Getting rid of paint smell
Today’s question comes from Aaren. Aaren asks:
Hi hope you can help! My daughter’s room will not stop smelling. In fact, I challenged Olympic Paint and Lowe’s – going back and forth until we settled. KILZ and another coat of paint reproduced the original smell! Olympic even paid a professional to do all that work for us. The second coat of Premium One water based latex interior paint still smells. We have 2 air purifiers and had our windows opens for a week while painting and for 12 days afterward. …. As of today however we are dealing with a smell from Friday. It’s awful and I’m afraid to let my daughter sleep in there (although she has for two nights). WHAT can I do to make it go away. The room seems like it’s cursed. No other room in our house ever smelled like this… Please help with ideas of what to do. How long is this supposed to last. The smell is like a sweet, clay smell. It doesn’t really smell like paint at all. We even crawled into the attic to check for smell and it wasn’t present. We tried sprays, onions, vinegar, steam cleaning. Everything. Your advice would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks. Aaren
To be honest I personally have never experienced prolonged smelling after painting a room. Usually something like that might happen if there is excessive moisture which makes the paint dry slower and may contribute to the paint smelling. To try to get rid of the smell I would put a container with some coffee in it. If it doesn’t remove the smell at least will enhance the air a bit.
Michelle
Hi Brenda,
I will post both if it is successful or if the smell is still there. With the chlorine smell it is too early to tell. I had to close the room back up as it is too cold here to leave the door open for long. We just had a big hail storm! I am in Colorado so we don’t get much humidity. Most of the time it is uncomfortably dry.
WR
Michelle, I had recently been considering the Chlorine Dioxide and was going to post here before I saw your posts. Please post results back. I think that if the Chlorine Dioxide works, that it is likely a bacterial or fungal contaminant in the paint, as the chlorine dioxide probably would not neutralize a chemical off gassing reaction. Even with bacteria or fungus, I’m worried that periodic treatments would be needed with the chlorine dioxide. These are odd little bugs if they are surviving in the paint without water. Life cannot survive without water, and humidity in my home has been less than 50% for over a year (thanks to a new AC and industrial dehumidifier in the basement).
If we gut the walls, I am thinking of using Chlorine Dioxide to prevent cross-contamination with any new paint. I’m worried that is what happened to Brenda–some sort of fungus or bacteria was perhaps in the old paint, and it was able to contaminate her new paint. I am very wary of low-VOC paints and will not ever use them again. One reason we haven’t replaced the drywall yet is that I am terrified to paint again. Right now, our air filter unit and keeping the door closed is working. I’m just so scared of more problems. Perhaps we will just use Shellac on the ceiling and wallpaper on the walls and call it day.
Michelle
WR, will do. I just opened the bath room back up (took the plastic seal off the door) and am running the vent fan again. The chlorine smell is actually a bit stronger today but that is likely because the heated floors ran last night and heated the room up. It is 44 here today and not supposed to be nice until late next week which will delay my ability to have it open all day to air out. No windows in the room so I pretty much have to rely on the exhaust fan. There appears to be no residue from the product. We have a granite counter and chrome faucet and it would be easy to see if there were some type of film on them.
Nathalie
Hello,
in short 🙂
I’m a woman from Belgium with the same issues. The past 6 months I read thousands of posts from Netherlands, France, Belgium, England, Australia, Germany about this topic. Everyone in different countries experiences practically the same “symptoms”. Almost no one found a real solution though. Companies ignore the problem since it is a reaction with the walls, according to them.
Some of the ‘victims’ say it should help to put an alkali-resistant sealer on it. This should affect the Ph measure of the walls, as the bacterias need to grow in a certain range of alkalinity/acidity. This is a bit what Michelle did with her chlorine dioxide bomb I guess :). Hope it will work 🙂
Others put bleach mixed with water on walls first, and afterwards the alkali resistant primer.
I’m currently looking for an alkali-resistant primer to test, but it’s not easy to find in Belgium. Not ready to break off my walls in this room yet. 🙁
My wall history:
I myself put a thin layer of plaster on my old walls in 1 room. Before this, there was no smell.
Then after 6 months drying period a relatively cheap universal primer from a Belgian handy-shop Gamma (stupid and never again). Sour odour appeared and staid even with ventilation , for more than 3 months.
Put Sigma Renomat (synthetic alkyd resin with solvents) on it 2 months ago. Very strong smell, and still no cure.
Now the paint-expert told me to put acrylate waterbased paint on it, since this should be an alkali-resistant paint. This is the top layer I already bought a year ago, so I did try it out:
First yellow layer 1 week ago… the smell seemed less at first, but I noticed uneven pigmentation of the colour. Maybe salt in walls? Just put the second layer 2 days ago, to get a better look on the colour change. ’till now stronger and sour smell (hot weather for the moment). No change in colour so couldn’t be the salt either. Anyway, I don’t trust my nose, sight anymore at this point …
If this doesn’t ‘cure’ it in a week (and I’m pretty sure it will still be present because of the nasty smell) I’ll try to find the alkaliresistant primer, and else I have to break the wall plaster and replaster.
Good luck to all of you!!! I hope you will find something
I ‘ll follow your posts, and will also post my solution if I ever find one.
frustrated kind regards , Nathalie
Anita
Brandie thank you so much for the info.
Brenda
WR, when you say you may wallpaper do you mean over the bad paint or on new drywall?
Jean
Lisa, I believe that the Bin shellac primer also has the same warning as the masonry primer about containing ingredients that causes cancer….we bought the BIN primer because Pittsburgh Paint said they would pay for it but have been hesitant to use it for that very reason, especially with 2 babies in the house.
Everyone,
Just wondering….do you smell it ONLY when the windows and doors are closed or do you smell it ALL THE TIME even with the windows and doors open? I thought I was only having this smell problem with the bedroom we painted in February. BUT I have a downstairs bathroom that we painted with the same brand of paint (Grand Distinction) last THANKSGIVING. We thought we weren’t having any smell problems with that bathroom but I just realized last week it was because the door to that bathroom is always open. I closed the door to the bathroom over night and went in in the morning and to my horror the bathroom smelled exactly the same as the bad smell from the bedroom upstairs.
anyways…
2 years ago before we moved into our house we painted 2 of the rooms with Glidden paint from Home Depot and didn’t have any smell problem. Just last week we redid a bathroom and painted it with Glidden. This bathroom is right next to the smelly room that was painted with the bad Pittsburgh’s Grand Distinction in February. I’ve been telling people that the smelly room smells like paint but now that I have this freshly painted bathroom right next to it, i realize that it is NOT normal paint smell. The Glidden painted bathroom smelled like what normal paint should smell like. Now a week later, the smell is very faint. It smells a LOT LESS than the bedroom that was painted more than 3 months ago and the bathroom that was painted 6 months ago.
Michelle
I regret to say that I think the Chlorine Dioxide did not work. I am still airing it out but the paint smell is still there when I walk in the bathroom with giant fan blowing on it and all the windows & doors in the house wide open. To me this would say that it isn’t bacteria but an outgassing chemical reaction. I will move on to ozoning it for a period of time and/or baking it in high heat. Not sure which I will try first.
