Thread: Help Please

Hello everyone, I was wondering if you guys and gals would mind if I posted my problem here to see if anyone has any ideas on what is making my wife and I sick in certain areas of our home? We have had a persistent cough since we moved into this home one year ago. A week after we closed on the house the woman who lived here for the past 2+ years passed away from pulmonary fibrosis that her husband said she had no knowledge of before she moved in. He said she also had a cough after she moved into this home.

There are two rooms on the first floor of our house that have a strange odor that after about ten minutes will irritate our throats and make us cough. The longer we stay in those rooms the longer the throat irritation will last, sometimes several days. One of the rooms is the family room that is quite open and attaches to a breakfast area that leads to the back patio. It also branches off to an open kitchen. This room is tiled and has a strange smell that I can't really describe but if I had to guess I would say there is something coming up from the slab below the tile. It seems a little humid even though the humidity in the room ranges from 45% to 55% depending on the outside. The other room is a downstairs bedroom that has new carpeting (9mos) over a bare slab. This room has a very strong odor that is definitely coming from the slab. I can also smell the same odor in both of the garages.

We bought a 4700 SqFt two story home last March in West Palm Beach FL that was built in 2006. I have had the drywall checked by several inspectors, contractors, and various other people and it is not Chinese drywall. I did find that the windows were leaking due to poor design since the manufacturer put all the screws on the outside frames of the windows and they were leaking from the screw holes and from the caulking that was cracking. This lead to a slight mold issue that was found on the back of the baseboards on the lower level so we had the drywall removed from all the outer walls of the lower level 3 feet up from the floor and re mediated. All the windows and cracks on the out side of the house have been sealed as well. This was completed in June 2011.

My question is, does anyone know of the proper people or company to contact to diagnose the problem? I have had two different companies test the air for VOC's and mold and everything has come back clean. I had two inspectors come out and say that they can smell the problem but have no idea what it is. I have been to many doctors over the past year and spending a lot of money trying to figure out what is causing this but no one can figure it out. My business partner bought an identical house 3 doors down from mine at the same time and his house does not have any of the symptoms that mine does except the window issue. My wife and I want to try to have kids this year and I am very scared to bring a child into this home until I find out what is going on. If anyone can give me some advice or help me diagnose the problem I would be forever grateful. I would be happy to send pictures or answer any questions.

Thank you for your time.
God Bless,
Chad

Originally Posted by Chad Williams

Hello everyone, I was wondering if you guys and gals would mind if I posted my problem here to see if anyone has any ideas on what is making my wife and I sick in certain areas of our home? We have had a persistent cough since we moved into this home one year ago. A week after we closed on the house the woman who lived here for the past 2+ years passed away from pulmonary fibrosis that her husband said she had no knowledge of before she moved in. He said she also had a cough after she moved into this home.

There are two rooms on the first floor of our house that have a strange odor that after about ten minutes will irritate our throats and make us cough. The longer we stay in those rooms the longer the throat irritation will last, sometimes several days. One of the rooms is the family room that is quite open and attaches to a breakfast area that leads to the back patio. It also branches off to an open kitchen. This room is tiled and has a strange smell that I can't really describe but if I had to guess I would say there is something coming up from the slab below the tile. It seems a little humid even though the humidity in the room ranges from 45% to 55% depending on the outside. The other room is a downstairs bedroom that has new carpeting (9mos) over a bare slab. This room has a very strong odor that is definitely coming from the slab. I can also smell the same odor in both of the garages.

We bought a 4700 SqFt two story home last March in West Palm Beach FL that was built in 2006. I have had the drywall checked by several inspectors, contractors, and various other people and it is not Chinese drywall. I did find that the windows were leaking due to poor design since the manufacturer put all the screws on the outside frames of the windows and they were leaking from the screw holes and from the caulking that was cracking. This lead to a slight mold issue that was found on the back of the baseboards on the lower level so we had the drywall removed from all the outer walls of the lower level 3 feet up from the floor and re mediated. All the windows and cracks on the out side of the house have been sealed as well. This was completed in June 2011.

My question is, does anyone know of the proper people or company to contact to diagnose the problem? I have had two different companies test the air for VOC's and mold and everything has come back clean. I had two inspectors come out and say that they can smell the problem but have no idea what it is. I have been to many doctors over the past year and spending a lot of money trying to figure out what is causing this but no one can figure it out. My business partner bought an identical house 3 doors down from mine at the same time and his house does not have any of the symptoms that mine does except the window issue. My wife and I want to try to have kids this year and I am very scared to bring a child into this home until I find out what is going on. If anyone can give me some advice or help me diagnose the problem I would be forever grateful. I would be happy to send pictures or answer any questions.

Thank you for your time.
God Bless,
Chad

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Professional Industrial Hygiene Services, Inc. Your Industrial Hygiene, and OSHA Compliance Specialists, Jacksonville, Fl. Risk Management Programs, Respiratory Protection.
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Chad,

PM me and I can give you the name of someone there who can probably find your problem, or he will know who to call. He and I used to do a lot of work together when I lived in South Florida, I was up in Jupiter, Palm Beach Gardens and that area all the time, he lives in that area and works the same area.

What was on the property prior to the house being built, is there any info on the property prior to the development being built?

Soil/air samples from beneath the slab maybe required.

Here is more info that may help you from a respected Forensic Industrial Hygienist - CaoimhÃ*n P. Connell

Forensic Applications Consulting Technologies, Inc. - Home