I recently acquired a home and it has a musty smell throughout upstairs and down. My question is how do I go about eliminating the odour? I do not know where the smell it coming from, there are a couple of open floor vents in the basement that go to the mini open dirt space under the house ( no room to get in there at all) this appears to have been for air circulation under the home …why I am not sure.
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If you have a dirt crawl space under a portion of the house, that is probably a good starting point for dealing with the musty odor. By sealing the crawl space floor with a vapor barrier that seamlessly covers the floor and goes up the walls you will greatly reduce the moisture level in the basement that encourages mold and mildew growth. I understand that there is not easy access to the crawl space, but I'm assuming that the enlarging of the vents you referenced could provide access.
If the basement is damp, that needs to be rectified as well. Check out the FHB videos on insulating your basement, which start out with sealing seams, cracks, and holes and using waterproofing paint to make your basement drier. Be sure to check for improper drainage outside the house as well.
You can also find a product called Concrobium at your local home center, and rent a fogger that will kill mold and mildew, and leaves behind a pleasant smell. Concrobium can also be sprayed with a pump-up garden sprayer for spot treatments.
I hope this helps...
Thank you for your thoughts on how to remediate my situation. Unfortunately there is zero ability to access under the home. I will perhaps start with closing off the vents then get the product you suggested to kill the mould and mildew.
I feel that the fact that the home is heated solely with wood stove and I believe the owners were using a pan of water on the stove for humidity, this may have contributed to the musty odour.
You can get a dusty, sooty smell when heating with a wood stove, but I don't think that a pan of water, particularly during the heating seasons would result in mold and mildew growth. You do need to get to the root cause of the problem, but the Concrobium product will help out regardless of what you find.
I’m putting my money on a damp crawlspace as the source of humidity and odor. Consider creating access by cutting a trapdoor in the floor of a closet if you can determine the height of the crawlspace (thru the vents?) would allow room to maneuver. If so, sealing the vents and encapsulation and dehumidifier would probably solve this problem.