Hello!
We have a house built in 1962. Recently, the walls in most of the house were filled and painted, but now we have some cracks in the joints between the panels that the walls are made of. In some rooms, we painted directly on the old wallpaper. In one of these, there is now a smell that hasn't been aired out in a year. As soon as you have the window and door closed for a while and then open and enter the room, it smells. And it's even stronger now in the summer. Anticimex, who did the inspection for us a year ago, found nothing to remark on. I don't know if the smell was there then or if it appeared after the first painting. It doesn't smell like mold in a basement usually does, but more like it can smell in the homes of older people. Slightly stuffy, slightly musty. There are no visible moisture stains. Above, there is a cold attic where we haven't been able to see any moisture. Outside, we have wooden paneling that has just been replaced. The carpenters couldn't see any indication of moisture behind the old panel either. I've asked a bit on the forum regarding painting to remove the smell and am now considering painting over the old wallpaper once more but with oil paint. Maybe also use some sort of easy-fix weave before to smooth the surface. In connection with this, I'm wondering what material we have in the walls. I have read that tretex (or if it's called trätex) can absorb both moisture and smell. Could this be what we have? Or is it masonite? Particle board? How do you know what it is? Tried to search for information and became a bit worried about what others wrote about the different materials and their properties, such as being flammable, absorbing moisture and mold, emitting formaldehyde, etc. Can anyone tell what it is from the photo? Does the smell mean it's a moisture problem, or could it smell regardless? Do you think it's worth trying to paint over or should we tear it up and investigate this further?
How would you go about it? Tips are welcome as this will become our little daughter's room.
Best regards,
Tussen
We have a house built in 1962. Recently, the walls in most of the house were filled and painted, but now we have some cracks in the joints between the panels that the walls are made of. In some rooms, we painted directly on the old wallpaper. In one of these, there is now a smell that hasn't been aired out in a year. As soon as you have the window and door closed for a while and then open and enter the room, it smells. And it's even stronger now in the summer. Anticimex, who did the inspection for us a year ago, found nothing to remark on. I don't know if the smell was there then or if it appeared after the first painting. It doesn't smell like mold in a basement usually does, but more like it can smell in the homes of older people. Slightly stuffy, slightly musty. There are no visible moisture stains. Above, there is a cold attic where we haven't been able to see any moisture. Outside, we have wooden paneling that has just been replaced. The carpenters couldn't see any indication of moisture behind the old panel either. I've asked a bit on the forum regarding painting to remove the smell and am now considering painting over the old wallpaper once more but with oil paint. Maybe also use some sort of easy-fix weave before to smooth the surface. In connection with this, I'm wondering what material we have in the walls. I have read that tretex (or if it's called trätex) can absorb both moisture and smell. Could this be what we have? Or is it masonite? Particle board? How do you know what it is? Tried to search for information and became a bit worried about what others wrote about the different materials and their properties, such as being flammable, absorbing moisture and mold, emitting formaldehyde, etc. Can anyone tell what it is from the photo? Does the smell mean it's a moisture problem, or could it smell regardless? Do you think it's worth trying to paint over or should we tear it up and investigate this further?
How would you go about it? Tips are welcome as this will become our little daughter's room.
Best regards,
Tussen
can't see in the picture but my guess is trätex/trätex+masonit råspånt+masonit
my wild guess is that the smell comes from tar paper, that is from the roof or wall, would think the smell becomes less noticeable when it gets cooler.
+could some ventilation have been blocked during the panel change? could affect it as well
my wild guess is that the smell comes from tar paper, that is from the roof or wall, would think the smell becomes less noticeable when it gets cooler.
+could some ventilation have been blocked during the panel change? could affect it as well