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Home Odors Can Make You Crabby. Daffodils or Lavender won't... There's more.

Last Updated on Thursday, 11 February 2010 16:21 Written by Dyck Dewid Sunday, 09 August 2009 05:30

If you are reading this you most likely have experienced an undesirable odor. You may want to know if you should do something about it, or what you should do about it. So, I will give you some information and some tools to help you diagnose your problem. This article is for informational purposes only. See disclaimers at the end.

The topic of odors can be quite technical so this article should help you to understand some of the pertinent relationships. Odor problems and symptoms involve more than just the home. They involve ones health, comfort, stress, attitude, social habits, real estate, sales, remodeling, home construction and repair, indoor air quality, allergies, safety, costs, maintenance, investment to name the obvious ones.

10.  Use scenarios to help you start to gather the information you need.

Scenario A. There's an odor in your home that has been around more than a day or two.

Scenario B. There's an odor in a home that is unoccupied.

Scenario C. An occupant has a health problem and senses it might be aggravated while in the home.

Scenario D. Occupant wants to be pro-active and preventive in creating and keeping a healthy indoor environment.

20. Select all the following that apply to each Scenario.

(See Examples of Odors below for help)

1. Health and Safety- from no danger to very dangerous- Alarms, offensive, other signs.
2. Construction Problem- from not likely severe to likely severe.
3. Stable-unstable, likelihood to get worse or to cause more damage.
4. Persistence, from occasional to constant (look for patterns).

30. Now, with the information from steps 10 and 20 above you can

 

1.     Decide the likely level of harm and how quickly to act

• For gas problems Leave the house immediately. Do Not Delay in getting help. This is explosive.
• For toxic smell or alarm leave the house immediately. Do Not Delay getting help. Life threatening.
• Water-related problem related to construction will not go away. Sooner repaired, the less expensive.
• For health related problem verify if you can by staying somewhere else for several days.
• If this is preventive or pro-active there are some obvious things to do yourself, for more depth begin the process of education. A good place to start would be on Indoor Air Quality at the EPA website: http://.epa.gov/iaq/
• If the odor is occasional and not strongly offensive you might still attempt to determine the cause.

2.  Determine the cause

• Narrow the odor to a specific area, and determine if its coming from somewhere else, like outside.
• Are there stains, materials, unusual openings, a draft, etc.. noticeable near the area.
• Can you do something to change it, e.g. move something to outside, close something, run water, flush toilet, etc..
• Is there something that has been brought into the home recently? Enclose it in a plastic bag or move it out to verify.
• From a preventive standpoint one can determine all potential causes, and then make a best effort to eliminate them from your home. For example, VOCs are in many adhesives (flooring, shelving in furniture, paints, primers, cleaners...) so read labels and get rid of those materials you have. Keep in mind that humidity affects the release of VOCs. So, materials that have off-gassed most VOCs can be re-activated with higher humidifies over 50%. This means that maintaining your HVAC mechanical systems is important to indoor air quality. Another quite easy preventive measure is to eliminate all aerosol spray chemicals from the home.
• The levels of many components of indoor air are measurable. Tests can be used for diagnosis or for benchmarking. For temperature, humidity, VOCs, Particulates, CO, CO2 costs are $150 - $300 plus consultation. Individual tests (formaldehyde, radon, etc..) vary.

3.  Does the cause need to be remedied?

• If the cause is trivial, not harmful and tolerable ignore it or use a natural deodorizer, e.g. sage, lavender, etc., and commercial natural products.
• If the cause or source is obvious, remove it or repair it.
• If you need to call for help this article can help determine the right professional. Keep in mind that the home is an integrated system. So, holistic knowledge is desirable.
• If you need to call a professional for assistance the information you have gathered will be of value and likely will reduce the time (and cost) to locate the cause of the problem.

4.  Supplemental Information

• Killing mold (fungal) spores does not eliminate allergens people react to.
• Cleaning mold (fungal) spores does not necessarily eliminate the cause, nor even all the mold.
• Encapsulation is a bonafide means of eliminating an odor, including mold (fungal) spores, however it does not ensure eliminating the cause or conditions.
• It is worth learning about the power of Odor to enhance and beautify life...
• The olfactory sense is least used and understood, yet a most powerful friend and actuator.
• Other reasons to investigate IAQ is an increase in asthma episodes or other respiratory encounters, headaches, rashes, allergy reactions, and many other commonly seen symptoms. This is often difficult to correlate but it is possible and useful if the symptoms warrant the effort. Keeping a log is highly useful. Engaging an Industrial Hygienist can be useful.
• Some common sources of undesirable air quality are: malfunctioning crawl space, attic, design or installation of supply or return air systems, condensate system, exhaust fans, gutters, window and door seals, venting of gas appliances, paints and sealers and adhesives, carpet, furniture.

Some Examples of Odors:

 

The scent of flowers is mainly pleasant. It can be relaxing and even intoxicating.

1. The smell of baking cookies is pleasant as long as you have no aversion to that kind.
2. The smell of pets or pet urine in the house can be tolerable to some people.
3. The offensive smell of an animal that died in the attic or basement or inside a wall.
4. The musty or dank smell of mold (fungal growth) is not pleasant, but often tolerable.
5. The odor from slightly to strongly offensive from gray waste water to black waste water.
6. The unpleasant and very dangerous smell of gas or gasoline
7. The sharp smell of ammonia is not pleasant and is not tolerable.
8. The dangerous smell of exhaust or burning material.
9. Other, less distinct odors are tolerable, or you might even get used to them.
10. Odorless substances have additional problems. Volatile Organic Chemicals (VOCs), Formaldehyde, propellants and deodorized sprays, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, Radon, etc..

My article is for informational purposes only. I disclaim all responsibility and liability whatsoever for your acts or judgment to act in an unsafe and incorrect manner, and for incompleteness or incorrectness of any information herein. This disclaimer inures to the benefit of all my connections, including but not limited to family, employees, heirs, etc..

So, who knows what?

Knowledge is that which is understood. Information is not knowledge. The difference is in the experiencing which includes the actions one takes. Information and knowledge can be true or false.

Hands-On Contracting is a company that does Home Repair and Remodeling and Renovation. Supporting services include Design, Problem Diagnosis, Indoor Air Quality Assessment and Correction, Aging-In-Place Design and Remodeling, Energy Efficiency Assessment and Up-fitting, Healthy Home (Green) Construction.

Even with extensive experience and education my business has no pretenses.  My work is based in research, theory and experience in its motivation to act. It is the great observer and listener in order to learn. And it is in the learning that all great achievement results.

There is also no pretense of higher education or other historical claim. It is with the NOW that I am concerned and focused. This does not exclude the emotional, spiritual, intuitive, personal connections that might be used in an assessment or diagnosis. In fact, these latter attributes are the most important elements considering the whole job. The job always includes the physical elements and the human elements. The latter is most important to me.