacy fence on two side it may be blocking the breeze from getting to that area of the yard which will also add to the moisture problem. Stagnant air does help with the smells. Simply put a child's pinwheel out in the yard for a couple of days in several different spots and check the air flow pattern. This will tell you if you have a breeze going through your yard or not. If not you may have to change one section of your fence to a lath or a chain link style fence in order to get good air flow. Usually the short end section along side the house changed to a chain link gate is all that is needed to solve this problem.
![Warren G.]()
Warren G.
on Sep 30, 2012
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Oh Warren tha's something I had not thought of.....Woodbridge, cutting back any tree limbs overhanging the area is also something I failed to mention....BUT as contrary as it may sound, Baking soda DOES dry up mold and mildew, and unlike it's sodium counterpart it does not damage foliage....I really didn't want her to flood the area, just give it a once over...It works on Black spot mildew on Roses and I've used it successfully on other vegetation successfully as well such as a magnolia tree...
![Sharron W]()
Sharron W
on Sep 30, 2012
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