New theater smell??? Chemically

[bcrawfo2]

I'm 95% done with my basement theater (20ish x 22ish). I built new walls (rigid insulation, 2x4 walls, fiberglass insulation, then drywall). I did Delta-FL, OSB, then padding, carpet. Carpet has been in for about 3 months. I did a drop ceiling using Delta-FL. I have an ~72 sq inch return (sucking) and a 6" supply (blowing) ...I always get supply/return confused.
The theater stays closed off from the rest of the basement....and only gets air movement when the air-conditioner/furnace run.
My wife complains of a chemical smell when she's down there. I don't smell it. I have a much stronger stomach and I've already spent a lot of time working down here.

Any ideas on how to lessen this smell? I can run the fan for days on end. Any other ideas?

[Sonnie]

It will eventually go away, but in the meantime... good filtration and running that fan will help some. You could try something like Freebreeze... it works well with other odors on cloths and such.

[Mike P.]

A lot of building products are made with formaldeyhyde. The products will off gas the vapor for a while. Venting the room with fresh air will minimize the smell until the off gassing is done. This is assuming that formaldeyhyde is what your wife is smelling.

[tonyvdb]

Basements tend to be a bit musty smelling particularly if you have little to no airflow. Have you put down sealer on the concrete before you placed flooring on it? Allot of the smell can also be coming from the floor drain, you should put down one bucket of water about every two weeks to fill the trap that blocks sewer gas from coming back into the house.

[salvasol]

bcrawfo2 wrote:

...The theater stays closed off from the rest of the basement....and only gets air movement when the air-conditioner/furnace run...Any ideas on how to lessen this smell? I can run the fan for days on end. Any other ideas?

I think that smell will disapear ... I'm sure you have the theater closed to avoid dust coming into the room, Right??? ... it will help you to open the room so the odors will come out ...... and if you run the fan it will help more ....

After I finished my room, there was an odor ( it was the glue I used to install the carpet on the walls) ... I was always leaving the room closed, but thenm I decided to open it to help with the ventilation ...

[bcrawfo2]

Thanks everyone for the comments.
I'll try to run the fan for a LONG time. There are no drains in this area of the basement that need their traps filled.
I do keep the door closed (to keep the cats from sharing all their fur with our dark furniture). Maybe I'll work on a temporary screen door so I can keep it open.
Please keep any additional ideas coming.
Scott

[MatrixDweller]

Carpets are one of the worst outgassers of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Anything containing vinyl or other types of plastic is bad. The synthetic fibres in the carpet will tend to smell "new" for 1 to 6 months depending on the type of plastic and the amount of air flow. The delta FL is also plastic and could be out-gassing as well.

Other contributing factors would be any adhesives used. There is glue that binds OSB together and tends to smell pretty strong. If the OSB is glued to the Delta FL then there's another source of VOCs. Particle board is even worse as it uses more glue. You may have furniture down there made of it.

One of the interesting facts about the R2000 building standard for homes is the limiting of VOC producing components. An R2000 home is pretty air tight so you don't want toxic gases building up. If you visit an R2000 home you will see less carpet and/or natural fiber carpets.

BTW some of the gases that plastics give off have been listed as suspected carcinogens, and some have been proven carcinogens.

Spraying deodorants is just going to mask the problem. The ideal solution is to ventilate the room to the outside as much as possible for as long as possible. Put a fan in a window and leave the room open. The air should flow through the room and out the window. A large HEPA/ULPA air purifier is another option.