# Drywall problems in new house



## FallenAngel (Nov 13, 2006)

I am no expert but I do know there is a tool that can be put on the drywall to measure the dampness of it to see if it is absorbing moisture. 

The yellowing I would think is a water/moisture problem also, but again, I am not in the business so take what I'm saying with a grain of salt. If I were you I would get someone with one of those tools that can measure the level of dampness out to check that out. 

Am I correct in reading that none of the closets have been primered and painted- they are still bare drywall?


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## BettyCv (Nov 12, 2006)

Thank you for your response. We did have someone out to test the moisture content. He had a meter with two prongs and when he stuck it in the drywall, he commented that it was "bone dry." Unfortunately, I did not see him test directly into the yellowing area. That particular inspector felt that the yellowing was just inadequate texturing in the corners. (Ugh!).

And yes, you are correct - the closets are textured with the drywall compound, but are not painted. It is not standard practice by our builder, and it is not required by the city building code.

Betty


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## FallenAngel (Nov 13, 2006)

Well if it tested bone dry that is a relief. I know personally for instance that caulk sometimes gets discolored turning a yellowish color even though no moisture is present, so it's possible what your drywall guy has told you is true, that it just needs to be primed and painted. Hopefully the primer will seal it up so that smell stops as well.


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## joasis (May 28, 2006)

The only thing that comes to mind is something that was glued? Modular homes used to be bad about "odors" that would last for years...but generally drywall, once the texture dries, will not change color, especially to yellow, unless exposed to UV (sunlight). In other words, I would be at a loss to explain this, and I am looking forward to hearing from others what it may be.


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## AtlanticWBConst. (May 12, 2006)

It sounds like...
If you feel that the odors are definitely coming from the Drywall (Installed and taped sheetrock)...
...that the solution may start by removing it down to the studs and seeing what is left there (oder-wise, stains? etc)

Also checking on the removed drywall itself , once it is removed (does it still smell?)...What about the insulation behind it?, the studs there... etc. 

Maybe it (The sheetrock) absorbed a chemical (Spilled on it?) prior to installation/during installation, in storage at the work site, etc...

Just 'tossing' this idea out there...


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## AtlanticWBConst. (May 12, 2006)

BTW- 'Yellowing' drywall can be caused by:

1.) Old Moisture/water leak stains.

2.) Old sheetrock. The paper surface, if not painted over a long period of time will yellow with age. Compound and paint won't cover it, only a stain killing primer will.

3.) Something (chemical or other) that has been absorbed into the sheetrock and the smell stays there along with the stain.

4.) Any other thoughts....


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## BettyCv (Nov 12, 2006)

Thank you for your thoughts on this.

Personally, that is what I would like to do - remove the drywall entirely and see if the smell goes away, see what the insulation smells like, what the back of the drywall looks like, and what the wood studs underneath it look like.

One closet (the one with the most yellowing) has two exterior walls. I am not sure what would happen to the insulation. I am told it would more or less stay in place in the walls, but what about the insulation over the ceiling? My husband says it is different from the kind installed in the walls. The attic is cellulose insulation. I would hate to be releasing all kinds of particles into the air...

Another closet (with the greatest smell) has the least amount of yellowing (hardly any) and has only interior walls so I guess we would only have to worry about disturbing the insulation on top of its ceiling.

I can tell that the yellow stains are not "water stains" athough they could still be moisture stains. They don't have that characteristic darkening around the edges that water stains do.

It is an interesting theory about the drywall having possibly absorbed something else. It is a very strong chemical odor...

The builder is sending someone out again on Thursday to check out some other possible causes (the message didn't say what). I will keep you posted.

In the meantime, if anyone else has any additional theories, I'd love to hear them....

Betty


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## AtlanticWBConst. (May 12, 2006)

This sounds like a 'tricky' one. 

It seems to be one of those issues that you really cannot diagnose online. We are all just guessing here.
It is more of a 'snooping' issue: Getting in there and looking around - on site.
Hopefully, your builder will find the problem ( If I were the builder it would really bug me until I found out what was going on).

