ᐅ Strong odor when turning down the underfloor heating system

Created on: 12 Jan 2023 22:24

Hello,
we have the following problem. In our newly built house (moved in 6/22), a sweet/sour slightly pungent odor, similar to “stale sweat,” has appeared over the past few weeks. I would not describe it as chemical or musty. We have now observed that it comes from the bedroom and only affects this room. We locate it along the floor near the exterior wall. We turned the heating fully on to see what would happen. The odor disappeared. When we turned the heating back down, the smell returned. Sometimes it feels like a real “cloud” of odor rises upwards toward the windowsill. It seems likely that the smell is coming from the heating system. Has anyone had a similar problem or any ideas? We would appreciate any advice! We have not yet installed baseboards. Ventilating makes it temporarily better. There are no laundry baskets or similar items in the room.
Floor: underfloor heating, screed, PE foil, cork parquet.
Thank you in advance!!

halmi13 Jan 2023 09:27

At least remove the furniture first and then carefully lift the floor. If I understand correctly, it is a floating floor, right?

JulesF160413 Jan 2023 09:37

halmi schrieb:

At least remove the furniture first and then carefully lift the floor, since it’s floating installation if I understood correctly, right?

Exactly, it’s a floating floor. We have already moved all the furniture except the bed. Lifting it will be difficult because it was installed before the doors were fitted. We will probably have to take part of it out and check underneath.

halmi13 Jan 2023 09:42

I would try to slightly lift the floor somewhere in a corner along the wall and then use something like a tissue to get underneath. The goal is just to find out if it is wet under the membrane at all.

Alternatively, you could also try to lift 2-3 parquet boards at one spot.

JulesF160413 Jan 2023 20:26

#10

halmi schrieb:

I would try to slightly lift the floor in a corner along the wall and then use, for example, a tissue to see if I can slip it underneath. The goal is just to check if it’s wet at all under the vapor barrier.

Or you could also unclip 2-3 parquet floorboards in one spot.

We already did that. It doesn’t feel noticeably wet or damp… I’m adding some pictures.