CAN YOU TOP THIS?

Unbelievable or outrageous true stories about everyday experiences in real estate management b Y lINDA D. REDMOND, CpM®, ARM® | IllUSTRATION b Y pAUl lUKAS

ONe dAY A teNANt CALLed tO RePORt A BURNING RUBBeR SMeLL IN HIS OFFICe. I went to his office building and with my “keen sense of smell” deduced that one of the HVAC units had thrown a belt. I called my HVAC company and they checked out the units but could not find anything. The tenant, perplexed, asked, “Do you think it’s a
skunk?”
I immediately dismissed the tenant’s skunk
possibility. The next morning I went by the
office and the odor was stronger. At first I
thought it had a rotten banana and burning
rubber smell. It wasn’t until I went outside to
the HVAC mechanical room that I realized
my tenant had been right all along. I definitely
smelled skunk!

I immediately went online and researched
how to remove skunk smell from a building. I
went to the local pet supply store and picked
up a bottle of odor remover. When I returned
I once again sniffed out the skunk smell and
traced it to an electrical outlet in the office
wall. It was then I realized the skunk had
sprayed inside the wall. Eight feet of sheetrock,
all the insulation and the carpet had to be
removed, and the concrete had to be sprayed
with the odor remover.

It was then that we found a hole underneath the ductwork coming into the building.

I set two live animal traps outside the mechanical room and to my surprise we caught two skunks in one trap! They also sprayed and the odor got into our fresh air intake. The entire building soon reeked of freshly trapped skunks.

In a panic, I suddenly remembered hearing about a new odor removing product that another IREM Member was promoting. I called her for the product name and soon I had it, ready to try out! At first I was afraid the lem-ongrass basil scent coming from the machine would just cover the smell up and then I would get complaints of perfumed skunk! But to my surprise, within 30 minutes the building started to smell better. In about 4 hours the office was starting to smell better. And in 5 days the machine had completely removed the odor. My tenants were quite appreciative! n

WHAT’S THAT SMELL?

linDa D,
ReDMonD,
cpM®, aRM® is
a coMMeRcial
pRopeRtY
ManageR at
R & R
pRopeRties
in oak RiDge,
tenn. she has
oveR 23 YeaRs
oF pRopeRt Y
ManageMent
eXpeRience.