Furniture in a Seasonal Cottage

[AKADQ]

Need help with fabric sofas and chairs inside a seasonal cottage. We have just purchased a 3 seasons cottage and are in the process of removing couches and chairs that were left behind. My question is more of a concern with investing in new furniture and having a musty smell over a period of time. The furniture that was removed has had a musty odor and not sure if its because of it's age. Any advice would be appreciated on what some of you have in your seasonal home and how it has done over a period of time...

[Pineedles]

Ours too is a seasonal cotttage. When we open up on Memorial Day Weekend everything smells a little musty. Open up those windows and let the breezes come through, it clears up pretty fast. However, it does have a camp smell, which to me just smells like vacation.

[Merrymeeting]

Any musty odor would be caused by a moisture/ventilation problem in the home. We have had a seasonal cabin for many, many years and never had a problem with our upholstered furniture. We would shut down from Oct-April, with no heat and no insulation. Never had an issue.

So, if there is a musty odor, either the furniture is way too old, or the house needs better air flow and sun during the humid months. Or, perhaps the prior owners were not careful about folks with wet bathing suits... :-)

[LIforrelaxin]

I agree with the other posters here... If you are having a strong must smell, you may find that your ventilation is not good. You may even be picking up a musty smell from something other then the furniture.

The first step for me would be to remove the furniture you intend to replace for a few weeks and make sure that was the problem.

Then before investing in the new furniture leave the place closed up tight for a week, and come back and see what you smell, and feel....

The leave the place with a few windows slightly open for a week, and see what kind of difference there is.

No matter what you do don't assume its only the furniture.... if could be issue with wet insulation in the walls or even the attic.....

[KBoater]

I originally had a musty smell when I first bought my island camp. We completely rehabbed the house and still had the smell. I finally found some old life preservers and seat pads full of mold that was stored under the house. We cleaned out these and old leave that had collected there and the smell went away. We had a good air flow under the camp.

[AKADQ]

Thanks to all that responded. I truely believe between being old furniture and the cottage not in use for awhile the place really needed to be aired out. I guess I can now get some new furniture and not worry about it...

[Bear Island South]

We went with leather in our place, it is easier to maintain also.

[Rattlesnake Gal]

A dehumidifier might be useful in your situation, especially if your place has a foundation of any kind. If the location is shaded and mossy/damp or water runs underneath this method would help too. Good luck!

[AC2717]

Originally Posted by Rattlesnake Gal

A dehumidifier might be useful in your situation, especially if your place has a foundation of any kind. If the location is shaded and mossy/damp or water runs underneath this method would help too. Good luck!

after doing repairs everyyear, we have resorted to a dehumidifier because of this reason. When we remodeled we sealed the building way too tight so it does not breathe. We run one with a hose into the shower and set it to about 60% humidity. Has been working great so far, when we are there we shut it off as windows are open and what not

my next step is to put vents in the skirting around the bottom of the camp to allow for airflow