Good luck and keep us posted.


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## earlofpeatrig (Aug 28, 2007)

*BettyCv, I have a similar problem.*

Betty,

I have a similar problem. I moved into a brand new home a year ago and it has strange smells as well.

How did this turn out?

Can you send me a private message at my contactify address:
http://www.contactify.com/381


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## jrepp (Aug 20, 2007)

Perhaps you could just remove a section of the drywall making sure to uncover part of a stud? Cut a scrap of drywall one foot by one foot square and place it on the closet wall, draw a line around the scrap and cut out the wall, you could then use the scrap to repair the wall.


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## BettyCv (Nov 12, 2006)

We still have a problem with the odor, but here is an update...

We primed with kilz and painted all the closets with a semi-gloss paint. We did this to the composite closet doors, too. They had a strong odor - I don't know if they had absorbed odor from the closets or if they *caused* the odor in the closets. The closets smell much better, but are not completely odor-free. 

In the room that had the smelliest closet, my husband completely gutted the closet. The drywall was perfectly clean on the back, as were the wood studs (I consider that good news). We did notice that the drywall had been GLUED to the studs, in addition to being nailed. I sniffed the glue (no laughing!) and it didn't seem to have any odor, although I'm sure it did when it was first used.

Also in that room, my husband painted the ceiling (which had been unpainted texturing). We left off the closet doors. There no longer seems to be a smell coming from the closet, however now the ENTIRE ROOM has an odor (not NEARLY as strong as it had been in the closet, but definitely an odor.) I'm not sure if it is new, or if I just never noticed it before because I was so sure that the closet was the problem. We intend to replace the closet doors with solid wood (or maybe even louvered wood to keep the closet "aired out.")

Our next step was much more involved. We had an air quality expert test the house. There were no significant levels of VOCs or particles. I believe air in a room should be replaced about every three hours. Ours was replacing every TEN hours. The tester said that he had never seen a house built as tightly as ours. In addition, he said that our ductwork had been very poorly installed. There were many gaps that were drawing in basement air, causing a negative pressure in the basement and possibly sucking in soil gases through the concrete. So, he added additional cold air returns, brought in additional outside air, balanced the HVAC system and installed an air-to-air heat exchanger. He also installed two programmable thermostats (we have two furnaces) which has a setting to run the fan something like fifteen minutes out of each hour - whether the furnace/air is running or not. It has certainly improved the smell of the house overall. It has NOT completely eliminated the odors from the most offensive room. 

On an interesting note... My husband and I were lucky enough to be able to attend a very small gathering where Tom Silva and Richard T (I can't say or spell his last name - the plumber) from This Old House were speaking. We asked them about our problem, and even THEY were stumped!! Richard did go on quite a bit, though, about how new homes are being built air-tight without enough fresh air being brought in and he stated that ductwork is often poorly installed.

The air quality expert has also suggested sealing the control joints in the basement floor, as well as the area where the basement floor meets the poured walls. In addition, he suggested installing a seal on the sump pump (which happens to be directly under the offensive room - although that room is on the SECOND floor...) My husband will do those projects himself.

I realize that radon has no odor, but out of curiosity we had the radon level tested (by a different company than the air quality expert I keep referring to). Two canisters were used - one read 4.3 and one read 3.7 - making it a 4.0 average which is the cutoff for radon remediation (is that the word I want?). We are going to have it re-tested after my husband seals the basement floor and sump pump. The air quality expert suggested that when we do that, we have them use a 24 (or was it 48?) hour meter. 

One other thing... We had the carpets cleaned and teflon protected. It may be my imagination, but that seems to have helped a little, too. Our next step may be to pull out the carpet in the most offensive room and see if maybe THAT is the culprit (but why would it be so much worse in one particular room?). At this point, I am thinking that the odors may be a combination of different issues. I think that the yellowing of the drywall, though, may have been entirely unrelated to the odor. By the way, the painting has completely taken care of that - the yellowing has NOT come through the paint. 