Jean,
I have the same problem you do. I painted my bathroom a year ago with zero VOC Behr. The paint stunk so bad that I repainted it with zero VOC Olympic. I had been keeping the door to the bathroom open and since it is the guest bath and seldom used only noted a faint paint smell when I went in there. But then decided to test it by closing it up over night and the smell was really strong.
Kane
Michelle, sorry to read it did not work out for you. As I mentioned in my previous post, unless something is applied to the wall directly, IT WILL NOT FIX THE OFFGASSING OF PAINT!!!!
If say a homeless person were in your home, no amount of candles, air fresheners, perfume will fix the problem of B.O. unless the person either showers or leaves. Apply that theory to your walls.
I strongly advise not to use the ozone machine because you will be disappointed that it will not fix your problem and also it is more dangerous than whatever the bad paint is offgassing. Google “ozone machine dangers” and you can read for yourself.
LYNN
Coming in sideways, we have been told by environmental people, lawyers and others, and this is just one experience so others may vary, that in order to find out what the air quality problems are, i.e. voc’s, mold, etc., that the test has to be performed using special equipment, machines, or special air samples which are less involved…prices vary, some left for days, others for several hours i believe…then it is taken to a lab and diagnosed with hopefully results that are specific as to the source of the problem, in this case odor or fumes.
Secondly, only this type of testing when the odor is still there, or evident (reason why so many online tell everyone to not cover it all up trying to fix by yourselves until the eviidence is carefully collected, or else wait so you don’t destroy the only evidential proof of the problem for possible later litigation or perhaps samples to provide others, i.e. agencies, investigative people, etc….the paint cans, for example, should also be kept as Lisa and others pointed out.
This way, with proper testing usable in court you get two birds with one stone…you find the source of the odor which then tells you what you will eventually need to do to get rid of the problem, and secondly, you have now the evidence you need to present to the mfg., court, and any others who might be helpful in getting j utice and having the mfg. do the cleanup and solve the problem.
My heart goes out to all of you…we all seem to care very much as we understand the nature of this problem…also even tho many of you are extremely savvy and knowledgeable, i looked up the chloride substance and it is very toxic…in fact they suggest using someething else if you can…so please be careful…
If you have proof of a problem via lab tests, you have something to show the mfg. and others and may be able to force them to do all the dirty work as they will release you are saving documents and evidence for possible future suing. Medical records re your illnesses, even with pre-illnesses which make your immunie systems more vulnerable to toxic poisons brought into your home unnecessarily, will also hold up…as will inordinate amount of stress…this causes something like p.t.s.d., if not that itself, as it’s in your home, you can’t walk away from the problem, and you are left unjustly with a problem you did not create. Also, scientifically, your nest is a crucial factor in your well being, and when it’s invaded so to speak leaving you with stress and nowhere to unwind or feel safe, or leave as in some cases, that is a major point in suing later for damages, especially with physical proof as with several.
It’s obvious we are all well meaning and care…what’s a little ruffling of feathers among friends, several of whom have actually been forced to flee the coop…
Confronting the villains in this, manufacturers of the paint who are terrified of being held responsible and opening other possible law suits, is the ultimate key. There is no such thing as zero voc paint, period…low voc paints and some others all contain ‘secret’ ingredients in small amounts but it adds up…more to it, but there are some major things down the road for mfgs. as there are many, many of us.
Also, by testing with labs, another advantage is, when safe to share what we have found, we can compare results and information we can all use in future litigation. This is detective work and a mystery, and the more we all know the better…it can be done without compromising ourselves if there is litigation.
Small claims court costs under 100, and if you go to civil, there is always first a meeting, a negotiation, with all parties to avoid court, and it could be settled in your favor that way…cost is i believe roughly 100.
Lisa
The paint companies will be very happy if someone here manages to find a one-size-fits-all solution. Then they can continue to pretend they’ve never heard of this problem.
I fought long and hard and exercised great patience in waiting to see if each thing worked. I begged the company to come back and smell that the coats of BIN hadn’t worked. They plugged their ears and held their noses (figuratively) REFUSING to acknowledge the problem. They insisted that the BIN should have worked. They offered a small amount of money to cover the cost of the BIN if I’d sign a release, and told me if I didn’t sign it by a certain date i’d get nothing.
It was only AFTER all of that that I learned that this phenomenon is well-known to the industry. Meanwhile, people like all of us on this site go on struggling: moving furniture, blockading rooms, exposing ourselves to more toxicity in an attempt to get rid of the first.
I wish nothing more that for all of you to be free of your stink quickly and completely. But please, if you possibly can, report this to the manufacturer, to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, your local health department, the EPA (not sure about EPA, but they do regulate these things) and if appropriate, see your doctor and call a lawyer.
If you find a solution now what is the cost already to your wallet? your health? your peace? This had a huge negative impact on my life for two years and counting.
I completely support Lynn’s recommendations for testing. I can’t offer advice as to how to obtain the appropriate testing, because I didn’t have the foresight to do that. Perhaps someone could look into finding ways to hook up with appropriate testing and labs. I think this is a high burden, but it’s perhaps the only way to get justice if you’re facing big expenses as a result of trying to fix the odor in your home, of maybe having to rent temporary lodging if the problem is widespread in your residence.
Has anyone pursued their homeowner’s insurance? We were told not to file since it wasn’t covered. Now I’m wondering if that’s some baloney that the paint corporations and insurance corporations have worked out to once again leave the bill with the working consumer.
We are not experts. We might have certain ideas about bacteria and off-gassing and so forth – but this is an incredibly complicated science. Did you know that some paints are being specially developed to grow bacteria for scientific purposes? Testing is best. but if you can’t do that, at least get some third parties in there to acknowledge the smell – people who will vouch for you that it stinks. It might not be surprising at this point, but the paint companies have a vested interest in denying that there is even a smell. You can read the stories here and elsewhere.
Good luck people. Keep sharing.
Kane
Anita and Brandie, Please be advised a lot of these retail “air monitors” are nothing more than false sense of security and you can’t get an accurate real time monitor unless it costs thousands of dollars. Read some of the reviews of “Blue Air Aware” and similar type of products on Amazon.
The best monitor for air quality is you and the occupants of your homes lungs and nose. If you smell something and/or have respiratory issues when you’re home, then there is an issue. If you don’t smell something then there probably isn’t. I’m excluding radon and carbon monoxide in that statement.
Brandie
With all due respect Kane, I disagree with your statement.
This machine, in my humble opinion, functions to its specifications.
I read the reviews on Amazon prior to purchase and to be frank, unless those reviewers were subject matter experts, I do not value their opinions as such. More often than not, you can find a poor review for any product you purchase.
Are you a subject matter expert Kane? If so, I’d like to hear how these machines do not fit the bill.
Additionally, we would not be on this forum unless our noses detected a problem. I would say mine is excellent which is why I now suffer with MCS.
Also, please stop yelling at Michelle.
Thank you for your time and attention.
Kane
Brandie, if you own the air monitor and it works for you then great! But I would bet that if you put the device in your closed garage with the engine running, it would still tell you that you have “clean air”
I am trying to help those on this board save time and money being that I have gone thru the same exact issues. I stated that I did not believe chlorine dioxide would work before Michelle tried it and confirmed that.
Jean
Aw Michelle that is so upsetting. I think many of us were hoping the Chlorine Dioxide would work. 🙁
We tried baking the room with a space heater and it didn’t work. However, i’m not sure if our space heater was hot enough. I’m not sure how hot the room is supposed to get for it to potentially work.
