That's the plan, anyway, until I can get the smell to go away. Here are some supporting ideas.
The very fact that I can smell something has at least two positive aspects:
a) I can reliably smell something which is there.
b) Whatever is there is being outgassed. Such a process cannot go on forever, as there is a finite amount of out-gassable stuff.
Unfortunately, the worry is that while the process may not go on forever, it might go on for a long time, say, measured in years.* That seems unlikely, but since it could happen, it's a lingering fear. Along with that fear is the fear that the whole project will have to be scrapped, building torn down to the foundation and rebuilt, in order to ultimately eradicate the smell. So I'm out not only the $19,000 in structure construction costs, but the cost of demolition. Or perhaps if that is not affordable, I'd simply have to write off the total $25,000 in costs including slab. In which case, the building becomes a useless monument to my foolishness. And then there was all the time and worry I put into building it as well, time which could have been more fruitfully invested in some other project. (Is worry an investment, and worrying about one thing an opportunity wasted when there are so many other things one could be worried about? Actually, I sometimes see worries as a gift, all the better not to have to find other things more stressful to worry about.)
(*There would have to be some reservoir of chemical somewhere to keep the smell going for years. The most likely candidate for a problem like that would be the polyurethane foam, which is 6" or so thick in many places. I suspect it is no longer coming from the foam anyway, but I could be wrong.)
So that is the worry. The very assumed problem doesn't seem that likely. Though I don't know how or when, I feel it is likely I will ultimately conquer the chemical smell problem--and possibly be a better person for it. I might well have learned one of the keys to successful life in the future. All too often we humans ignore chemical smells or other poisons we ourselves have created. Assuming the smell is conquered, I will have a history for it, and likely a little understanding of it as well.
So that touches on one of many positive aspects of this experience:
1) I will learn something about smells and how to defeat them. This knowledge may be useful for me in the future and for others.
2) I have already learned things about cleaning walls and woodwork.
3) I will get exercise in the process of cleaning the inside.
4) I will have experiences to write about (such as right here) and talk to other people about.
*****
Now there are many issues, most of them I find quite interesting. One question is what the smell is made up of mostly, how many other chemical smells are there in addition to the most important one, and are there any other chemical vapors with health consequences? What building material(s) or process(es) contributed to the smell?
Another question: is the chemical smell coming from the surface of the walls, or from gaps around the edges of walls, the baseboard, french doors, window, A/C cavity?
Does the chemical smell pass through paint? Does it pass through grout or sealant? Does it pass through wall board?
Is the chemical smell attracted to things (such as the oil paint) which are not where it initially comes from (such as if it comes from under the baseboard because it leaks out from the walls, but gets attracted to things like the shelves because the smell has chemical or ionic attraction to them).
How much effect will a summer of outgassing have? How much effect will each stage of the cleaning process have. (This experience might help to localize the origin of the smell.)
If the smell persists after summer and after thorough cleaning of the walls and such, how much effect will a VOC filter have? I'm now thinking of waiting until at least September to get a VOC filter, in the hopes of outgassing as much as possible first, to keep that out of the 5-year carbon filter. If one filter doesn't solve the problem, I could return it in 30 days and try another.
******
Even if cleaning and months of time don't eliminate the problem, even if the VOC filter doesn't eliminate the problem, there are other things that can be done with the project:
1) Fulltime ventilation. I have resisted this because it would increase air conditioning cost, but possibly it could be done in a limited way so as not to increase air conditioning cost much. I already have two 3" diameter stainless steel tubes which I bought for ventilation purposes, and holes could easily be made in the walls for them by a good carpenter. The original plan for the building was for it to have controlled ventilation and NOT air conditioning, to rely on fans and thermal mass to maintain acceptible temperature. After mentally messing with the storage issues while renting a climate controlled storage unit, I decided fulltime climate control was a better idea because then you can put EVERYTHING somewhere, without thinking about how it would handle the heat or cold. There is probably a combination of A/C and ventilation that would, ultimately, have to work in eliminating smell, and most likely the A/C bill still wouldn't be that high, especially if I seek to maintain only "safe storage" temperatures (55-85 degrees F) and not comfortable living temperatures on a continuous basis. Note that I only plan to do fulltime ventilation if no VOC filter works, I consider the combination of a fully sealed room and VOC filter "normal" and part of a successful project if that elimates chemical gasses.
A cheap and immediate way to do fulltime ventilation: open the window a crack. I'm actually doing that today. I didn't open up the doors and windows because of nearby roofing work and a slight possibility of rain. With the window open only a crack, I don't think much rain will get in even in most serious thunderstorms. If there turns out to be a problem with that, I could attach a polycarbonate window sill (something I thought of a few months ago) to prevent water from damaging the window sill.
2) Limited Use. Even if all of the above were to do nothing about the smell, the building can still be used for full time storage of non-critical items (of which I have plenty), or critical items which have been sufficiently well sealed. And then, once and awhile, open the doors and use it for a party or project.
Actually, limited use is all I ever intended, and may be all I ever give this building anyway. But I really wanted this to be a desirable place to be, so it would be a disappointment if the building never meets that goal. But not a disaster that would have to be demolished and trucked away.
If it really were a disaster, a Love Canal that needs to be demolished and trucked away, then it's a discovery, something that can be told to others to avoid the same mistake. Even the worst disaster in this case wouldn't be too costly because it's just not that big. The worst of all would be serious health problems caused by the building...I also think that would be highly unlikely, particularly in the "limited use" scenario.