To the recent poster with a similar problem - is your drywall texturing (ceilings, closets) painted? If not, are you seeing any yellowing?

Thanks again to all who offered thoughts/suggestions on this problem.


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## Big Bob (Jul 27, 2007)

You may wish to rent an ozone generator for your problem odor room before you replace any more carpet. $ 45.00 /day one 24 hr day should do it.

OdoBan works great too!

I restore fire & water damage/ over 20 years


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## earlofpeatrig (Aug 28, 2007)

*BettyCv, Thanks for your reply.*

Betty,

Thanks so much for your reply.

I had VOC, Formaldehyde and Mold testing done. I also did a DIY radon test. All negative. Moisture testing was negative.

Let me give you more of the story, anyone else may feel free to jump in...

After about 2 weeks of moving into our newly built home, I noticed a sulfur smell coming from one of our rooms. It seemed to be emanating from the walls in this particular room. Negative on a gas leak. The paint company tested the paint. The drywall folks tested the drywall. All negative. This room and another room were repainted with a blocker coat and a low-voc paint. The sulfur smell is gone in these rooms. Occasionally, I smell what I think is the blocker coat but just occasionally. 

Other rooms on the top floors have strange smells on occasion. Another bathroom would have strong chemical smells (nothing to do with cleaners, by the way) on occasion. The smells would be stronger when the sun was out. Even in the bathroom in the middle of the house. Makes me wonder if UV light has anything to do with the smells. Perhaps when the humidity was a bit higher increased the smells as well.

The bad part about all this is that the house gives me headaches (the physical kind). I'm also a little dizzy. This is pretty much constant when I'm at home. 

I kinda wonder if the drywall is somehow actively breaking down releasing a gas that's accelerating off gassing of paint. Or, I wonder if there's something else leaking into the home causing off-gassing. Or, I wonder if the electronic air cleaner that was installed in the home reacted with the materials and is causing them to break down. Or, maybe it's the power lines behind the house that's giving me the headaches. Lot's of theories. 

It seemed like in the basement, one of my bathrooms had a drywall smell to it. Also, I can smell glue when I walk into the house, on occasion.

BettyCv, do you have powerlines or an electronic air cleaner in your house?

Anyone have any other ideas?


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## BettyCv (Nov 12, 2006)

Earlofpeatrig,

With headaches and dizziness, I would suggest that you also have the house tested for carbon monoxide. I believe it can cause these problems, even at levels so low that they don't set off a carbon monoxide detector (which I assume you have).

We have powerlines that run through the development. It is a very large development, and the lines are pretty far away from our house (we can't even see them). We had them about the same distance from our old house, but the towers were much smaller - does that mean the voltage that was in them was lower? I don't know... 

We do not have an electronic air cleaner in our house. Funny you should ask, though, because I was thinking of that as a next step. But when I read the packages on the room-size air cleaners, they have a "warning" on them that they should not be used in rooms where asthmatic people are. I decided not to get one until I investigated them further. I have also read bad things about the ozone machines that the previous poster mentioned, and that makes me leary of the air cleaners as well. (I don't know if they work on the same principle).

Let me back up a bit - my smelliest room was my daughter's bedroom, and what really got my concern up about the odor was when she started having a persisent cough at night. She ended up on asthma medicine last winter. The pediatrician has not diagnosed her with asthma yet (the medication she takes treats both asthma AND allergies.) She was able to eventually stop taking it, and she was fine through the summer. Then, just a couple of days ago, she started having very bad allergic reactions - eyes watering, itchy throat, etc. - on the same day that the newspaper had a front page story on ragweed. In other words, I'm pretty sure her main problem is allergies. Now, I don't know if odors in the house may have triggered these allergies - I don't know how that all works. (We moved her into a different bedroom after her problems started last winter).