Kane
Jean, temp of the room would have to exceed 100 for 24 hours or more to accellerate curing of the layers of paint. It may have a stronger odor initially as the paint offgasses more than under normal conditions. For those that want to try this, I advise not to leave ur homes unattended as many space heaters draw a lot of power can can trip circuits or start fires and also remove valuable electronics such as phone, tablets, laptops so they dont fry in the heat.
Michelle
Thanks Jean, I too was very hopeful. I just took the rolled up bath towel that I used to block the base of the door outside to let it air out as it still smelled strongly of chlorine. I hope I’m not mixing up the paint smell with the left over chlorine dioxide smell. If for some reason it miraculously stops smelling I will post about it.
Brandie,
Thanks for the note about the room air monitors. I didn’t even know they had such a thing and have been looking them up on Amazon as I would like to have something that measures VOCs.
Kane,
I posted asking if anyone had tried the Chlorine Dioxide before I tried it. No one had so I decided to give it a try. So as I have your one post in favor masonry and cement sealer or primer and one other person’s post in favor or the Chlorine Dioxide I thought I would give the easier and cheaper solution a try first. You may have thought it wouldn’t work for me but it did work for another person just as your solution worked for you.
Thanks for the suggestions of ” The fix for this is Masonry and Cement Sealer or Primer. I personally used Sherwin Williams Loxon ” Certainly it is very valuable for those who have found a solution to post and share it with others. As you have done, including as many details about your situation, product used, odor, length of time, solutions tired etc. are valuable to help those of us still searching for a solution.
I may get to the point of repainting. However the tech. bulletin you described has Masonry and Cement Sealer or Primer as the fix for an unpleasant odor that gets worse in sunlight with air movement in the room. Not quite what I’m experiencing. Mine is a paint chemical smell that gets worse if the room is closed up and better if the door is left open. Originally I was think of encapsulation but after reading this thread so many people have tried it with different products and had the smell come back that it appears not to be a method that works for the long haul.
As a result I have these questions so as to better determine if your solution would work in my situation. What product caused your smell? How long was it occurring? What solutions did you try before the primer was used? How long has your Masonry and Cement primer been up? Do you think you would be able to tell us if the smell comes back? Thanks for any additional information you are willing to provide.
Brenda
Michelle I am so saddened the chlorine didn’t work. Back to square one ?.
Kane I know you said what you did worked but the SW Harmony did not work for me.
With all the talk of testing, does anyone know the cost? I heard talk of it being very expensive.
Kane
Brenda, what is the state of your room now? New drywall, primed and painted correct? Did you put your furniture back in the room?
In my experience as mentioned earlier, lots of items in the room got cross contaminated and had to be disposed of such as ikea furniture, clothes, bedding, etc. if you don’t get rid of the contaminated items, the smell wont go away.
Brenda
Kane when we gutted the room we let it air out for 2 weeks but the smell was gone once the room was gutted. Then we had the new drywall put up and let the room sit for 10 days. Then it was primed with Sw Harmony and room was left for a week. Unfortunately the primer had that claylike smell immediately and didn’t go away after a week. So figured nothing to loose to go ahead and paint with the Harmony color. Hoping it would be ok. Like I said before I will never ever paint again.
The room was totally empty the whole time. We did put back in our 3 solid wood bureaus after letting the painted room air out for 2 weeks. I didn’t want to but we have no place else to put them they are large and heavy and were sitting in our living room for weeks. At last now we can use our whole house except the bedroom.
Not sure what we will do. The smell isn’t as bad as the first time and changes with the weather. Just letting it air out everyday. Hoping someone here figures it out.
Kane
Brenda, ok so you have isolated the issue to the SW primer and/or paint. Did you use new roller covers and brushes? I would go to the SW store you bought your paint from and report your issue to see if they have suggestions. Since this was brand new drywall, they can’t blame what was previously on the walls. The thing I like about SW stores vs various stores that carry say Benjamin Moore is that all SW stores are company owned and operated so they have more resources to help you than mom & pop hardware stores.
Brenda
Kane, yes we used all new rollers and brushes. I do plan on going back to SW, I’m waiting the the exact 30 days from when we put the color on which will be Sunday. As the paint instructions on the can specifies it can take 30 days to cure. I have no hopes the smell will be gone in 5 more days.
The first time this happened we had gone to SW to see if they had any suggestions on what to do, they didn’t, they also said they never heard of this issue!
I was hoping since so many people have dealt with this that someone would figure it out, but reading blogs from the UK which has dealt with this since 2007 and no one there has figured it out I don’t have much hope anymore.
I actually wish this second time around turned as noxious as the first time, then at least my husband would be willing to tear it out again. How sad is that!
Kane
Brenda, I would advise going on Friday if possible. Most knowledgeable staff is usually on duty weekdays and also contractors usually don’t start projects on Fridays which means less customers in the store. Mondays are usually busiest and weekends stores are staffed by some part time college kid that knows little. Good luck!
LYNN
Just curious to know why only one, possibly two, on this site have neither tested the paint or room originally to see what might be in the paint to cause the odor, and secondly, except for a few, if that, confronted the paint manufacturer directly with evidence of some sort of the ongoing problem, and then attempted in any way to hold them responsible as their refusal to cooperate honestly, as in my case and others, is borderline criminal considering how toxic and health injurious, both mentally and physically, paint fumes can be, plus the emotional stress bringing down the immune system and taking away any semblance of a normal, peaceful life when left with this problem right in your home.
Having said that, i admire what seems to be a heroic attempt to clean up the problem yourselves, even though almost no-one has yet succeeded and many of you have used dangerous substances, knocked down walls singlehandedly, and have gotten ill…along with all the rest of the horror of this.
Wrote this as i’ve followed from time to time and it’s heartbreaking to see, for example, all Brenda and others are going through and there is still no solution to getting rid of the paint fumes or other problems with paint and possibly other hazardous substances in the home.
How much longer do we allow this criminal behavior, this total refusal to accept any responsibility for what everyone knows to be their problem/ The industry, lawyers, environmentals, know of this, not all of them, but many and until we bring it to the right places, keep getting it out there and not just on this blog, nothing is going to change for the people yet to wake up one morning after painting, or having someone else bring paint into their home, and finding they are living in a toxic soup, not always the case but often enough. And through no fault of their own….translation, they purchased paint that was contaminated with something and continues to smell, sometimes for years.
Again, i’m in awe of your courage, and i mean that sincerely, your ingenuity, and i’m rooting for all of you as well as myself.
As for testing, yes, it can be expensive and we should not be stuck with it…the paint mfgs. know that it is expensive and time consuming and the consumer doesn’t want to spend money or has’nt got it to spend on lawyers…which is the reason and the main reason they walk away, do nothing, lie, hire dishonest lawyers who do anything for a buck with their millions, and so continue to get away with it because very few organize, get the truth out there, write it down, call, contact governmental agencies local and otherwise, or establish safe communication with each other to figure out how to address what is a national, if not global problem.
There is a new law case about an insect repellent used incorrectly in a home causing an odor which caused brain damage in a 9 year old and they are suing the manufacturer…not the same exactly, but paint fumese can be dangerous and there are probably many who’ve experienced some health issues they didn’t connect to it perhaps, or cleared up eventually as the odor in some cases disappeared. But it’s happening with paint, other things too, as not enough is being done.
