grout

When I open the door on a humid day, why would the grout around my tile smell of dampness On a dry day, there is no smell. With the doors closed, there is no smell. I live on a two year old home with alot of ceramic tile on a slab. There is no vapor barrier and we did have drainage problems that have been corrected. The humidity in my home stays around 37.

Never heard of this, probably the dampness alone is what you smell, you have actually gotten down on the floor and smelled the grout?

What kind of tile is it? If slate, it's a natural occurence.

Could be you air conditioner. Try a dehumidifier

The tile is ceramic and the house is only 2 years old. The smell is most noticeable in the grout. We run a dehumidifier 24/7. The humidity in the house is below 40% with the doors closed.
Only on humid days with the dorrs and windows open, there is a strong, damp smell coming from the floor.

Concrete slab or wood floor structure?

What type of grout was used?

You are the first "grout-sniffer" I have ever encountered in all my years in the business!

We are on a slab. I do not know what grout was used but there does not sem anything unusual than normal about its appearance.

I doubt it's the grout.

Ongoing moisture in a slab along with some humidity from time to time could possibly let off some musty odors. But, concrete and grout once fully cured (30 days) isn't likely to emit any noticeable odors.

Never heard of stinky grout beyond the curing stage.

I think you have a science experiment going on under the slab. I think you are on a high water table and/or the slope around your house is not good. I'd check it out and correct the problem.

The only reason you smell it through the grout is because the tile is not porous.

Jaz

We did correct the drainage problem around our house. Will the smell eventually go away or is it there for life?

All depends on what the problem was and how you corrected it.

Can you describe; where you are, tell us about all sides of house house from the outside, neighboring landscape, type of soil, what you did. Anything else.

Jaz

We have a slope from the neighbors house on the west side and a slope to the house in the back.
A landscape co. Installed 9 drains all around three sides of the house that are placed in a swell they created about 5-10ft. From our house. The ground slopes to the swell and the drains take water when it rains real heavy out to the street.
A fence was put up on concrete footing on the neighbors side which stopped the flow of water from that side plus we still have drains.
We also connected all guttering drains from the three sides to the drains. The east side has a slope away from the house, 10 feet away so not a problem.
So when it rains heavy, water is drained to the street.
We live in Oklahoma and have a sandy, clay soil.
When we bought the home, water did accumulate in the back and neighbors side when it rained real heavy. We had to use a sump pump to quickly get rid of it. Was lied to when we bought the house about drainage.