# Dead Animal Smells, Art Deco, and the Secret Life of Paint Finish

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/home-in-progress-702040/dead-animal-smells-art-deco-and-the-secret-life-of-paint-finish
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/home-in-progress-702040/dead-animal-smells-art-deco-and-the-secret-life-of-paint-finish.md
Podcast: [Home In Progress](https://stenobird.com/podcast/home-in-progress-702040)
Published: 2026-05-09T10:00:00+00:00
Episode link: http://www.repcolite.com/home-improvement-show-products/dead-animals-art-deco-and-the-secret-life-of-paint-finish
Audio file: https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/3d5f0057-6049-4165-8603-ae66ed2ca760.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/home-in-progress-702040/episodes/dead-animal-smells-art-deco-and-the-secret-life-of-paint-finish
Duration seconds: 2415

## Resource

Episode Date: 05/09/26 Episode Number: 458 Episode Summary This week on Home In Progress, Dan tackles one of the most dreaded things a homeowner can face — the smell of a dead animal somewhere in the house — and walks you through exactly how to find it, remove it, and get your home smelling normal again. Then he shifts to the practical side of Art Deco: how to bring that bold, geometric style into your own home without going overboard. And finally, Dan makes the case that paint finish is just as important a design decision as color — and shows you some surprisingly elegant tricks you can pull off with nothing more than a change in sheen. In This Episode [01:46] — Dead Animal Smell: How to Find It, Remove It, and Prevent It [19:25] — Art Deco at Home: A Practical Guide [33:26] — Paint Finish as a Design Tool Segments 1 & 2: Dead Animal Smell — Finding It, Removing It, and Preventing It [01:46] Dan's son Caleb bought a house and discovered a smell that turned out to be a dead possum under the floor — frozen all winter, then very much not frozen come spring. Dan uses that story to kick off a practical, no-nonsense guide to dealing with dead animal odors in your home. How bad will it be — and how long will it last? Size of the animal, temperature, humidity, and airflow all determine severity and duration. The rough timeline: Mouse: a few days to about a week Rat or squirrel: a couple of weeks Possum, raccoon, or larger: several weeks — potentially up to two months in a warm, damp, enclosed space How to find the source: Use your nose. Walk slowly, close doors to isolate rooms, and track where the smell intensifies. Check near outlets, baseboards, vents, attic hatches, crawl space doors, and under stairs. Let your pets help — a dog or cat obsessively sniffing one spot is…

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