Universities sometimes address sthese things in projects as well.
Don’t know the solution and i don’t do enuff either…just an honest gut reaction to how heartbreaking it is to seeing some others, like myself, experiencing such hardships and trying to do it all alone when the fault lies with the manufacturers of spoiled, often unsafe, products and walking away from the damage they cause in people’s lives without giving it a second thought.
Good luck and will share anything of worth should i find it as i struggle along with you researching and trying to get justice.
Michelle
I just sent a request for Consumer Reports to do a story on this. If anyone else wants to tell their story and make a request also here is the link.
https://ec.consumerreports.org/ec/customerservice/customer-service.htm
The paint smell is definitely back as the chlorine smell is gone. The good part is I can eliminate bacteria as the source of the odor. Instead think it is some type of a bad chemical reaction. I was not comfortable with encapsulating bacteria but maybe that is the soln. for this. However so many people have tried it and not had it work that I’m leery of spending the time and money to add another layer of chemicals to my house.
In terms of baking it, I just think that if it was going to out gas on it’s own it would have done it by now. I live in a dry climate with very little humidity and the bathroom is seldom used (once a month to 6 weeks). Just seems like if it could have cured it would have cured.
Has anyone had success with ozone?
James
I’ve used ozone gas numerious times for numerious problems and in different strengths. It won’t work because the source is still there. Ozone is just effective for example, you buy a car from someone who smoked in it, once you remove the cigerrett butts, you can shock treat the interior and, the ozone gas, which has very simuliar properties to chlorine gas, will nuetralize the smoke smell. Its also a very nice anti-mold spore remedy and dissinfectant. But no, it failed me on the paint problem.
I’m going to try peeling the paint back off, and yes, it comes off like wallpaper! I painted with rthe exact same brand and even line of paint before (SW Super Paint) and it did not have this problem at all. Smell gone totally in like 5 days and actially cured hard as a rock. This time its like rubber and smells like clay or sometimes even like pickles, depending on humidity levels and temperature.
Michelle
Thanks James for your experience with ozone!
Are you able to peel the paint off of drywall?
James
It peels off easy enough, just in quarter sized chunks though. Argh But I haven’t really tried it yet, so it may be more tedious once I get down to it.
I don’t know about yall, but if I ever get this rubber paint off my walls, I’m never painting them again. I will just wall paper. 🙁 Out of fashion but at least it won’t smell.
Brenda
James I agree with you I will never paint again I will also wallpaper. I did see on HGTV that wallpaper is making a come back. I wonder if it’s because so many people are now having issues with paint.
I’ll be very curious how your raring off the paint goes, please keep us posted on your outcome.
Brenda
James, just curios did you start to peel the paint off your drywall?
James
I just peeled off a silver dollar sized piece in an area that was getting covered with trim work anyway. I imagine I could do the whole room like that if given enough time to work on it. But as of now I’ve been getting by with just using a dehumidifier. The smell is still there but not as bad.
Brenda
James what room did you paint?
Brenda
Michelle I sent a request to Consumer a Reports also, thanks for sending the link. I had previously filed a complaint with the Consumer Protection Agency, never heard anything back from them. I also contacted NBC news but again no feed back.
Kane
Michelle, ozone machines are super dangerous!!!! It took down Sharper Image http://www.airpurifierguide.org/faq/what-happened-to-ionic-breeze
Like the chemical you tried, ozone machines can “remove” the scent of bad stale air such as in smoker’s homes where the smokers have moved or homes that suffered fire damage. It CANNOT stop offgassing of bad paint in the walls.
Curing and offgassing are two different things. Latex paint cures between 2-4 weeks depending on conditions but offgassing can be years. Google it please if you don’t believe me.
Michelle
Kane, Thanks for the link. I am aware that ozone is bad however what I was thinking of doing is more a shock and clear as opposed to what the air purifiers were doing which was continuous contamination. However I found an article that talked about how ozone was shown to interact with new carpet chemicals and change the VOCs to other dangerous chemicals. Since I don’t know what chemicals I have I can’t predict which way they will go (better or worse) with exposure to ozone.
Maybe I will try the encapsulation. I’m hesitant to do it until we get warmer weather so I can air the house out continuously. It’s too bad as I really like the color I put up. 🙁
Kane
A portion of a post from July 31,2012:
We have had to use an Ozone Generator 5 times, to help curb the odor.
Unfortunately, the ozone only covers the odor, leaving the same lung irritants and toxins in the air from the paint. Also, the ozone gen.is also dangerous – they have been banned in Canada, and CT is trying to ban them.
We used it out of desperation.
We have 2 fans in that rooms windows 24-7, and the air that goes out keeps coming in other windows, even on
the other side of the house! and through the AC’s.
Brenda
I was searching google for any other sites about paint fumes and came across a blog for paint contractors. One of the contractors started the discussion stating he painted a clients room and said the client was complaining about the smell and that it gave him bad headaches. The contractor was asking what he should do about it. ALL the other contractors did nothing but make jokes about the client, so much so that I had to stop reading them it was turning my stomach.
They didn’t even discuss that there is a problem. Some of the jokes were about his wife giving him headaches! I felt like I was reading something written in 1950!
Lisa
Brenda – I think I read that same site. It really is appalling. Is it a discussion where somebody kept putting more layers of primer on? Like they were going crazy? I remember when I read it I thought of myself.
I think it’s possible that some painters don’t really want to believe this is happening. It would be rather unnerving to think that a product you rely on for your income might end up causing such a huge problem. I had meant to go back and post the link the the Paint Research Association’s statement on wall odor, but never did. They’ll probably run across this problem eventually. If they don’t then treat their customer with respect, they won’t do well for long.
Lisa
I submitted a report to the Consumer Report site as well. I was a little confused as it looked like it might only be for their products (magazine, etc) But what the heck. hopefully they’ll notice several comments on the same subject.
Michelle
One of the pull down menus is for submitting an article idea. If anyone else does it, keep an eye out for that option. It is sort of a catch all interface so can be confusing.
Michelle
When I bought the chlorine dioxide I also bought an essential oil diffuser. It arrived 2 days ago.
http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Oil-Diffuser-Chargeable-Aromatherapy/dp/B01B5SE9L6?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s01
Yesterday I head to the grocery store and pick up Wyndmere Household Purifier.
https://wyndmerenaturals.com/store/product.php?productid=118
I figured, what the heck. My bathroom stunk so I might was well try it. I set it up on max and leave it in the bathroom for some undetermined time. Maybe a couple of hours, maybe less. Then I figure I am wasting it in there so take it out to move to our guest bedroom upstairs. The bathroom smells like lemon pie. I shut the door behind me but do not retape up and seal the room. I likely aired it out at some time with the exhaust fan but didn’t pay that much attention. I left the door closed to the bathroom all night but it wasn’t sealed. In the morning I go to open it up to get ready for our house cleaners, expecting to smell the paint smell. What do I smell? Nothing. I sniffed around and at the very back got a brief whiff of paint smell. So I turn on the exhaust fan and leave the door open. Later on after fan has been off a bit I go back. Still nothing.
We will likely use the bathroom to wash the dogs this weekend so will see if it comes back.
