Rancid Mortar

As I mentioned in Alexthelesser's blogg, we are putting a bathroom in our basement. We put tile down on Sunday afternoon. This was an uneventful, successful event except for one thing; two+ year old chocolate milk.

The previous owners of our home left 3 5 gallon paint buckets in our garage. We didn't think much about them as they stayed in the corner until yesterday afternoon. I needed a 5 gallon bucket to mix mortar in, so I chose to use one of the buckets left behind. I chose the lightest bucket we had.

The lid was still holding tight to the top of the bucket so I began to remove it. Each slight pop of the plastic top being remove was a warning sign that this top shouldn't be removed.

At last, it opened.

"Good Night in the Morning!" to quote my friend April. The stench was unbearable. This bucket had been sealed for at least 2 years. It sealed in a container of expired chocolate milk that had been cooked in the summer and chilled in the winter, 3 fold.

I emptied the contents of the bucket into our trash can and washed the bucket with soap. No use, it smells! I used the bucket to mix our mortar. Our mortar smells. I hope it has dried and the stink has gone, but if you happen to be lucky enough to use our new bathroom and you notice an odd smell, its probably our stinky mortar.