Paints and Glade Plug-ins (help)

[noodles123]

So I am moving and the house that I will be living in was built in the 1800s. That having been said, it was recently remodeled inside and when I toured it, there were apple-cinnamon glade plugins all over. I told them they would need to be removed prior to me agreeing to live there etc. Well, a week before October 4th, they were removed but the house still smells like them.

There is also a bit of a "new" smell which I attribute to paint...It isn't overwhelming, but when you enter, there is a bit of a cinnamon smell and in the kitchen, you can kind of smell paint (night like a new gymnasium smell, but a bit chemical).

Here are the paint types used, as well as the timeline. I am worried about off-gassing and I had planned to move her in this weekend, but now I am scared to do so...

Walls- latex paint
all doors (inside) oil-based (except the recently painted kitchen door which is latex)
fireplace mantel- oil-based

All doors (oil) were painted over a year ago, as was the mantel (also oil).
Bathroom door was stained about 3-4 months ago.
Upstairs walls were painted in January (8 months ago).
The most recently painted object is the kitchen door (latex) and that would have been about a month ago.

I was told that the paint cans are still downstairs and that they list the exact VOC content, but I don't have access to that until I go back there later today...

1. How worried do I need to be about the Glade plug-in residuals? They have been out for over a month but I can still smell them slightly. I do plan to wash the walls (where I can reach) with Dawn and water, but I have my doubts and I know that the ceiling will have absorbed some of that odor....and it cannot be washed.

2. I know it is hard to know without knowing the exact paint used etc, but how long should I worry about the paint off-gassing? I believe that at least most of the paint used was low VOC, but obviously not "no VOC" if the VOCs are listed on the cans.....
People have surely moved into newly painted homes with parrots before, but I am nervous....

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

OH- and I have been running box fans in the windows to try to circulate the air (one blowing in, one blowing out, and windows open in every room) but it doesn't seem to make much of a difference...Also will be washing the curtains and have been running the fans/blower when I am at the house....

I am wondering if I remove the kitchen door and place it in the basement if that would reduce the smell that I am noticing in that room (as it was most recently painted) but I am sort of freaking out because we DO have to move in soon...

 

[ravvlet]

Congratulations on your new house. My dad is a paint contractor and my brother is a district manager at Sherwin Williams so maybe I can help you with the paint bit!

From what I understand, only white paint that isn’t tinted is generally truly 100% VOC free. The smell should not take more than a week to clear out so I’m not sure that the smell is definitely the paint. If they used a scented cleaner on the carpet or floors I find sometimes they have a chemical like after odor, perhaps it’s that? You’re doing all the right things otherwise, maybe throw a HEPA filter into the room that smells the worst.

I’ve noticed with old houses sometimes the wood cabinets in the kitchen also have a funky chemical smell. Maybe sniff around and make sure it’s definitely the door. Perhaps the paint didn’t cure?

 

[Laurasea]

Congratulations.
I would buy the expensive filters for the heat/ac unit, and run the AC that seems to clean the air the best. Then throw it out and get a new one before you move in. I don't know if box of baking soda spread around would help absorb the odors??

 

[noodles123]

Thanks guys--- trying to figure it all out. The paint smell is kind of like a very faint sharpie-esk smell...but only when you are within a foot or so of the door---I've read that off-gassing can go on for months, but thankfully, most of the stuff has sat for months. I need to get rid of the Glade smell though....

I have bowls of white vinegar around and I am running the blower---Guess I could switch out the filter etc...Ugh...I hope there is an end in sight. I have an air filter there but it's in the basement and the filter needs to be ordered so it's been on the back burner, but I need to do that too.

 

[Kiwibird]

Honestly, I’d be more concerned about the odors from the plug ins and any kind of cleaning chemicals used prior to moving in than modern indoor paints, which if they have any smell at all, dissipate very quickly. Chemical residue odor and “scents”, on the other hand, are far more insidious. Our condo reeked of what I assume was carpet cleaner (as nothing else about it was very clean) for quite some time after we bought it. I can still (3 years later and having replaced 75% of the floors with hard flooring) catch a faint chemically smell when first walking in sometimes. As for those awful “scented” products, can still smell whatever fabreez like product the prior owner sprayed in my husbands car 2 years after he bought it.

We run multiple air purifiers around our place, one in every room, rated for over the square footage of the room. If you really want to get odors out, I’ve heard running an ozone generator can do that but you would HAVE to do that before you moved in as ozone itself in higher concentrations is harmful to birds and humans, but it’s something that once aired out is gone easily enough. Honestly, if I was moving into an apple cinnamon scented home with an over tone of chemicals, I probably would buy the ozone generator and hurry up and get the process started. People think I’m nuts, but I have such serious concerns about artificial scents, more than even chemical odors. Cleaning chemicals smell bad and are perceived as dangerous, thus people tend not to overuse or misuse them, but those scented things are “good” smelling chemical death, I’m sure of it and people spray and burn and whatever other delivery method that crap everywhere in concentrations that are probably worse for you than sniffing every chemical in the cleaning aisle straight.

 

[ravvlet]

I spoke with my dad and he agrees that it really should not be the paint, and most commercial brands for residential use are low VOC now. Did they redo the kitchen or anything similar? Maybe some kind of glue or epoxy? We lived in a place that had what honestly had to be cedar cabinets or something, because every time you opened one there was this weird odor. Fortunately we didn’t have birds at the time but it drove me nuts!

Check the p trap under the sink and garbage disposal if there is one. Ballast failures and HVAC issues can also cause a sharpie-like or burning plastic smell, so check anything electrical like lights and vents near the door and see if the smell is stronger there. I’m not sure if you are renting or if you purchased - if you own the home and had an inspection done HVAC and electric issues would have been noted on your inspection report.

 

[Laurasea]

Have you moved in yet??????

 

[noodles123]

Nope lol! ARGH....
The saga continues....
I am still trying to find a balance on the air-quality issue. Got 2 new purifiers in addition to a really expensive/large/nice one that I recently purchased. The 2 new, smaller ones seem to smell a bit like plastic, which is making me wonder if I need to return them and swap them out before move-in....which was supposed to have happened already.

 

[bill_e]

It's likely that the 1800's house is not very tight so there should be good fresh air exchange. I live in a big, drafty 1700's house. We actually use glade plug ins, scented candles etc as well as normal cleaning supplies....we just don't use them near the bird's location and have been for over 42 years. I would worry if the house was small and tight but I've ever lived in one of those.

This is not advise, just my situation as an example.