This is the first time in a year the bathroom has not smelled like paint fumes. I really don’t know what to make of it. Did the chlorine dioxide work but hadn’t dissipated yet and was causing an odor similar to the paint smell? Did the essential oils interact with something in the paint and change the chemical make-up? Did my nose give up and I just don’t smell anything anymore? Did our atmosphere change (we have been getting rain which is unusual so have some humidity whereas we usually have none, we also have good air quality which is also unusual as we often have high ozone)? Will it last? Inquiring minds want to know.
Anita
We all are victims of a serious chemical contamination that needs to be handled by professionals. I have posted the link to a 2-page article, where the paint industry admits to a CHEMICAL REACTION after a couple’s home, belongings and their bodies were contaminated by paint fumes that would not go away. http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/uk-news/driven-up-wall-by-stench-1417064 Also, an entire family was critically sickened last year while on vacation when Terminix used a pesticide illegally to treat a unit below where the family was staying. The investigation was handled by the U.S. Justice Department. We can call, write or email the U. S. Justice Dept. https://www.justice.gov/. They need to hear from all of us to act.
Lisa
Anita – I just read about the case of the illegal pesticide use. Terminex used a pesticide that’s been banned for all but a few situations, and which should never be used in a residence. The family was severely injured and the father and sons may not recover. The justice department is prosecuting because the company violated the law and injured people, perhaps even killed them.
The paint companies aren’t doing anything illegal if there’s no law on the books against whatever they’re doing. They are dodging and weaving to avoid having this pinned on them That’s why it’s SO important that if you’re sick from the paint you MUST go to a doctor and tell him or her what’s going on. You MUST report the problem to the paint company, and I would suggest that you simultaneously report it the consumer product safety commission and TELL THEM that you notified the paint company at the same time.
One thing the paint companies are doing is: they’re telling each new report that they have no reports of the problem. They will NOT get away with this if the Consumer Product Safety Commission has a record of each person who’s made a report to them which also says that the manufacturer was notified.
If what the paint companies are getting away with is legal, it shouldn’t be. But until someone’s illness or death is linked to the paint, there will be no path to prosecute. There has to be evidence. The justice department can’t do anything with someone calling up and saying “the paint I used smelled and is making me sick”. They need evidence that the paint contained something it shouldn’t have, and that that was the cause of the illness.
There is no evidence unless there is a diagnosis and a link to the paint. We can’t do this ourselves – that’s why we need doctors and analytical labs involved. And we need lawyers involved who are prepared to oversee the investigation and tie it to some laws being broken.
There was a class-action suit against Benjamin Moore which started with a woman who used BJ’s Natura paint. The paint never dried properly and continued to smell. She couldn’t live in the house. Was the company sued because of bad paint? No. It was determined that the paint contained VOCs when it was actually labelled as zero VOC. So they were charged with false advertising. PPG and Sherwin-Williams have since settled a similar charge from the Federal Trade Commission.
As of now, it’s not illegal for the paint companies to stink up our houses and make us sick – unless you can prove that the paint stinks and that it made you sick. This sound simple enough, but in fact is very difficult. If the manufacturer refuses to recognize the smell, and you don’t have any testimony from a third party that’s recognized as a valid opinion, and you don’t have any diagnosis or treatment on record from a doc – you’re out of luck. This is the hard truth. I wouldn’t prevent anyone from notifying the Justice Department – but unless there’s evidence that a law has been broken there’s not much they can do.
These companies know what’s going on and they have worked out ways to avoid culpability. If you cover up the paint – out of luck. If you have no sample for them – out of luck (although a good lab could still determine what’s going on). Waited to report? Probably out of luck. No proof you were treated by a doctor? A personal injury lawyer will not be interested.
So, once again, I will advice anyone who has found this site as a result of seeking help with lingering paint odor: notify the paint company – and – notify the Consumer Product Safety Commission at the same time and tell the CSPC that you notified the paint company. Where there are enough complaints on file as also having been filed with the paint company, the paint company can’t continue to say they’re unaware of the problem.
And if you are sickened in any way – headaches, nausea, etc. Go to a doctor and tell them you just painted and the smell isn’t going away and you believe it’s making you sick. Try to involve an agency that can test your home for whatever’s being emitted by the paint. Then, if you find that whatever you’re breathing is in fact toxic / harmful to health – then call a personal injury lawyer. Personal injury lawyers can collect enough money to make their time worthwhile without charging you.
Also – not just anyone can test your air. You need to assure that the lab is qualified and capable of that type of analysis. If you can’t afford it yourself (you probably can’t) – then you need the health department or a lawyer’s help even more.
Here’s an example of the kind of lab you need:
http://www.avomeen.com/
It is doubtful that ANY of us here could afford such analysis. That’s why it’s important to involve agencies that can do the work or who will pay for the work if a public health issue is at stake – or a lawyer if there’s money at stake.
Let us know what happens as a result of notifying the Justice Dept. I’m not hopeful they will do anything at this point. If the paint companies are purposefully sickening us – that’s different. But chances are this is just another product defect that the corporations can explain away as unavoidable. Now, as to their negligence in dealing with affected customers: that is another story. I would love to see one of these manufacturers prosecuted once someone proves that they know customers are being affected by this and yet they’ve done nothing to warn us or help us after the fact. The problem may be accidental (it doesn’t happen to everyone) – denying the problem and refusing to compensate victims is criminal.
Sandy
I am having the same problem I panited. 31days ago Pittsburgh paint acrylic latex I can’t stand to be in my home it makes me sick did you find an answer to your problem. The smell is bad. Makes my nose bite my eyes sore makes me lightheaded nauseated is there an answer to this problem
Lisa
Sandy – please read my lengthy comment to Anita above.
I suggest you notify the paint company and insist that someone from the company come to your home. Get a neutral party to be there with you and the paint company, and write down what both parties say. Have the rep from the paint company sign the narrative.
I know this sounds crazy, but the paint company will do whatever it can to avoid acknowledging the problem.
If it’s the paint causing the problem, I believe that you should have a right to expect the paint company to help. But they will not want to. Or they may pay for a primer to be applied over the paint. DON’T cover the paint until you have a signed commitment from the company that if it doesn’t work, they will take the next step with you. They will expect you to sign a release saying they’re not liable for anything further before they pay you for any primer or anything else. Don’t sign it until you’re sure it worked. I would say a year at least – since these smells can come and go with the seasons, and a couple coats of primer might squash it temporarily but not fixi it permanently.
At the same time you call the paint company, report the issue with as much detail as possible to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
http://www.cpsc.gov/
click on “Report an Unsafe Product” in the upper left. or go directly to:
https://www.saferproducts.gov/CPSRMSPublic/Incidents/ReportIncident.aspx
where you can report by phone, email or fax
And tell the CPSC that you’ve reported the issue to the paint company.
If the CPSC gets enough reports on this issue – or even one compelling report on harm to human health – they will pursue it. And if the reports simultaneously are made to the paint companies, the paint companies will no longer be able to deny that they have evidence of a problem.
If your damages are extensive and you can document them, and you can afford it: hire a lawyer. If you’re sick go to a doctor and make sure there are records of your diagnosis and treatment.
Everyone here wants to find a solution for their individual problem – just like I did. But there is no one solution because it’s unlikely there is one cause. What will you do if you can’t afford whatever becomes necessary to fix it? Or if you have medical bills you can’t afford to pay?
