It will be a long post to describe everything...
We have bought a house from the 70s. The house is a split-level with a half staircase between the floors. Both floors are on a concrete slab on the ground. The house had embedded studs but all have been torn up and a leveling floor installed throughout the house. Mechanical exhaust ventilation.
We noticed a faint smell during the inspection and mentioned it to the inspector. He said it was the old wallpaper and furniture that could be giving off the smell. We trusted that explanation, bought the house, and moved in. Knew nothing about odor problems back then.
The walls from the inside are three-layer boards (sometimes with gypsum on top), tongue and groove board, insulation, asfaboard, insulation (no air gap as it seems), and brick.
The sill plate is on sill paper and didn't look treated as far as I could see.
Pretty soon we noticed that clothes smelled.
Not mold, but musty. Washing with vinegar makes the smell disappear.
People who have visited us and are sensitive to mold do not feel anything, and it doesn't get into clothes immediately, it can take a couple of days in the house before you start to notice it.
Some say, when you really ask, that they smell a bit of old odors, some don’t smell anything.
We had an "expert" here, he said he didn’t feel any bad air, just the smell from an old house with soot and cooking odors. A space of 2 sqm (closet space under the stairs) he found an odor after I discussed with him for a while that there is probably a bad smell I am feeling there.
It's next to the foundation wall going up toward the other part of the house, about 1.20 m high. There it is masonry with concrete blocks and studs directly against it. I have torn out everything except the tongue and groove. Despite that, it smells. It is completely dry, no moisture.
Used an ozone cleaner and mold remediation, still smells.
Suspect it's ingrained in the concrete, anyone with experience of that?
I suspect this odor is spreading in the house.
We plan to replace all surfaces including the ceiling in the house because we want to remove the three-layer boards and textile ceilings but are afraid the smell will return.
The "expert" also tested the function of the leveling system with a smoke pen. The floor vents didn't pull down any smoke. When we opened the vents fully and ran at maximum speed, you could see smoke being drawn under the floor. Should that be necessary? Something that can be claimed as a hidden fault or should we have tested the function beforehand?
You can smell bad odors at the exhaust.
Have installed 2 additional supply air vents since the existing ones on the lower floor (70 sqm) were against a conservatory and were smaller model.
We have now renovated one room and when you leave it in the morning, you encounter another smell (room painted about 2 months ago). However, we have noticed a very weak smell on clothes hanging there.
How would you proceed with this?
Thinking of replacing all surfaces, even the tongue and groove board or possibly sealing it with a barrier paint.
Install a ventilated mat on the entire foundation wall towards the second floor to ventilate away any smell from the concrete.
See if I can find any leaks at the floor to improve the function of the leveling system.
Grateful for help and experiences regarding this!
We have bought a house from the 70s. The house is a split-level with a half staircase between the floors. Both floors are on a concrete slab on the ground. The house had embedded studs but all have been torn up and a leveling floor installed throughout the house. Mechanical exhaust ventilation.
We noticed a faint smell during the inspection and mentioned it to the inspector. He said it was the old wallpaper and furniture that could be giving off the smell. We trusted that explanation, bought the house, and moved in. Knew nothing about odor problems back then.
The walls from the inside are three-layer boards (sometimes with gypsum on top), tongue and groove board, insulation, asfaboard, insulation (no air gap as it seems), and brick.
The sill plate is on sill paper and didn't look treated as far as I could see.
Pretty soon we noticed that clothes smelled.
Not mold, but musty. Washing with vinegar makes the smell disappear.
People who have visited us and are sensitive to mold do not feel anything, and it doesn't get into clothes immediately, it can take a couple of days in the house before you start to notice it.
Some say, when you really ask, that they smell a bit of old odors, some don’t smell anything.
We had an "expert" here, he said he didn’t feel any bad air, just the smell from an old house with soot and cooking odors. A space of 2 sqm (closet space under the stairs) he found an odor after I discussed with him for a while that there is probably a bad smell I am feeling there.
It's next to the foundation wall going up toward the other part of the house, about 1.20 m high. There it is masonry with concrete blocks and studs directly against it. I have torn out everything except the tongue and groove. Despite that, it smells. It is completely dry, no moisture.
Used an ozone cleaner and mold remediation, still smells.
Suspect it's ingrained in the concrete, anyone with experience of that?
I suspect this odor is spreading in the house.
We plan to replace all surfaces including the ceiling in the house because we want to remove the three-layer boards and textile ceilings but are afraid the smell will return.
The "expert" also tested the function of the leveling system with a smoke pen. The floor vents didn't pull down any smoke. When we opened the vents fully and ran at maximum speed, you could see smoke being drawn under the floor. Should that be necessary? Something that can be claimed as a hidden fault or should we have tested the function beforehand?
You can smell bad odors at the exhaust.
