Smelling ceiling?

[Sandygal1]

Hi there - I just bought a fixer condo and I'm running into some odd issues. In one bedroom, I've noticed a faint but odd sweet smell that almost seems like urine. I've gone over everything with a black light and couldn't find anything in the walls or carpet. I had the carpet cleaned and since then I can't smell anything in the carpet, but I still smell the odor when I walk in the room. I realized that the popcorn ceiling was painted over and it's the only room in the house that has a painted ceiling. I got up on a ladder and did a sniff test, and sure enough, the ceiling smells in comparison to other rooms.

Has anyone ever dealt with this before? I'm baffled as to how the ceiling would absorb and re-emit those odors (I've never smoked pot but I wonder if it could be from something like that). I checked with Home Depot and for a quick fix they recommended an oil-based primer to block the smell and then new ceiling paint. The previous paint job was actually pretty good and I found it difficult to try to scrape anything off the ceiling so I'm hoping to leave the popcorn up.

Does anyone else have any suggestions or past similar issues?

[HayZee518]

Zissner's "kilz" is an alcohol based non glossy primer that's used to mask odors in fire jobs. It could work for you. Some latex paints use formadehyde as a vehicle and also emit an ammonia smell.

[Sandygal1]

I bought the Zinsser BIN primer. Per the product website they recommends it for odors. Home Depot said the KILZ brand wasn't as effective...?

[KSever]

Zinsser and Kilz are two different products and companies. We used to use Kilz for sealing out the dog and cat urine smells on the concrete and wood after removing the stained carpet in apartments but the smell would eventually come back. When I left the apartment industry we were using Zinsser BIN as it is thicker and last longer. I would also be very careful putting any paint on a popcorn ceiling as it could soak in the popcorn and make the texture fall off, put the paint on in very thin coats and let it dry in between coats (this I know from experience).

I actually used Zinsser BIN primer tinted to my exterior house paint for primer on my 1885 Victorian last year and it covered the bare wood in one coat that had sat for two years in the weather before I had time to paint outside.

Just my opinion

[HUP]

For the walls, oil based / alkyd paint is an excellent choice for priming. You may also want to gently clean inside the floor vents. I have the same smell issue that is localized in one area of a room. I believe the floorboards underneath the carpeted area is where my smell seems to be coming from.