I have never really experienced what I would consider to be an allergic reaction to the odors in my house. I did notice that when we first moved in, I was always very congested. I think a certain amount of that is to be expected, with all the odors from the construction materials. Three years later, people still walk into the house and say "It smells so new." Well, it shouldn't after three years!!! Another thing I experienced right after moving in was that I would wake up in the middle of the night feeling the bed shaking just ever so slightly. I'd ask my husband if he felt it and he said no. It took a while to figure out that it was actually ME shaking. I talked to my doctor about it, and he seemed at a loss. He had me checked for diabetes (negative). Either it has stopped happening, or it just doesn't wake me up anymore. 

I am curious as to why you had an electronic air cleaner installed. Is that common where you live? It is not common here in Ohio. The reason I am asking is that I wonder if you have had sensitivities to materials/odors in the past. I would imagine while researching your own issue, you have come across lots of articles on multiple chemical sensitivity. I had several people come through the house (we had a lot of "experts" through before we finally found one who seems to know his stuff) that were trying to say that I may have multiple chemical sensitivity. Well, then, why do I not smell odors when visiting others' new houses? I even went back to our builder's model home and opened up the closets and sniffed them. No odor at all. Are you male or female? I ask because they say that females are much more sensitive to smells. My husband claims he cannot smell what I am smelling. Even some of the inspectors I had through the house claimed they could hardly smell anything.

I have never notice a connection between UV rays and humidity affecting the odor, but I will try to pay closer attention to that. May I ask how you went about having the paint and drywall tested? Did you contact the manufacturers, a private lab, or what?


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## Big Bob (Jul 27, 2007)

http://alcor.concordia.ca/~raojw/crd/essay/essay000262.html

whats in your attic?


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## earlofpeatrig (Aug 28, 2007)

*Reply to BettyCv*

BettyCv,

Thank you for your post. I've been out of town for the past week so I haven't been able to respond.

I've reread your recent posts and will respond in order.

We had an electronic air cleaner installed because the folks who sell the add-on's said it was a good idea. I wouldn't have done it if I had know that they created ozone. Lennox makes a comprehensive unit that I would have installed instead including UV lights that will kill mold particles in the air.

I've definately researched multiple chemical sensitivity. I would say that I have had sensitivity to it in the past but I could always leave. Now my home seems to be the problem causing me headaches (the kind that hurt one's head) and a teensy bit of respiratory irritation. Watery eyes as well.

I smell glue on occasion when I come into my home. None of my neighbors seem to have this problem. I'm male and I have a very strong sense of smell. The manufacturers tested the paint and the drywall. The builder wouldn't give me the results but said there were no problems.

Does the closet that smelled the worst backup to a bathroom? Just wondering if the concrete drywall in the bathroom might be permeating from the back.

You mentioned that the air quality expert suggested you seal the sump pump which is below the room that's below the smell room. Does the room below the smelly room have hardwood floors? Perhaps the smell is going up through a wall cavity and escaping?

You mentioned you had your carpets cleaned, we replaced our carpets and sealed the floors with safe seal before we had them put down. Still headaches.

We don't have yellowing of the drywall. 

Let me give a complete review of the situation for everyone reading and for any one else in the world that may have this problem.

In July of 2006, we moved into a brand newly constructed home. I had checked on the home many times during construction.

After about 2 weeks, I noticed a strange smell coming from my oldest son's bedroom. We moved him out of the room and called the gas company. The gas company came in with their tester and reported no gas. The smell was like sulphur. My wife said it smelled like bleach. The flue runs right next to that room so we had the HVAC installer come back and double check everything. He said it all looked good.

The very interesting thing about all this is that the smell got worse on sunny days. I'm still not sure if it's just the sunlight or the heat associated with the sunlight but I almost think that there is a direct correlation with the sun.

I went online and found this interesting article:
http://web.bsu.edu/ien/archives/2002/092602.htm
(For those who don't want to read the whole thing, it discusses bad paint and a smell it emits. The suggested remedy is repainting.)