Have installed 2 additional supply air vents since the existing ones on the lower floor (70 sqm) were against a conservatory and were smaller model.
We have now renovated one room and when you leave it in the morning, you encounter another smell (room painted about 2 months ago). However, we have noticed a very weak smell on clothes hanging there.
How would you proceed with this?
Thinking of replacing all surfaces, even the tongue and groove board or possibly sealing it with a barrier paint.
Install a ventilated mat on the entire foundation wall towards the second floor to ventilate away any smell from the concrete.
See if I can find any leaks at the floor to improve the function of the leveling system.
Grateful for help and experiences regarding this!
Did not cling to the clothes as we noted. Seems like Tretex very easily becomes "scent-contaminated". In our house, it was probably about the previous owner's lifestyle, poor ventilation, slow cooking in the kitchen, and smoking.
The leveled floor should be approved by an expert from nivell... Do you have papers on that? The previous owners said they had made a ventilated floor, but it was a lie... they hadn't done it properly... just put down a fan and the insulation was still directly on the slab so there was no ventilation. Has a company removed the printed studs? Or has an individual done it? Do you have papers on that as well?
There is a leveling floor with insulation and a proper fan. The installation seems to be properly done, and the company has previously worked on more floors. However, we have not received the adjustment protocol.
We see that there are some beams left that weren't removed when I did some demolition (2 pieces). These are in hard-to-reach places. Not sure if they are still under the interior wall sills. I have drilled a little into the embedded beams that I have seen, and they appear dry, not smelling too bad. I think the leveling floor should ventilate away the smell. However, in verbal information from the owner, it has been noted in the inspection report that there have been issues with smell from the embedded beams but that it has been addressed. Yet, it's difficult to prove that the smell comes from the floor...
We see that there are some beams left that weren't removed when I did some demolition (2 pieces). These are in hard-to-reach places. Not sure if they are still under the interior wall sills. I have drilled a little into the embedded beams that I have seen, and they appear dry, not smelling too bad. I think the leveling floor should ventilate away the smell. However, in verbal information from the owner, it has been noted in the inspection report that there have been issues with smell from the embedded beams but that it has been addressed. Yet, it's difficult to prove that the smell comes from the floor...
Ours weren't wet at all... Often they aren't. It is the cuprinol that decomposes over time that smells and maybe they have been wet and then dried. We got a tip to check if there is a sill under the sill paper. Embedded... you should probably remove all pressure-impregnated to be sure. That advice we got and will remove the very last now even though we don't really believe in it. There is a little bit left under our bathroom floor downstairs, and we refurbished that bathroom about 4 years ago.M Matteg01 said:
I would probably review the ventilation in the house. There are ventilation units with heat recovery, these alternate between each other. When one exhausts, the other blows in and vice versa. The most serious approach would be to install a proper ftx.
How did you "tretexsanerade" the house? Did you replace all the Tretex with other material or did you use some less labor-intensive method? I am considering whether our Tretex contributes to the smell in our home; however, all the interior walls on the entrance floor are Tretex, so it's a lot of work if they are to be replaced.hscn said:
I have torn out all the Tretex and replaced it with renovation plasterboard. The renovation plasterboard, 6mm, is a bit more expensive but much easier to work with compared to the regular 13mm. It's also more adaptable where the walls aren't completely straight or are convex/concave like they are in old houses.
But
"The floor vents didn't draw down any smoke. When we opened the dampers fully and ran at full speed, you could see smoke being drawn down under the floor. You can feel at the exhaust that it smells bad."
Isn't that where you have your problem then?
I assume that for the Nivell to function, there should be a thin 'film' of air that runs across the entire slab and out the other side with the ground moisture.
The tretex isn't very fun, but it would smell only if it got wet, I really don't know. But I don't have a very sensitive nose
"The floor vents didn't draw down any smoke. When we opened the dampers fully and ran at full speed, you could see smoke being drawn down under the floor. You can feel at the exhaust that it smells bad."
Isn't that where you have your problem then?
I assume that for the Nivell to function, there should be a thin 'film' of air that runs across the entire slab and out the other side with the ground moisture.
The tretex isn't very fun, but it would smell only if it got wet, I really don't know. But I don't have a very sensitive nose
It is quite well described on Nivell's website: https://www.nivellsystem.se/produkter/ladda-ner-34603390
I speculated on a house with a concrete slab on the ground without plastic underneath and read up quite thoroughly. It is important to get the correct flow and that there is nothing obstructing the air streams. If it's a large house, you need to divide it into zones. You could make a hole and measure the moisture content near the concrete.
I speculated on a house with a concrete slab on the ground without plastic underneath and read up quite thoroughly. It is important to get the correct flow and that there is nothing obstructing the air streams. If it's a large house, you need to divide it into zones. You could make a hole and measure the moisture content near the concrete.