Protect yourself. Don’t trust the paint companies. They only seek to avoid liability on this issue.
Lisa
Sandy, I wrote a reply to your post but it’s in moderation. I’m going to wait a day or so and if it doesn’t post I’ll modify it and post it again. Thanks.
Kane
A user here posted that he/she uses a $150 device to detect VOCs. An IAQ specialist uses a Photoionization Detector (yes google it!!) which costs $2500. Those $150 items are garbage sorry.
Anita
This is a serious chemical contamination. We have to work together to get the word out, so we can all get professional help. Google: Driven Up the Wall By Stench – Chronicle Live. The paint problem contaminated an entire house, the residents and their belongings. It is described as a chemical reaction. We can all call or email The Justice Department. One complaint won’t work.
Brenda
Anita I went on the Justice adept website to send an email,mint had many different departments, which one did you send a message to?
Anita
Hi Brenda, from the Dept. of Justice Homepage: click “contact”, then click “please choose the general topic of your message”, then scroll down to, “message to the attorney general”. If we all send an e-mail, we might get some help.
Brenda
Anita thanks I will get a message off to them this evening. On the run right now.
Kane
Michelle, very interesting info about the diffuser. How is it holding up?
Michelle
Kane,
It did not hold up. It was great Wed., when I posted, through Sun. when we washed the dogs. I thought “mission accomplished, I’m done with this.” Even though we aired the bathroom out well Sun. night the smell was back on Mon. Just checked it gain today and still there. So there is some component of humidity that activated it.
Lisa
Michelle, I’m so sorry it didn’t work. Somewhere above I posted a link to a report from “mayfly labs” that talked about how ozone can react with various components to actually increase the smell (depending on the cause of course)
Also, in my case, heat and humidity did make the smell much worse.
Brenda
Oh I could just cry, when I read Michelle that your room stopped smelling I was so very hopeful. ?
Kane
Michelle, have u considered Brandie’s fix? In May , she posted sanding down and priming with Kilz oil. Perhaps Brandie can chime in with more details.
Kane
Brenda, did you go to the Sherwin WIlliams store to complain after your 30 days passed?
Brenda
Kane, no I never made it to SW at some point. Our weather has been so nice and dry the smell isn’t as strong and I feel frustrated as whenever anyone comes over to check out the room they look at me like I’m nuts.
Some say they detect a smell of paint others can’t smell it. But come a humid day especially a hot one and it gets stronger. My husband says he can’t smell it but he couldn’t smell the very noxious paint the first time until we left the house a few days and it was over powering by then.
This time I’m dealing with the sour smell that comes and goes in strength which is even more frustrating as at least when it was so bad we had to move out we didn’t feel so bad ripping it out, this time my husband thinks I’m nuts and he’s moving back into the room once he finishes his new shed project and then he plans on putting up new molding in the bedroom before he moves the bed back in there. I cringe at that thought.
We did buy a new bed for the guest room so I will stay in there. ?
Kane
Brenda, probably needs more time to cure if the odor is intermittent. There is constant offgassing from paint as it cures and even months/years afterwards! But the amount decreases over time but yes temp/humidity will affect odor of all sorts. Ex: perfume, trash, cooking. Keeping my fingers crossed for you.
Monica
Hi,
I found this website, because my parents have the same problem in their home. I would like to help them. They’re living in Poland and someone gave them advice to use a ceramic paint – Magnat. They painted one wall and it helped. Could you tell me if I paint all walls I’ll destroy this smell ?
Anita
Brenda glad you contacted the justice dept. too. EVERYONE, whether you think your poison paint problem is solved or not, should do the same! It is not up to us to decide whether the paint industry has been using an illegal substance or whether this has been done on purpose or not. Leave that decision up to the expertise of the government agencies and their resources which our tax dollars pay for. IT IS UP TO US TO SOUND THE ALARM! Baby powder cases are being won because the company knew the product was causing harm, not because an illegal chemical was being used. WE ALL KNOW WE HAVE BEEN HARMED! We know the paint industry knows because they claim these fumes aren’t harmful. Doctors know we are sick, but they don’t know the cause. Lawyers can’t help unless doctors can verify why we are sick. We have reported the problem to the Consumer Products Safety Commission, and they have not done anything. This problem has been going on for years! We keep trying to fix the problem ourselves because we have to have a place to live! Brenda did you try closing the door to your painted bedroom and running a dehumidifier? A dehumidifier helped someone in an earlier post. Sandy call every agency I have listed above.
LYNN
I would like to zero in on the problem of paint odor in a room. Culprit? Paint,
First, tho, would like to say I agree with you in the main. However, it is up to us, the consumers who are being given a raw, dangerous deal, to combat them and protect ourselves by finding out if they are using illegal substances or why there is this now common problem and if it is being done knowingly. We don’t wait for the government to do it as that can take years.
We, all of us, are the ones who, as you say, can sound the alarm by doing everything, and i mean everything and anything to get out the alarm. .
Don’t give up on the medical and legal professions as being very helpful. Proving anything legally is hard so, again, don’t give up on them and not use them. As someone recently said, importantly, get those doctor reports with symptoms, tests, ER or office visits and notes, and talk to lawyers, cheaper if needed through local law org. who have lists for low cost lawyers for one half hour and longer, and find out what else you might need to prove your case…any and all information can help and you never know where you’ll suddenly get a breakthrough..
The CPSC person i spoke with urged me to send the information as she said the more people willing to add theirs to their site, the more proof there is down the line. You can access their website under paint to find your company and see how many other complaints, etc. already filed. May not be much, but more and more are learning they can do it and it will add up.
Also, the CPSC is more of a central place to collect data, a watchdog to protect the consumer.
Given that, as several have pointed out, determining what is in paint hat is causing it to smell is the key. Importantly there are several common problems with paint, and testing to rule out if it is mold or bacteria is usually a first step. And it can be tested by a lab or yourself to find this out. The cost is roughly a hundred dollars or so. Air testing to check for voc’s and other outgassing can be more expensive, and as Kane pointed out the store bought variety for the average consumer is not suitable for this purpose. A professional needs to be called in if it is warranted, and a professional can usually tell something by the smell itself…make sure you find a well accredited one and check reviews on line and with BBB.
Doing this professionally may cost a few hundred dollars, a little more with the air testing, but if and when something is found, this will be solid evidence to use in court in small claims or civil.
Additionally, when you try to remove the odor it will not be like looking for a needle in a haystack, but you will know what it is that needs to be applied to remove the problem at the start, hopefully. Worth a try..
Odor in paint once applied is very very difficult to remove, which is commonly known in the industry, but not by consumers, and why so many of you deserve an award and are having such a difficult time.
It will save you the time and physical and emotional effort you have poured into doing this all by yourself not knowing what or if anything will work. It’s a big drain financially, too.
Some of you have used toxic substances which, although i’m in awe your courage and grit and understand how desperate you are, is both dangerous and might make it worse. I
I believe we are mostly people who just happen to be stuck with bad smelling paint that does not go away and is injurious to us and our children, etc., and there will be some instances where we will find out the problem is not the paint or originated elsewhere. If that happens, i’m sure most, if not all, will do the right thing, and take the manufacturers of the paint off the hook.
