Family Room Smell Status Report

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Dogs Don’t Eat Pizza

May 9, 2016

Good morning! I hope everyone had a nice weekend and happy Mothers’ Day!

My family knows what I love - Mothers' Day - thediybungalow.com — My family knows what I love.

In case you missed it, in THIS POST and THIS POST I explained how we still have a lingering funky smell in our family room.

Over the weekend, I did some further research on what could be causing the smell in our family room, and I found two things:

(1) One flooring expert suggested that the flooring guys didn’t allow the stain to fully dry before putting on the poly finish and that could cause the stain to off-gas and smell.

and

(2) Several people used something called a (affiliate link ->) Lampe Berger after having their floors refinished, and any lingering smell from the stain and/or poly disappeared!

My thoughts on each point:

(1) This sounds like it might be something…because both the mold remediation guy and the duct cleaning guy – separately – said they thought they smelled stain in the family room, not mildew.

I don’t remember how long the guys took between staining and finishing the floor, but I can definitely find this out. I seem to recall it was at least 24 hours, but senility is a tricky thing so I’d better double check.

(2) I am buying a Lampe Berger today and will report back. It can’t hurt to try it, and for $30, it’s cheaper than ripping up the floors, right? Allegedly, this lamp disinfects the air. You don’t even have to use a fragrance with it; there’s a “so neutral” oil you can burn with no fragrance that just, according to the brand, cleans the air. I’m game to try it.

So, that’s where we are with this. What do you think? Have any of you used the Lampe Berger before? Did it work?

6 responses to “Family Room Smell Status Report”

Sandy

May 9, 2016

Paying close attention to this journey… Hope this will be a resolution for you!

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1. Karen Cooper
  
  May 11, 2016
  
  Thank you, Sandy. Me, too!
  
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Frances

May 10, 2016

I hope it works for you Karen. We have different products in the UK so I can’t comment on the Lampe Berger. I have personally found Citronella oil or candles to be good for ‘neutralising’ the smell of stain or varnish – when the weather has forced me to work on a project in the house rather than outside. I hope you soon have a sweet smelling family room again.

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1. Karen Cooper
  
  May 10, 2016
  
  Thank you, Frances! I’m trying it today, so we’ll see!!
  
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Karen

May 12, 2016

I’m very curious. Does the Lampe Berger get rid of the smell or is it something you have to use on a regular basis? Good luck! Hope it does the trick!

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1. Karen Cooper
  
  May 13, 2016
  
  According to the literature on the lamp, burning the lamp disinfects the air (because what you’re burning in the lamp is mostly alcohol), so it can be a one-time use thing. That said, what I read in my internet research on the lamp and using it to get rid of smells is that you should use it 2-3 times to fully get rid of the smell. I have used it three times – and I’m holding my proverbial breath (not literally, of course!). I’ll report back on Monday with the results! Fingers crossed!!
  
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