I sent this article to the builder. The builder had the painter and the paint manufacturer come to the home. They smelled the smell and insisted that it wasn't the paint. I gave them a copy of the article and sent them on their way. They interestingly paid to have 2 rooms (the smell was now going on in 2 rooms) painted with a low-voc primer and low-voc paint. The sulfur smell was gone. That was probably in September when they repainted. (Periodically however, I smell a plastic smell in the rooms on sunny/hot days.)

Prior to painting, the builder opened up the drywall and looked inside the walls. They looked and smelled fine. The drywall had an almost sweet smell to it. (?)

The builder had some air quality tests done. Sulfur compounds, VOC, mold, formaldehyde. All came back negative. I performed a Radon test which came back negative.

That sulfur smell from the drywall got me thinking. A little research shows that when drywall breaks down, it gives off a sulfury smell. Interesting correlation.

We had the ducts cleaned - no improvement. 

So I have headaches. There seems to be a direct correlation between hot days and the level of my headaches. 

We have powerlines and a cell tower near our back yard. We have the electric company coming later in the month to test our levels of EMF near our home.

It seems to me that I get headaches sometimes when I'm standing outside in my front yard where there would be plenty of ventilation. I should mention that my exterior paint has a latexy smell. (Paint doesn't use real latex, so you can't get an latex reaction to paint.) Exterior paint could be the culprit. The soil could be the culprit. I seem to smell strong crawl space odors coming out of the vents. 

One of the closets had a chemically smell. I repainted the closet and haven't had a chemical smell since then. 

I think I mentioned that I can smell the glue from the wood products on occasion. The headaches don't seem to be related. 

I almost think that it could be a gas from the earth if it wasn't for those rooms smelling. Is it possible that a gas is the catalyst causing the drywall and other products to smell?

The bathroom/shower that everyone uses has a strange smell in it. Not a moldy smell but something obvious. Almost smells like plastic. I'm half tempted to rip out the drywall and see if replacing it makes a difference. 

I also found this technology interesting:
http://www.thermapure.com/index.php
(Heat your house to 140 degrees to burn off the VOC's, kill mold and other pests.) Not yet available in my area.

So I'm at a crossroads. I'm emotionally done with this issue. I'm about ready to move. I will lose some (a lot) of money if I do this because of market conditions. What I want to do, is to remediate the problem and stay here until the market get better.

I could repaint, I could redrywall, I could reroof (one lady I ready about got headaches during the day because of a gas coming off the roofing material), I could redo the siding. I could put in different cabinets. I could put in one of those radon systems in the basement. I could do a thermapure treatment. I could replace the insulation behind the drywall and in the attic. I could easily spend lot's of money that I don't have and still not fix the problem.

It seems reasonable that an air quality test should be able to determine what substance is in significant quantities is causing me headaches. I just don't think the experts involved have taken as analytical approach as necessary. I need someone who can really diagnose this problem correctly and someone who really cares about my health. 

I would like to have a list of everything that could be off gassing (mold and VOC). Then do the tests to look for all that stuff and the connect the dot's with the result. I can't believe that this is that complicated.

I've had the HVAC guy here today. Perhaps the best solution is to just exchange the air often enough to alleviate the problem. I want to fix the problem - not just remediate. 

It seems reasonable that someone else on this planet has had a similar experience to mine, but my web searches have proved unable to find anyone.

If anyone can provide me with some direction, please let me know.

Thanks for listening.


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## Murf58 (Oct 28, 2008)

I have it from a reliable source, a new home builder, that the problems people have been experienceing with odor from drywall in new homes are due to one single source. It is drwall that was imported from China. During the building boom of years ago, 2002-2005 building materials of all sorts were in short supply ie lumber cement & drywall. In order to fill the shortfall the US beagn heavily importing these materials from China. Just like the lead tainted toys, caustic baby food etc the unregulated manufacture of drywall is now a big health issue that nations Big Builders will not talk about as the cost to rectify all the homes built with this Chinese "Junk" drywall would be in the ten$ of billion$. I know of one such builder that is now disclosing of a possible health issue on certain homes that are emitting such odors that people in this blog are talking about. I would strongly urge anyone looking at buying a new home built in the last 4 - 5 years not to. When will America begin producing it own products again and put our people back to work?


