# Sour paint smell



## AJY (Jan 22, 2014)

We just painted with brand new, but gone-bad NO VOC paint (Dunn Edwards in a dark teal). It went on smelling like good paint but when it dried it has a chemical sour smell like a cross between formaldehyde and vomit. We live in the desert (Sedona) so humidity is not an issue.  Headaches and nausea are not fun. We sealed all offending walls with 2 coats of sealer primer (BIN Advanced) and another top coat of paint, as suggested by paint company, and it did not fix the smelly problem.  Then we got desperate. We have burned two boxes of nag champa incense, as well as cinnamon candles for days. We have washed the walls down with backing soda.... vinegar.... and natures miracle. Everything we do alters the smell, but does not clear it up.  Other rooms we painted with lighter tan color of same paint are perfect.  The windows have been open for days with exhaust fans going, and we are being held prisoner in the only warm room that doesn't stink. Once the room warms up the smell comes back.   After reading dozens of blogs on this issue and hearing over and over that paint company's do not own up to having a fix to this bad no-VOC paint issue, it looks like we may to have to tear down dry wall!   HELP .... Any suggestions out there would be helpful before I rip my home apart


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## chrisn (Jan 22, 2014)

try regular Bin( not the advanced) If that does not work, ripping out the drywall comes next. The paint co should be help accountable if ,in fact, it was sold as new paint.


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## nealtw (Jan 22, 2014)

I just borrowed this from ( E D Paint), Good Luck.

Rob   |  Friday, 25 January 2013 at 9:46 pm 
Here is how you get rid of the smell really fast! I do mold remediation, mold removal, abatement, chemical clean ups, fungi, termites so this is my line of work.

Smells caused by paint are a lot more common in cheaper paints or oil based paints. It can also be caused by the primer. Regardless, if the walls are already painted, there is no way to stop the smell other than applying a quality primer. One primer I know of is called &#8220;Anabec 250&#8243;. It is not cheap, but it is mold resistant, absorbs chemicals, moisture, odors, anything you can think of. If you apply this as a primer underneath paints, you will NEVER have a lingering odor. It is perfectly safe, and very effective. However, it is not cheap.


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## kok328 (Jan 22, 2014)

I've had the same problem recently and fortunately, the smell went away after the paint cured.
Maybe heat the room and the paint cure and wait 48hrs or maybe my paint wasn't as bad as what you used.
I believe I saw somewhere where they now have scented paints.


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## nealtw (Jan 22, 2014)

At the E D Paint site they had 50 people with problems with B.M. paint and other paints, some have removed drywall.


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## bud16415 (Jan 24, 2014)

I don&#8217;t know about your offensive odor but the short sale house we bought last year was closed up for several years and we viewed it in the dead of winter with no heat in the building and temps below freezing and we could smell a slight cat urine smell. We figured old nasty carpets and such were holding it. Well when warm weather came and we were doing our work the smell persisted and grew much worse and we were contemplating ripping the plaster out as the smell seemed to come from the plaster and or the wood floors. We tried a lot of things and an old timer kept saying the only thing that will work is good old varnish resisted trying it for quite a while and finally gave in and painted the walls everyplace we saw staining and the whole bottom 2 feet. There was a laundry room that was quite bad and I did that whole room except the ceiling. 

Once the strong varnish smell went away so did the cat urine smell. 

I can&#8217;t say this will help with your smell but it sure worked for me on one of the nastiest smells I have run across. I agree the paint company should make it right.


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## Anabec (Jun 16, 2014)

At Anabec we make cleaner & coatings that are designed for the mold remediation professional.  But have never made a product named Anabec 250, nor do we make a paint that takes care of this type of paint odor. This is a question we get routinely and have no idea where it came from.  Anabec 250 is not a real product.  

Please look at our website www.anabec.com to see what it is we actually make, if that is of interest to you let us know.  If you find someone selling something with that please let us know as it would be a trademark infringement

Thanks,
Anabec, Inc.


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## nealtw (Jun 16, 2014)

Anabec said:


> At Anabec we make cleaner & coatings that are designed for the mold remediation professional.  But have never made a product named Anabec 250, nor do we make a paint that takes care of this type of paint odor. This is a question we get routinely and have no idea where it came from.  Anabec 250 is not a real product.
> 
> Please look at our website www.anabec.com to see what it is we actually make, if that is of interest to you let us know.  If you find someone selling something with that please let us know as it would be a trademark infringement
> 
> ...



Thanks for the input, I had just borrowed that from another site.


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## slownsteady (Jun 16, 2014)

Hey Anabec, now that you've signed up, stick around and share your expertise. Everyone here will appreciate it.


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## carnuck (Jun 17, 2014)

I would heat the room as high as you can (without setting fire to any other portion of the house) and hold the temp for 24 hours.


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## DFBonnett (Jun 18, 2014)

OP,
I'm not familiar with BIN Advanced as a sealer but I have yet to have oil based  Cover Stain fail me in similar situations.


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## ratjeev (Dec 10, 2014)

To AJY, did you ever find a resolution to your odor issue? I joined this website seeking a solution to a similar problem. I painted my bedroom a grayish color using BM Ben paint & primer in one and when I finished painting, the room smelled like natural gas for days. I've used BM Ben in other rooms of the house over the past months and years with no issues at all. Not the greatest paint but gets the job done. I painted over the Ben with 2 coats of Behr and it masked some of the odor but the underlying smell is still present. Then another 2 coats of BM Regal which is probably what I should've bought in the beginning.I don't know what to do at this point. Try BIN shellac?


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## PrecisionPainting (Sep 6, 2015)

ratjeev said:


> To AJY, did you ever find a resolution to your odor issue? I joined this website seeking a solution to a similar problem. I painted my bedroom a grayish color using BM Ben paint & primer in one and when I finished painting, the room smelled like natural gas for days. I've used BM Ben in other rooms of the house over the past months and years with no issues at all. Not the greatest paint but gets the job done. I painted over the Ben with 2 coats of Behr and it masked some of the odor but the underlying smell is still present. Then another 2 coats of BM Regal which is probably what I should've bought in the beginning.I don't know what to do at this point. Try BIN shellac?



Im also curios as well.


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## chrisn (Sep 6, 2015)

PrecisionPainting said:


> Im also curios as well.



almost 2 years old, you might be waiting awhile


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## dawilder1171 (Nov 10, 2017)

I once repainted a closet and had this problem. It lasted for months. We finally figured out that we had gotten paint on the back of the closet light bulb.  After two or three minutes with the light on, the smell was strong enough to waft through the first floor (small house). Once we put in a new bulb, problem was gone. 

Not sure if this would be helpful to anyone now.  Just thought I'd mention it in case it might help anyone.


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