Something causing allergy symptoms

[bob haller]

se plug up.   I'm thinking there must be some kind of detection kit or se rvice that would sample the room air.  Any ideas would be appreciated.

any kind and seems to be coming from the floor.  No new furniture, paint , fabric, etc, that might cause this.

ut first guess is always mold or mildew.  Other sides of walls are all fi ne.  Crawl space is underneath but nearly impossible to get to for a chub by feller like myself.

send small thin person to check crawl space.ny gtter or downspoy issues in that area? hows crawlspace ventilation?

mold can make you very ill, professional testing will be costly

[Guv Bob]

I found a corner in the house that makes my eyes burn and swell up and nose plug up. I'm thinking there must be some kind of detection kit or service that would sample the room air. Any ideas would be appreciated.

I have cleaned the walls and floor and no better. There is no smell of any kind and seems to be coming from the floor. No new furniture, paint, fabric, etc, that might cause this.

I can't think of what kind of water leaks could have been in that area, but first guess is always mold or mildew. Other sides of walls are all fine. Crawl space is underneath but nearly impossible to get to for a chubby feller like myself.

Bob

[hrhofmann]

se plug up.   I'm thinking there must be some kind of detection kit or se rvice that would sample the room air.  Any ideas would be appreciated.

any kind and seems to be coming from the floor.  No new furniture, paint , fabric, etc, that might cause this.

ut first guess is always mold or mildew.  Other sides of walls are all fi ne.  Crawl space is underneath but nearly impossible to get to for a chub by feller like myself.

What kind of heat? If hot air, all parts of the house should be equally bad. If not hot air, are there any connections to the outside, like a stove hood vent or holes in the wall where pipes or electric outlets go thru?

[trader4]

nose plug up.   I'm thinking there must be some kind of detection kit or service that would sample the room air.  Any ideas would be appreciated.

of any kind and seems to be coming from the floor.  No new furniture, pai nt, fabric, etc, that might cause this.

but first guess is always mold or mildew.  Other sides of walls are all fine.  Crawl space is underneath but nearly impossible to get to for a ch ubby feller like myself.

One possibility is mold. They sell DIY mold test kits that you leave exposed to the air then send in to be tested. I think I saw them at HD or Lowes. That might be a cheap first step. Don't know how well they work, accuracy, etc. I'm sure some googling for air testing will produce results. Also must be some outfits that do more extensive testing in the yellow pages.

[Robert Macy]

se plug up.   I'm thinking there must be some kind of detection kit or se rvice that would sample the room air.  Any ideas would be appreciated.

Sorry, the nose is atill around 1000 times better than any electronic smell sense [I think that's still true, maybe the instrumentation has gotten better, but, I wouldn't hold my breath.]

[Robert Macy]

se plug up.   I'm thinking there must be some kind of detection kit or se rvice that would sample the room air.  Any ideas would be appreciated.

any kind and seems to be coming from the floor.  No new furniture, paint , fabric, etc, that might cause this.

ut first guess is always mold or mildew.  Other sides of walls are all fi ne.  Crawl space is underneath but nearly impossible to get to for a chub by feller like myself.

forgot to mention. the corner 'may' be only an 'accumulation' area. the true source could be elsewhere.

Plus, since you have alergies anyway, get an electrostatic very slow air flow air cleaner and place in that corner, The air cleaner will remove irriants and the slight amount of ozone may be enough to kill the source.. Anway, you need one ayway. Oreck makes a small portable [expensive!] electrostatic air cleaner that's easy to live with.

[Guv Bob]

Thanks for all the great ideas and help. Really appreciate everyone taking the time to post. I tried to respond to each of you folks below.... Keep 'em coming! I have to put off checking this out until the weekend but will be sure and post any new info or cause that I find.

Bob

send small thin person to check crawl space.ny gtter or downspoy issues in that area? hows crawlspace ventilation?

** I'm in dry S Calif - very little rain, good drainage, etc. Crawlspace ventilation is good all around

Any plants in the room?

** None in the house or near windows/doors

What kind of heat? If hot air, all parts of the house should be equally bad. If not hot air, are there any connections to the outside, like a stove hood vent or holes in the wall where pipes or electric outlets go thru?

** Gas heat, but furnace gas supply valve turned off since Feb 2010 due to warm winters. No circulation room to room to speak of. Problem is strictly in one part of the house.

One possibility is mold. They sell DIY mold test kits that you leave exposed to the air then send in to be tested. I think I saw them at HD or Lowes. That might be a cheap first step. Don't know how well they work, accuracy, etc. I'm sure some googling for air testing will produce results. Also must be some outfits that do more extensive testing in the yellow pages.

** Sounds like a good idea - has anyone ever tried these? I'm always suspicious that these type of tests would always pick up enough stray spores show a positive. Or if it was negative, it could be upwind from mold and not pick it up.

forgot to mention. the corner 'may' be only an 'accumulation' area. the true source could be elsewhere.