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## BettyCv (Nov 12, 2006)

If you have anything more specific, such as manufacturers or links, please post them.

Thank you!


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## bjbatlanta (Jul 16, 2008)

Haven't heard of Chinese drywall problems.......I do know we import a good bit from Mexico. As far as "producing our own", we do. It takes a long time (couple of yrs.) to get a new plant online or upgrade an old one to produce more. With all of the natural disasters that have happened in recent years, the gypsum industry can't keep up with the demand. I've never come across "smelly" drywall personally, but I'm sure it could happen. I do recall a house years back that had been insulated and the insulation was giving off an odor. Buyer insisted it be replaced (I would have too). As has been stated, there are several reasons drywall can "yellow" including natural aging if it's not painted. One not mentioned could be hydraulic fluid from a leak on the boom truck that delivered and stocked the house. I've seen it many times. Don't know that it would cause a lasting smell though.


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## BettyCv (Nov 12, 2006)

bj,

Thank you for your thoughts. Was it cellulose insulation? I have wondered if that might be our problem.

Meant to add that the drywall had yellow corners almost from day 1, so it was not an aging issue. Dh visited the building site often, and never noticed the yellowing before it was taped and mudded. So again, I don't think it was something that was "on" the drywall before its installation.


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## bjbatlanta (Jul 16, 2008)

No, it was fiberglass........and as I recall some of it may have gotten wet (roof not complete or something like that) and may have been some of the cause. The older fiberglass used to have a lot of formaldehyde in it,I believe, which could have been another cause. I just remember it was a strong odor.


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## Murf58 (Oct 28, 2008)

*Drywall smell*

Not sure of the manufacturer. The builder is a national one and they refunded the buyers money in the last case. Thye are not replacing the dryway in that home but are rather choosing to disclose that there could be an issue related to the odor. The complaints they are hearing from others are similar to christina's in that they are experiencing respiratory problems so this is a real issue. It may have a tough time gaining national attention as the home building industry is already on the edge and an expose' like this would probably push them right over.


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## Wildie (Jul 23, 2008)

I had a problem with new paint 'gassing'! 

It was my own fault!

I was unhappy with the shade of some paint that I had tinted! I asked the paint sales person to add more tint.
She was reluctant, as it deviated from the manufacturers formula.
I insisted, adding that i wouldn't hold her responsible.
Much to my chagrin, after I painted, it kept on releasing an odour that was offensive.
Somehow, the driers in the paint failed to work, due to the unbalanced formula.
It took months for the paint to finally quit releasing these fumes. But, eventually it did dry!
I mention this, as it could be possible that improper mixing of paint can have unforeseen effects.


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## detroitMi (Oct 18, 2008)

what's behind the closet? is it a bathroom ?


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## Chinese Drywall (Dec 18, 2008)

Sounds like offgasing from Chinese Drywall. This can be toxic. Check the copper tubing in your A/C. Is it black/tarnished?


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## christina2341 (Oct 29, 2008)

Really???? Have you had this problem? If so, what state do you live in? Who built the home?

Earlofpeatrig,
Did you ever find out what the smell was coming from? What state do you live in and who is your builder? Have you been able to remedy the situation?

I would have an independent company come in and test for sulfur compounds.

Murf 58,
What is the name of the builder and what state was the home built in?


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## Lisamarie (May 20, 2009)

I had the same problem that you did , and still do...wanted to tell you about it, is yours resolved?


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## christina2341 (Oct 29, 2008)

No, I have a class action suit against the builder, manufacturer and distributors.


