Today’s question comes from Aaren. Aaren asks:<\/p>\n
Hi hope you can help! My daughter\u2019s room will not stop smelling. In fact, I challenged Olympic Paint and Lowe\u2019s \u2013 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. \u2026. As of today however we are dealing with a smell from Friday. It\u2019s awful and I\u2019m 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\u2019s cursed. No other room in our house ever smelled like this\u2026 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\u2019t really smell like paint at all. We even crawled into the attic to check for smell and it wasn\u2019t present. We tried sprays, onions, vinegar, steam cleaning. Everything. Your advice would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks. Aaren<\/p>\n
Hi Aaren. When we first answered this years ago, it was a rare issue, but over our 22 years in the painting industry, we’ve seen this exact scenario pop up a few times. That “sweet, clay-like” or sometimes “sour” smell that lingers for weeks is incredibly frustrating.<\/p>\n
Based on your description, you are likely dealing with one of two specific issues:<\/p>\n
1. “Sour Paint” (Bacterial Contamination)<\/b> Water-based latex paints can actually “go bad.” If bacteria get into the paint at the factory or the store, it starts a reaction that smells exactly like sour milk, clay, or dirty socks. Unfortunately, no amount of air purifiers or open windows will cure this, because the smell is baked right into the dried film on the wall.<\/p>\n
2. The “Wall Odor Phenomenon”<\/b> Sometimes, the chemicals in new low-VOC water-based paints react with the invisible residues left on the wall from older paints, creating a chemical off-gassing that smells sweet and pungent.<\/p>\n
Here is the problem: you mentioned the professionals applied a coat of KILZ. If they used a water-based<\/i> latex KILZ primer, it will not block the odor. Water-based primers allow the smell to breathe right through them.<\/p>\nHow to Fix the Lingering Paint Smell<\/h3>\n
To permanently kill this odor and make the room safe for your daughter, you have to seal the wall so the smell cannot escape. Here is the professional procedure:<\/p>\n
Fixing a botched paint job or dealing with mysterious wall odors can be a nightmare. If you are located in our service area of West Hartford<\/a>, Farmington, Avon, or the greater Farmington Valley, you don’t have to tackle this alone.<\/p>\n With over two decades of experience, E D Painting<\/strong> knows how to prep, prime, and paint your home correctly the first time. Give us a call at (860) 989-6517<\/a> or request a free consultation online!<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Today’s question comes from Aaren. Aaren asks: Hi hope you can help! My daughter\u2019s room will not stop smelling. In fact, I challenged Olympic Paint and Lowe\u2019s \u2013 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-house-painting-ct-2","category-interior"],"yoast_head":"\n