Full disclaimer, I don’t know anything construction really and this is not a project I am working on. Our rental unit is having the balcony redone right now, the flooring is pebbles embedded in cement/concrete; yesterday the contractors applied what they called a “sealer” and my god it smells! The whole apartment still smells so bad even 24 hours later. We asked the contractors about it and they told us it was “probably not toxic” and recommended we open our windows after they left and use fans to blow air out. We did as they suggested as the smell inside was so unbearable we have been considering leaving for a hotel, however this only made the smell worse as all but one window are directly over the balcony so we quickly shut them again. We’ve been running air purifiers with carbon filters and our two exhaust fans (kitchen and bathroom) but over 24 hours later and it still smells like someone has left their car running in a sealed garage or like manky old camping gear that has been left to rot in a storage shed. My partner is concerned we are breathing toxic fumes. Is that at all likely? Is it dangerous or does it just smell horrible? We have made attempts to contact our property manager and local health/safety authorities for advice but both are swamped due to COVID-19. Thank you for any feedback/advice. 🙏
ETA: The products used were Tremco Vulkem 350/351; safety datasheets for the products are here and here. It's Sunday night now, we spent the last two nights in a hotel, leaving the apartment to air out and when we returned the smell is still nauseatingly strong. Should we be concerned?
Best Answer
Get a canary if it dies you know you should not be there.
Seriously, some mixtures do release VOC’s (volatile organic compounds), and these are not good for you.
The adhesive in the pebble stone overlay I have used in the past is approved for indoor use but it stinks bad.
It takes about a week to off-gas and this is most likely what you are smelling. Keeping a positive pressure so the air is pushed out from that side of the house will help. I believe the stuff I used sets in 3-4 hours and is cured in 24 hours but stinks for about a week (it gets better as time goes on)
I would ask the contractor for the name of the bonding agent they are required by law to provide the safety data sheet used to be called MSDS (material safety datasheet) you should be able to find a document that provides any known hazards like VOC’s the hazard limit and all the information on the chemicals.
I would say if they were working without respirators you will be fine but I worked without respiratory protection around both asbestos and lead for ~30 years before the current recommendations for masking and isolation were made.