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## Lisamarie (May 20, 2009)

*drywall*

My house is 20 yrs old and I had it built in a development. Last yr I had my son's rm painted for the first time. For some reason a horrible odor came on. It got worse with the heat and windows open, better when the a/c was on. We took everything out of the rm. Cleaned the rug... There was not a reason for it. FINALLY figured out it was the McCormick ceiling paint, not wall paint BUT,my painter used the exact ceiling paint on my parents house with NO odor at all!?!! I had the air checked and it did have mod high VOC's. The paint chemist came to my house. The solution was to repaint with an oil based paint to cover the odor and then the laytex on top. I left on 12'by 12' area unpainted... it STILL smells there! That is on my to do list. Please let me know any findings or experiences you or others have had with this. A mystery. There is not much out there on Ghost Odors.


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## joe3534 (Nov 15, 2006)

*Chinese Drywall*

I'm attaching a link for you to read. This has been a huge problem in florida. Educate yourself with this information.
http://www.freep.com/article/20090521/NEWS15/90521093


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## Phuture (Mar 17, 2009)

how are you? it sounds to me like it's " drywall imported from china" i would follow up on the posted link pronto.


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## retro (Apr 1, 2008)

This post started in 2006. Im doubting it was foreign made dry wall. The original poster has not been back since 2007, so Im guessing she got it figured it out.:no:


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## Lisamarie (May 20, 2009)

Joe, thanks for the article. But my house was bulit almost 20 yrs ago. I assume with drywall made in the USA. Why the odor was activated my ceiling being painting is beyond me. Hope that covering the odor with oil based paint is safe.

I live in Ijamsville MD and the builder was Jay Associates who is now gone. The person who originally painted the house for the builder was the one who painted the ceiling 18 yrs later. He is a friend and very experienced. We were all dumbfounded as he used the same paint at my folk's house. Crazy or what?


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## dsq (Feb 7, 2009)

the Chinese defective/poisonous drywall was on ABC news recently as well as other media outlets.Google it.This one guy on abc was saying they would have to strip from his house all the drywall and plumbing and electrical that is ruined by the chemicals in the drywall.
Apparently after Katrina there was a huge shortage of drywall so they really ramped up the importation of this junk.
Also it was selling for 3$ vs 6$ for usa made drywall.Symptoms of sickness,nausea and cutlery tarnishing to black or something!They say 500 million sq ft of this china junk was sold here and that millions of homes are affected.Oh brother.

As for spraying your carpets with Teflon...Teflon is a huge carcinogen.Dont use teflon coated cookware or Teflon in any other form.Google it.


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## oakspi (May 28, 2010)

*Drywall problems in a new house*

Several weeks age I had two rooms textured. The drywall was old and established. After the texture was sprayed I could smell a vomit smell in the rooms textured. 

The contractor commented that the smell would go away after the walls were painted. I used "Kilz 2" and sealed in one of the rooms yesterday. The smell is still lingering in the room today.

The contractors apparently know about the problem of the smell from my experience. I have had walls textured before without the smell. 

I read recently about the foul smell with Chinese wallboard which became an issue in this country after Hurricane Katrina. Hopefully the contractors are not using Chinese tainted wallboard compound to texture with.


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## masterofall (May 27, 2010)

*drywall proplems new house*

No mention of what the smell is like just fowl. If its a rotten egg smell than the chinese drywall is probably the culpret as sulpher seems to be the problem


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## oakspi (May 28, 2010)

*Drywall problems in a new house*

I mentioned a vomit smell in the first sentence, I believe. It is that or perhaps a sour smell. I am hoping the sealer will get rid of the smell eventually.


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## wiz561 (Nov 11, 2008)

*stinky drywall*

Funny, I just saw that Consumerist had an article on this today...

http://consumerist.com/2010/05/this-is-where-stinky-drywall-comes-from.html


Hope this helps.


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## Lisamarie (May 20, 2009)

*one yr later*

It is May 2010 and I still have a faint "ghost" odor in rm where ceiling smelled from painting it with McCormick paint 2 yrs ago. After it was sealed with Kilz oil based and then repainted it was better, but STILL slightly there!
I could not get up the pg sent to me by Joe.


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