However, and until or if that happens, we are stuck with a product brought into our homes that has caused havoc in our lives, taken away any peace of mind, denied us access to areas in our homes, and, importantly, in most cases, we have been stonewalleld, lied to, manipulated and dumped by the paint corporations themselves who have simply walked away knowing or thinking we are isolated individuals who will just give up. But word is out and as you say, let’s get more of it also to the media like Consumer Reports, AARP, anyone and anything locally or nationally…planetary if necessary.
So we both agree that everything, and i repeat EVERYTHING, we do is very important…
We need to hold the paint mfgs. responsible and get justice…and find out the solution not only to how to get rid of the odor, but we need to save that evidence and submit it as proof to the paint companies or for court if and when needed.
We will also be helping each other in the long run or if there should there be a class action suit of some kind…a good lawyer would know if there is an umbrella that will cover us all.
.
Anita
Sandy where do you live? I live just outside of Philadelphia, PA. This problem is more widespread than we think. I contacted Home Depot where the paint was purchased. Of course they had never heard of the “unusual” problem. They told me to contact Behr. I contacted the Behr rep for the store. He said they don’t come out to customer”s houses. He gave me the number to “corporate”. I have contacted Behr several times. They said the problem was “unusual” and they would pay for the paint only. Behr told me to keep ventilating. Has anyone had a Behr or Home Depot Rep come to their home recently? Has anyone gotten any response after contacting the Consumer Product Safety Commission?
Brandie
I have refrained from posting for quite sometime. Warning: this is going to be a long post.
When I bought my home, my folks painted the entire house for us. They patched the holes and painted the entire home in one day with SW Superpaint. We came home from work, noticed no odor and slept in the house with the windows shut no problem. We have since re-painted every room, closet, trim work etc. We have probably used every paint brand to include: Superpaint, Dutch Boy, Valspar, Olympic and SW Ovation.
I primarily through the years have used Olympic Paint and Primer with no problems — then I wanted to paint a bedroom green. In Sep2015, I went to Lowes and purchased Sherwin William Ovation in my preferred shade of green because it was BOGO. I thought what a deal! My husband painted the room the day before with primer allowing time to completely dry. The next day we painted. I have painted for years, used adequate ventilation and got the job done. To my horror, I noticed a terrible smell about the second coat. By then, it was too late. The paint was on the wall and we were invested. I thought perhaps it would go away in a few days (at most) so we kept the window open and running the fans. One family friend said it smelled like pickles. The same day after painting, I noticed how sore and irritated my nose felt. I went to the doctor the next day. I had a chemical burn in my nose from the paint. I have never painted and had this kind of problem.
I took a week or so off from the room and let my nose heal. By the next weekend, the smell was still there. We waited some more time and then decided we would have to paint over this SW mess and went out to buy Olympic paint and primer. Little did I know, it would do no good. The smell was still there and as time passed the odor changed from a pickle smell to a “chemical smell.” We were disgusted. I had no idea what to do. I found this thread and gained hope that I was not a nut. It is amazing how many people think it is all in your head and “I don’t smell anything.” I noticed the same as many before had noticed — the odor just kind of pooled in the room.
Over several months of sealing off the room, we had professionals come and offer suggestions. Both of the contractors I had investigate stated the best thing to do was to paint over the surface with Shellac or Oil primer to seal the odor. As they explained, a water based paint will just continue to off gas the initial problem. The Shellac and Oil would apparently seal it off for good. One suggested we could also apply a 1/4 inch sheetrock over the “bad smell” instead of the big mess and expense of redoing the drywall. Both agreed that there was a “chemical smell” not present in the rest of the house. One cut off a piece of the paint to have a better smell and that is when we discovered the paint would literally peel off the wall. I took my own large sample and have it saved in my filing cabinet. Before you get too excited by this prospect, the paint would only peel completely over the areas that had been mudded. The other paint would only peel off in dime or quarter size sections and it would come off with a large mudding knife. While it would peel off the drywall with the mudding knife, it also peeled off the top of the drywall exposing the paper beneath. You may get hopeful by this prospect, but that also fails because if you paint over this the paint will bubble and never look right. I was livid. I had a representative come by from Sherwin Williams and take a sample of the paint from the drywall. To date, we have never had an official response by Sherwin Williams. We demonstrated how you can literally separate the layers of paint. It supposedly went off to a “lab” for testing.
In Jan2016, my husband armed with a respirator system that made him look like an Antman, painted the room with Kilz Oil. Before he painted, he sanded the walls and stripped off the baseboards. The smell was outrageous. We left and aired out and aired out as much as possible.
In Feb2016, I discovered Air Pure paint. Let me tell you it is expensive but if you purchase Air Pure, it smells like yogurt to me. It is supposed to reduce the VOC’s in the room from the inside out. I love it. I am satisfied with this discovery. He painted the ceiling and walls. We had a mold test done by a professional air quality expert, not a mold remediation service, for piece of mind. It was negative/normal.
After while, we had taken up the carpet because we felt that perhaps the odor was absorbed into the carpet. As you know, it is sometimes next to impossible to get carpet to match as the years pass. Now we were stuck with footing the bill for replacing the carpet in our one story home. By this time, I was terrified that the carpet would never off gas. Any smell would bother me. I had to change all the cleaning products I normally use to homemade or use all natural like Watkins products. In Apr2016, the carpet was replaced. I also purchased my VOC detector that Kane in the above posts likes to rag on.
In my opinion, it functioned well. It would rise and fall as expected with cleaning, cooking and vacuuming. After we had the carpet for about a month, we had the same indoor air quality tester come and measure for VOC and formaldehyde in this room. I smelled no particular odor, but by this time, I think you have trained yourself to smell something. My husband smelled nothing. Neither did family. To obtain the truest measurement we could, we only had this room professionally tested. The room has been bare through this entire ordeal. We placed plastic on the door, shut off the vent and did our best to make sure the room was as closed off as possible. I left the VOC detector I purchased in the room on the floor. At time of closing the room, my detector read around 225ppb in VOC, which is considered excellent air quality. As the room sat sealed (from approximately 10:00pm to 11:15am when the room was entered for testing), the room ranged on my meter from 225ppb to about 330ppb which is considered moderate air quality, not polluted. The subject matter expert entered the room and initiated his test which took about two hours to complete. The air from the room was sucked into a black box while the room remained sealed. Please note, he did not come in with a $2500 on the spot reader. You need to send this type of testing off to a lab to get an accurate result. It took five business days for a comprehensive analysis.
My total VOC’s in a closed off room was 1200ng/L or around 335ppb which is considered moderate air quality. Formaldehyde was moderate as well (which of 7,000 samples done by this company half are in the same range as mine). Keep in mind the following: my husband had done some touch up painting in the room probably no more than 96 hours prior to the test with Air Pure paint. This test was so specific it determined to no one’s surprise the culprits were coatings (which includes paints and varnishes even low and zero VOC paints), personal care products and alcohol products. Of all the contaminants, the paint alone only contributed 93ppb of the odor in the room. On my Air Pure monitor, a reading of 93ppb is considered excellent. The conversion factors were provided by the lab which I take to be accurate as they are also subject matter experts. Also keep in mind a reading of 1200ng/L is squarely the average of all the 8000 samples performed by this lab. Our air monitoring professional felt confident in the reading and stated it was about average of most homes and would feel comfortable putting his family to sleep in that room. Let’s also note that the levels would be expected to fall when the room was open and the central air was circulating through the vent.
