Odd smell coming from corner of slab floor that we cant figure out

[chrissytina]

We have a 9 year old brick home(there is some siding at the very top), we have lived here 3 years. Very clean home and have had no issues with it until now. all the sudden we noticed a very strange chemical like smell in our master bedroom. It is not anywhere else in the house Not even in the connected master bath. this has been going on now for a couple weeks. We started noticing our throats severely hurting, bad headaches, my husband's skin started itching, some people's eyes would water, other would be dry. We have narrowed down the smell to the far corner of the room, under the Floor baseboard. Both corners of the room here are exterior brick walls. We even pulled the carpet and padding up and there is nothing there. We are on a concrete slab so there is no basement. We called the gas company and they said it not sewer or gas related and nothing goes under the room there. We had air test done and only thing it came up with was possibly a microcarbon bit that can be found in household cleaners. We had thermal imaging and nothing is smoldering even though it doesn't smell like that. It does t smell like any dead animals either. We can kinda smell it in the corner outside so we had the soil tested for basic things and came up with nothing. We even dug a hole to see if there was water and there isn't. It is a mystery. The only thing we have not done is tear down the drywall. We have lived here 3 years and never had an issue. We completely moved everything out of that room and now live in another room. We are airing it out by opening Windows all day and we are trying everything. I appreciate any help with this on what to do. We are praying it goes away but its been 2 weeks and then smell is still there in the corner. Its like it goes away and then Comes back. It's so frustrating. We just want things to get back to normal. It's almost like a vapor of some sorts. Its odd and no one can pinpoint it or has smelled it before. alao the carpet in the corner is cut short so maybe we are smelling something more because of that. We aired out for 20 hours and in just a few hours it is back. Odd Please help.

[HayZee518]

has anyone checked for green or black mold?

[mrcaptainbob]

Any chance of the older style particle/chip board being used as under layment? Although it was banned because of formaldehyde, there are still sheets of it around. Gives off a horrid vapor that affects much as you describe....

[chrissytina]

Any chance of the older style particle/chip board being used as under layment? Although it was banned because of formaldehyde, there are still sheets of it around. Gives off a horrid vapor that affects much as you describe....

Thanks for the reply. How wouldthabe able to find that out? The house is only 9 years old. Thanks.

[chrissytina]

Thanks for the reply. We did have it tested for elevated moisture levels that would indicate mold and we did not have any.

[chrissytina]

I will say it started about a week after the lawn was treated, but we have had it treated many times in the past, however it did seem they caused a few burn spots in the yard. We think it may be related to that? Maybe kilz in the corner and then caulking in the corner??

[HayZee518]

KILZ is white shellac with isopropryl alcohol as a solvent. Shellac is made from bug pupae - could be related to the odor.

[chrissytina]

No, what I'm saying is to use Kilz odorless spray to help rid the smell as it helps with odors. Then use caulking in that corner so it will stop the vapor from coming up in that corner.

[HayZee518]

I didn' tlook but does anyone sell a formaldehyde detection kit? if it is the problem then at least you'll be headed in the right direction/ I do know that OSB made in China and sheetrock also made in China used formaldehyde as a process solvent.