Mausoleum Conditions - Common Issues

Mausoleums, in general, are beautiful buildings, standing as stately memorials to the people who are entombed in them. These ornate buildings, frequently ornamented with bronze and gold accents, marble columns and stained glass windows, are designed and assembled to suggest a sense of dignity, serenity, and peace. There are two common challenges with many mausoleums, however, which, sadly, distract from the serene and peaceful quality from the families of the entombed, and make a mockery of the deceased bodies. These two issues are mausoleum odors and coffin, or phorid flies.

Mausoleum smells are from the decomposition process, which occurs naturally as the body undergoes the decaying process. Morticians frequently call the offending bodies, “leakers”. These mausoleum odors can be highly overwhelming, and because the embalming chemicals and the fumes coming attributable to decomposition, they can also pose a health hazard to workers and visitors.

The second challenging problem that is very common for many mausoleums is the phorid or coffin fly. These nasty pests are about one fourth the size of the typical house fly, and while they're in the larval stage of development, coffin flies feast on the decomposing bodies within the crypt spaces. When they emerge from the casket as adult flies, they also create a dreadful danger in spreading sickness whenever they land. Often, they are searching for water, and it is common for them to fly into the eyes, nose and mouths of visitors or workers in the structure. The flies tend to be so small that a lot of folks confuse them as gnats, and insiders in the mausoleum business do not like visitors to know the facts about where the flies are emerging from.

Here is what one visitor to a mausoleum in Glendale, California had to say, “Possibly the most shocking of all is the Mausoleum. I stepped inside and knew immediately something was wrong. There the temperature inside the complex was around 80 degrees. I heard what sounded like insects swarming in one of the walls… many of the vaults have had leakage problems where they have sealed them with shower caulk. As I scanned the flashlight around the room, I saw horrible … damage. There was a discolored substance that ran from the marble plates down to the floor.”

Thankfully, you can find methods to fight both mausoleum odors and coffin flies. For years, most inside the trade have tried to utilize deodorizing sprays, chemical pest control, fly papers, and large fans to deal with the smells and to try to manage the phorid fly infestations. These sprays and chemicals, etc. have frustrated mausoleum caretakers and other workers, because they are mostly unsuccessful, plus, they become a health hazard in the structure, producing a harmful condition that may be hazardous to employees and visitors as well. An alternative solution is an electronic unit that mausoleums use to neutralize odors and also to keep control of the coffin flies, which often from industry accounts, tends to make life less difficult for the mausoleum proprietors and staff because it is effective at controlling the flies and will completely eliminate smells on a nightly basis while the structure is empty. Using the electronic method, there is also the surety in knowing that there are no harmful toxins being dispersed through the structure, which in turn makes for a “green” remedy which is substantially more healthy for workers and visitors.

Why not help safeguard the dignity, peace and serenity for the passed and for their families, and help to keep these beautiful buildings as the memorials that they were meant to be. We grieve at the loss of a loved one; there is no reason to have to constantly suffer when paying respects. If you are in a mausoleum and you see the tiny coffin flies or if you notice any foul odors, promptly register a written complaint with the mausoleum operator and with the Funeral Consumers Alliance,or in the case of a Catholic cemetery, to the church, or the office of the local bishop.

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