All that said, my monitor performed roughly equal to that of a professional air quality test. I feel liberated from this disaster and it is the best feeling I have had in the past 9-10 months. We have been through sheer hell and torment. I can’t take any odor and as such purchased a $1200 air filtering system that puts out hospital grade air. Please note, this machine was not in use anywhere near this room before or during testing. In fact, it was located on the opposite side of the house for the sheer purpose of not skewing the testing results.
I wish you all well in this journey. We are not experts, just average everyday folks. Please do not interpret anything that I have said as professional advice or as a cure to your problem. Please have a professional assess and make recommendations specific to your situation.
Thanks for reading this lengthy post and hope someone is encouraged.
Now on to the way to make these ******* pay for what they have done to physically, mentally and emotionally exhaust us. I will be triumphant in this adventure to the bitter end.
Kane
Brandie, good info! Sorry if I offended you about your VOC reader. I’m skeptical of a $150 item but I’m glad it works for you and gives accurate readings. Just curious, what did room smell like after your walls were sanded and before you primed with oil?
The air sample test sounds exactly like “Home Air Check” which sells for about $175 online. For those interested, Google it or go to Amazon. They are much more accurate and give better reports than competitors that have “badges”. I believe Lumber Liquidators were having their contaminated Chinese floors tested with the inaccurate badges.
Michelle
Brenda,
Just to be sure I got the story straight. You sanded your walls down, sealed the walls with the Kilz oil and then painted with Air Pure and it worked? But I don’t understand the sanding. Was that on regular drywall or some other type of wall like stucco?
I am very keen on getting a VOC monitor. Which brand/model did you get?
Thanks!
Michelle
Brenda
Michelle I think you meant to ask this question to Brandie. But I also am curious to what her walls were that she could sand off the paint
Michelle
You’re right. I noticed the error as soon as I posted but did not see an edit function.
Kane
Michelle, in a msg dated 5/9/16 Brandie mentions she bought the Blue Air Aware @ Bloomingdale’s for $149.
Michelle
Thanks! I tried to go back and find it but somehow skipped over it.
Anita
Here is a Behr paint fumes complaint posted on another site back in 2007!!! They have been victimizing and lying to consumers for many, many years:
Hello all!!This is my first post here, I’m hoping you can help with your advice. 10 weeks ago I had a room painted by a professional painter. The paint used was Behr.Latex. Very deep, dark colors ( Sycamore Tree- green & Peaceful Night- navy ) At 3 weeks I contacted Behr to let them know the odor had not dissipated. They told me to put fans in the room, maybe bowls of vinegar, good ventilation. I told them I had good ventilation & fans in the room already. As long as the windows were all open it was okay. As soon as I closed the windows…the fumes were horrible. I stated my concern that this odor wasn’t gonna go away. At that point a second person took the phone call and offered me a refund for the paint. That seemed strange to me. I wasn’t asking for a refund. Told them I was looking for a solution. I was told to give it a few more weeks to ‘cure”. I agreed to that. We had beautiful dry weather, windows were open, fans going all was well. We get a cold snap, windows closed, the fumes are overpowering. Call Behr again. The guy brings up my file. Is surprised that the odor persists. Tells me that the drapes, carpet, bedding could be holding the odor. Nope I tell him, only hardwood floors and wooden furniture in the room. He then suggests that I wash the walls& ceiling with a mild detergent to remove residue. I asked if he really thought that would help. He hedged. He then told me that the only way to truly remedy the problem is to paint over all of it with an oil based primer followed by latex paint. I told him I would try washing the walls down. Which I did…to no avail. Absolute waste of time. The odor persists. The hot weather seems to be making the fumes worse. I will be phoning him about my refund, my question is this…Am I entitled to have Behr pay the painter for repainting the room as well as the paint refund? They so quickly offered me a refund that I’m thinking there must be an ongoing problem with this deep base. I really didn’t feel like I was the first person they had spoke with about this problem. Just wanted to hear what you’se guys think about it.Also, do you think the oil based primer solution will fix the problem ? Thanks in advance! Pam
LYNN
Thanks, Pam…very helpful and appreciated as are some others posted recently…thanks to everybody and please keep them coming…means a lot to us whether in middle of doing it ourselves, or negotiating, or anywhere we happen to be in the struggle to get rid of the paint odor we are stuck with and did not cause…so any and all information, whether remedial or input about how to negotiate with the companies, whether successful or not and what they were willing to do, etc. if does not compromise your case to publish,, etc, and how to reach all venues in the media whether investigative, universities, consumer advocates, governmental agencies, environmental watchdogs, eetc. and continue with other law suits past and present and future, national and local tv, mags, checking reviews, letters to the editors, just about anything to pick up on others with same or similar experiences with paint also as may have valuable info…Lynn
Lisa
Thank you for that advice Lynn. I think we’re all coming at this from a different angle. For me – recouping my losses. For others, getting it fixed. For others – both at the same time. We’re all in this together and we all have a little bit different experience. Together perhaps we make a complete picture of the phenomenon and eventually this thing will out. Thanks.
Lisa
Anita – thanks for that post. It was easy to find the web page by searching with a sentence from your copy of the post. I’m keeping a collection of these on-line complaints as best I can. I would appreciate help with this because it’s difficult to keep them all organized in order to reference them.
Here’s something for everyone who’s interested in the big picture with these paint companies and their stinky paint:
I believe that they use different tactics with different customers. If they think they can get away with just pushing you off – telling you they’ll refund the cost of the paint – they will. For instance, if you didn’t keep paint cans. If you did the work yourself, and you’re not a professional, that’s another strike against you. If you had a contractor, and your contractor is with you on the stink – you’re more likely to get some attention. But, finally, it seems they will inevitably suggest primer of some sort. This may work, or it may not. But once you put it on, they’re out of the picture and won’t help you any further (if they did anything to begin with). If you put the primer on and the smell is subdued for a while, you may be tempted to sign a release. Then you’re absolutely done – and they will be able to note that you’re another “satisfied customer” – because they won’t hear from you after you sign a release, because you know your rights are gone.
Don’t sign a release.
Don’t prime over it – until you’ve got some commitment or a third party involved (like a remediation expert – who can examine and give you an estimate for free. Make sure he or she notes the smell, describes it, and does enough investigation to confidently testify that it’s not coming from anywhere or anything but the paint. Talk to the professionals you have in and give them the literature that’s been linked to here. Tell them that if you have to go to court to get your money back you want to know that they’re with you. Have them talk to the paint company directly if you can. The paint company will always deal more respectfully with a professional than a DIYer. The more people who are smelling it and confirming it, the better. Otherwise, the paint company will try to write you off in one way or another.
Brenda
I ended up finally going to Sherwin Williams and telling them about the sour smell from their paint. They are sending someone out to the house next week. I have no hope, just expecting them to offer paint cost or some primer as that seems to be their resolution. Not sure what I will do.
Kane
Brenda, i’m sure SW will try their best to make it right. You’re dealing with a chain store that only sells paint unlike big box stores that sell crap paint and hardly support it. They will likely go the prime and repaint route before suggesting replacing drywall. Good luck and keep us posted!
Brenda
Thanks Kane, I will!