Expert: Bruce E. Johnson - 11/30/2008

Question
I read the 11/05/08 posting re: the drywall texture smell.  We are remodeling 2/3 of our upstairs due to water damage and related mold issues.  Our texture guy did have a hopper, and claims he always adds lemon dish soap to help with the smell (after all, "it only sat in his driveway a month!").  After 5 days it still smelled like a cross between bad feet and bad fish.  We had already started painting, as he said this would help.  After 8 gal primer, 9 gal latex, we gave up on the odor going away, so we remasked off and bought safety gear and srayed everything over again w/ Kilz oil based.  This has seemed to help, but it seems the odor has inbedded itself into all our linens, carpet, clothing, etc. in the other rooms adjacent to the project.  Will it ever totally go away, or am I looking at more mold issues?  Could I just be smelling the fabrics that need to be washed now? Anything more I should do?

Answer
Hi Kimberley, what do you have to lose?  I would clean everything that has absorbed that sour smell, air out the room and see what happens.  It could be that you have that smell ingrained in your mind now and even the slightest hint of it will not be tolerable.  If this is the case then you need to remove the offending material and redo it.  I have never used sour texture mainly for the reasons you state.  Texture mixes can sour overnight and if this mix was left for several days it was probably pretty ripe.  At this point, with all the paint you have put on the walls, I'm not too sure what you can do but tear everything down that has the offending odor.   I hope this information helps feel free to write again regarding this or other matters, sincerely bruce e johnson..bejohnsonconsulting.com