Bad Smell like Amonia, Stinging Eyes after Foam fill Insulation, help?

drunkmonkey

We recently got our walls filled with the foam insulation, one of the rooms now has a very bad smell that stings your eyes straight away, the windows need to be left open the whole time, it's been 2 weeks since the walls were filled, contacted the contractor and he has never heard of such a thing..

anybody any ideas, the room is unusable and the contractors don't seem to care..

Victor

Talk to the manufacturer.

drunkmonkey

they used urea-formaldehyde foam insulation i just found out, seems it's not used in a lot of countrys

JamesM

When they first started pumping foam insulation into cavity walls years ago, they sometimes got the mix wrong and the foam never went off. With proper computerised mixing equipment now, this should not happen. I'm not sure what kind of expert, but some kind of expert should check it out.
Jim.

drunkmonkey

How would you check the air quality in the house or test for gases, my eyes are still stinging after been in the room for about half an hour last night.

Victor

You might talk to the Health and Safety Authority www.hsa.ie and building control in your council.

CJhaughey

Formaldehyde is very dangerous stuff, Don't go into that room.
Seriously.

himeytheone

Hi, the Formaldehyde theory is very possible, as I am about to insulate my cavity walls I was going to use the foam like you but was advised against it because of the above chemical content and smells ???

Saruman

The urea part of urea-formaldehyde indicates the ammonia (piss) smell I would imagine but from the sounds of it they sold you a product discontinued for safety reasons.

items

Noticed that smell on a few sites after beads were blown in, the smell came from the glue used to bond them all together, smell went after a few days when glue set and rooms vented naturally.

Not sure if its same with your house, best ring the company.

CJhaughey

Ever used Formaldehyde? I have. The description given is exactly that of Formaldehyde fumes, eyes stinging etc.
Formaldehyde is a known Carcinogen it causes cancer!

RKQ

This is a terrible story and I hope there can be a good outcome. Please keep us updated.

I'd check to see if the installer or the product has an IAB or BBA cert. I'd contact the manufacturer. I'd also contact the Dept of the Envirnoment and my LA Building Control Officer. If its toxic then the HSA will be interested.

This shows the difficulty with all blow-in insulation - if it goes wrong how do you remove it from the cavity?

drunkmonkey

Won't have an update until the new year, last we head the installer was contacting the supplier of the chemicals. Mum dosn't want to go near the walls until after christmas as there's a good few people visiting. the sitting room is still unusable.
Anyone know of a device to test the air quality, it's very obvious in one room but i'm afraid it could be in others but not as pungent but still present.

icare_dou

Anyone can test the formaldhyde concentration in their home. Simply close off the room(s) of interest by closing the doors and windows. If you have forced air heat/cooling make sure to shut the vent. It is even better to put a piece of foil behind the vent for a seal.

The Sierra Club used passive formaldehyde badges from ACS for their initial screening of the FEMA trailers. The cost is $40 including lab analysis.

You simply open the pouch containing the badge and slide the outside cover down exposing a series of holes. Use the clip to attach the badge to something that will suspend it in the middle of the room and about 3 feet off the floor. Leave the room closing the door behind you. Wait 24-hours, re-enter the room, slip the outer cover up covering the holes, return to pouch and mail to lab. In a week you will have the formaldehyde concentration in that room.

If you want to test each room and try to identify the sources then hiring a Certified Industrial Hygienest using a direct read meter such as the Interscan is the way to go. This cost about $350.

What is in the room? It is possilble that the foam simply sealed up many air leaks now allowing the sources inside the room to accumulate. One family had problems after installing double pane windows. Turns out it was their furniture and fuzzy hangers. Their formaldehyde concentration increased from the 20's to 150 to 450 ppb depending on the room.