The very fact that I can smell something has at least two positive aspects:
a) I can reliably smell something which is there.
b) Whatever is there is being outgassed. Such a process cannot go on forever, as there is a finite amount of out-gassable stuff.
Unfortunately, the worry is that while the process may not go on forever, it might go on for a long time, say, measured in years.* That seems unlikely, but since it could happen, it's a lingering fear. Along with that fear is the fear that the whole project will have to be scrapped, building torn down to the foundation and rebuilt, in order to ultimately eradicate the smell. So I'm out not only the $19,000 in structure construction costs, but the cost of demolition. Or perhaps if that is not affordable, I'd simply have to write off the total $25,000 in costs including slab. In which case, the building becomes a useless monument to my foolishness. And then there was all the time and worry I put into building it as well, time which could have been more fruitfully invested in some other project. (Is worry an investment, and worrying about one thing an opportunity wasted when there are so many other things one could be worried about? Actually, I sometimes see worries as a gift, all the better not to have to find other things more stressful to worry about.)
(*There would have to be some reservoir of chemical somewhere to keep the smell going for years. The most likely candidate for a problem like that would be the polyurethane foam, which is 6" or so thick in many places. I suspect it is no longer coming from the foam anyway, but I could be wrong.)
So that is the worry. The very assumed problem doesn't seem that likely. Though I don't know how or when, I feel it is likely I will ultimately conquer the chemical smell problem--and possibly be a better person for it. I might well have learned one of the keys to successful life in the future. All too often we humans ignore chemical smells or other poisons we ourselves have created. Assuming the smell is conquered, I will have a history for it, and likely a little understanding of it as well.
So that touches on one of many positive aspects of this experience:
1) I will learn something about smells and how to defeat them. This knowledge may be useful for me in the future and for others.
2) I have already learned things about cleaning walls and woodwork.
3) I will get exercise in the process of cleaning the inside.
4) I will have experiences to write about (such as right here) and talk to other people about.
*****
Now there are many issues, most of them I find quite interesting. One question is what the smell is made up of mostly, how many other chemical smells are there in addition to the most important one, and are there any other chemical vapors with health consequences? What building material(s) or process(es) contributed to the smell?
Another question: is the chemical smell coming from the surface of the walls, or from gaps around the edges of walls, the baseboard, french doors, window, A/C cavity?
Does the chemical smell pass through paint? Does it pass through grout or sealant? Does it pass through wall board?
Is the chemical smell attracted to things (such as the oil paint) which are not where it initially comes from (such as if it comes from under the baseboard because it leaks out from the walls, but gets attracted to things like the shelves because the smell has chemical or ionic attraction to them).
How much effect will a summer of outgassing have? How much effect will each stage of the cleaning process have. (This experience might help to localize the origin of the smell.)
If the smell persists after summer and after thorough cleaning of the walls and such, how much effect will a VOC filter have? I'm now thinking of waiting until at least September to get a VOC filter, in the hopes of outgassing as much as possible first, to keep that out of the 5-year carbon filter. If one filter doesn't solve the problem, I could return it in 30 days and try another.
******
Even if cleaning and months of time don't eliminate the problem, even if the VOC filter doesn't eliminate the problem, there are other things that can be done with the project:
1) Fulltime ventilation. I have resisted this because it would increase air conditioning cost, but possibly it could be done in a limited way so as not to increase air conditioning cost much. I already have two 3" diameter stainless steel tubes which I bought for ventilation purposes, and holes could easily be made in the walls for them by a good carpenter. The original plan for the building was for it to have controlled ventilation and NOT air conditioning, to rely on fans and thermal mass to maintain acceptible temperature. After mentally messing with the storage issues while renting a climate controlled storage unit, I decided fulltime climate control was a better idea because then you can put EVERYTHING somewhere, without thinking about how it would handle the heat or cold. There is probably a combination of A/C and ventilation that would, ultimately, have to work in eliminating smell, and most likely the A/C bill still wouldn't be that high, especially if I seek to maintain only "safe storage" temperatures (55-85 degrees F) and not comfortable living temperatures on a continuous basis. Note that I only plan to do fulltime ventilation if no VOC filter works, I consider the combination of a fully sealed room and VOC filter "normal" and part of a successful project if that elimates chemical gasses.
A cheap and immediate way to do fulltime ventilation: open the window a crack. I'm actually doing that today. I didn't open up the doors and windows because of nearby roofing work and a slight possibility of rain. With the window open only a crack, I don't think much rain will get in even in most serious thunderstorms. If there turns out to be a problem with that, I could attach a polycarbonate window sill (something I thought of a few months ago) to prevent water from damaging the window sill.
2) Limited Use. Even if all of the above were to do nothing about the smell, the building can still be used for full time storage of non-critical items (of which I have plenty), or critical items which have been sufficiently well sealed. And then, once and awhile, open the doors and use it for a party or project.
Actually, limited use is all I ever intended, and may be all I ever give this building anyway. But I really wanted this to be a desirable place to be, so it would be a disappointment if the building never meets that goal. But not a disaster that would have to be demolished and trucked away.
If it really were a disaster, a Love Canal that needs to be demolished and trucked away, then it's a discovery, something that can be told to others to avoid the same mistake. Even the worst disaster in this case wouldn't be too costly because it's just not that big. The worst of all would be serious health problems caused by the building...I also think that would be highly unlikely, particularly in the "limited use" scenario.
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