Hi
I need help with information regarding the most common materials and building standards, or alternatively "it was common to apply this or that on concrete," etc., for a house built in 1938.
The reason for this is that the living room started to smell kind of chemical after about 6 weeks of living there, around the end of May this year.
It's concentrated near the floor/floor trim by the wall that enters the room. Not the exterior wall.
On the other side of the wall is the hallway and stairway to the basement. There is no smell other than from the room. If I smell at the threshold, there's a noticeable difference on the side that's in the living room.
I have cut away wallpaper and checked/smelled the masonite, but everything seems dry and okay.
I then sawed a hole in the floor to see the sawdust and beams, and they were at least dry. After that, I dug up the sawdust so I reached the basement's concrete and saw a black or brown surface. Did they put anything or apply something there before the floor was laid, and what was common for that time?
The smell gives some thoughts of tar, but I don’t know if it's that or something else.
Anticimex will charge about 8 thousand for an inspection, so I would really like tips if anyone has any, because that money will be needed for the floor later.
My fear is if I change the insulation and floor, I might still not get rid of the problem if it’s something else that needs to be removed, painted over, etc.
In the basement, there is the oil tank, but no pipes seem to go inside the ceiling, and there’s no smell there either.
Thanks in advance
I need help with information regarding the most common materials and building standards, or alternatively "it was common to apply this or that on concrete," etc., for a house built in 1938.
The reason for this is that the living room started to smell kind of chemical after about 6 weeks of living there, around the end of May this year.
It's concentrated near the floor/floor trim by the wall that enters the room. Not the exterior wall.
On the other side of the wall is the hallway and stairway to the basement. There is no smell other than from the room. If I smell at the threshold, there's a noticeable difference on the side that's in the living room.
I have cut away wallpaper and checked/smelled the masonite, but everything seems dry and okay.
I then sawed a hole in the floor to see the sawdust and beams, and they were at least dry. After that, I dug up the sawdust so I reached the basement's concrete and saw a black or brown surface. Did they put anything or apply something there before the floor was laid, and what was common for that time?
The smell gives some thoughts of tar, but I don’t know if it's that or something else.
Anticimex will charge about 8 thousand for an inspection, so I would really like tips if anyone has any, because that money will be needed for the floor later.
My fear is if I change the insulation and floor, I might still not get rid of the problem if it’s something else that needs to be removed, painted over, etc.
In the basement, there is the oil tank, but no pipes seem to go inside the ceiling, and there’s no smell there either.
Thanks in advance
Hobby carpenter
· Västra Götaland
· 1 496 posts
Reasonable to believe that there is at least tar paper or something similar between the flooring and the basement wall. However, nothing that should smell. In May it got warmer, so some kind of reaction to the heat should have occurred.
We have a house from 38.
Do you have an old heater or pump that could have sprayed liquid against the wall/ceiling in the basement?
What is the closest smell you can think of besides tar?
We have a house from 38.
Do you have an old heater or pump that could have sprayed liquid against the wall/ceiling in the basement?
What is the closest smell you can think of besides tar?
@Småbrukaren Yes, the heat seems reasonable that it could have something to do with it. Hard to describe the smell, but it has the "weight" of freshly applied tar if that makes sense. But with a slightly sharper tone of the chemical perhaps. The house stood empty for 5 years before I bought it, with the last two years without heat. Directly under the smelly wall is the oil tank. Geothermal heating installed in 2009, so it should have been empty since then. And no smell down there at all, hence my suspicion that it is something between the vault and the floor. The smell can sometimes move a little towards the middle of the house but in the same room, where the chimney is close. But only sometimes and briefly. Most of the time on the same 2-3 meter stretch.