** Good point - will check out behind furniture, etc

Plus, since you have alergies anyway, get an electrostatic very slow air flow air cleaner and place in that corner, The air cleaner will remove irriants and the slight amount of ozone may be enough to kill the source.. Anway, you need one ayway. Oreck makes a small portable [expensive!] electrostatic air cleaner that's easy to live with.

** Allergies are only in June-July. Never this time of the year. Smell is definitely not any type of pollen, and has been here at least since December.

[Robert Macy]

king the time to post.  I tried to respond to each of you folks below....  Keep 'em coming!  I have to put off checking this out until the weeke nd but will be sure and post any new info or cause that I find.

definitely not any type of pollen, and has been here at least since Decemb er.

I keep going back to the electrostatic air cleaner. That will clear virus sized molecules out of the air. Not just for pollen. Again, you have allergies, therefore you should REMOVE any source of allergens. You have no idea the potential medical problems that can be triggered by continual exposure to allergens. One should always set up their living space to NEVER trigger the body's allergic reaction. That timing of seasonal allergies, sounds a little like 'hay fever' symptoms; many people find relief by eating local honey.

I apologize ahead of time for insulting you with this potential source: dust mites eating dander and in their greed overeating/ exploding and then creating a dried protein is a VERY common form of allergen. Recent airplane trip? That will bring them into your home big time. Found out the hard way after one 'itchy' trip on American Airlines. I solved our problem by lightly spraying around our house with Raid's House and Garden. Seemed to kill the source , permanently.

[trader4]

taking the time to post.  I tried to respond to each of you folks below.. ..  Keep 'em coming!  I have to put off checking this out until the wee kend but will be sure and post any new info or cause that I find.

is definitely not any type of pollen, and has been here at least since Dece mber.

By my logic, I'd want to identify what exactly is causing the problem, if at all possible, before deciding on the solution. If he has some kind of toxic mold growing under the house, he should find it and eliminate it, not rely on an filter to try to reduce it in the air.

Similarly, if it's some chemical contaminant, like for example, houses that had problems from formaldehyde from insulation, then an electronic air cleaner isn't going to remove it.

[Guv Bob]

taking the time to post. I tried to respond to each of you folks below.... Keep 'em coming! I have to put off checking this out until the weekend but will be sure and post any new info or cause that I find.

Smell is definitely not any type of pollen, and has been here at least since December.

By my logic, I'd want to identify what exactly is causing the problem, if at all possible, before deciding on the solution. If he has some kind of toxic mold growing under the house, he should find it and eliminate it, not rely on an filter to try to reduce it in the air.

Similarly, if it's some chemical contaminant, like for example, houses that had problems from formaldehyde from insulation, then an electronic air cleaner isn't going to remove it.

[Robert Macy]

[e-mail]...

aking the time to post. I tried to respond to each of you folks below.... K eep 'em coming! I have to put off checking this out until the weekend but w ill be sure and post any new info or cause that I find.

l is definitely not any type of pollen, and has been here at least since De cember.

the house.  And definitely am not insulted by suggesting mites or anythin g else.  All kinds of little critters can be picked up from anywhere.

just remembered! when our house roof started to fail [not enough to SEE the wetness, but enough to wet stuff] we started experiencing similar eye watering in areas around our home in California, just during the rainy times, for about two weeks after any rain.

We should have caught the hint when during colder times our skin would dry out and we would have to run our humidifier, after years of slow deterioration [the roof, not us] and until just before we moved, we found we were comfortable no matter how much the drying heaters ran. That's how much 'dampness' was coming through the roof. No visible water damage just dampness.

You say this has started? could be roof, or walls, letting moisture through creating slight amounts of opportunistic molds. Repaint, reroof.

Check outside the corner of your house and let us know how sealed against ground backsplashing that wall section is. Probably next to lawn areas, not concrete - just a guess.

[Nelly W]

plug up. I'm thinking there must be some kind of detection kit or service that would sample the room air. Any ideas would be appreciated.

Apologies that I didn't read the thread beyond this point. But AFAIK the human nose can't detect really detect just spores. Not any more than they can detect, say, pollen.

[Robert Macy]

[e-mail]

nose plug up.   I'm thinking there must be some kind of detection kit or service that would sample the room air.  Any ideas would be appreciated.

Note I said 'smell sense" not 'pollen detector' or 'spore detector'

If you want particle counters, go to a clean room instrumentation supply house. Buy something that monitors the air quality in a Class

100 clean room, or worse. Set up the instrument in several areas and log the count. Compare. Some instrumentation logs size of the particle, [I believe] most do not.

[Guv Bob]

and nose plug up. I'm thinking there must be some kind of detection kit or service that would sample the room air. Any ideas would be appreciated.

electronic

I think he's saying that in general you can smell something before you can measure it a lot of the time.