 Posted 12/14/2006 5:19:30 PM
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We bought a house last year and found out afterwards that there was a heating oil contamination from a leaking copper pipe that was buried in the concrete basement floor. The furnace had been gas-burning for years but an oil tank had remained, and leaked. Very strong oil odors were transported throughout the house via forced air heating ducts. Air quality testing proved the presence of VOCs.
The oil tank was removed. The contamination was excavated and new concrete was poured. The old and inefficient furncace was replaced with a high efficiency furnace (now direct vent). The ducts have been cleaned (although some of the "duct work" is merely wall space that serves as a "duct" (house built in 1939) and there could be some residual oil odor in the wood that the furnace air passes over). Most of the basement has been cleaned and repainted. A Santa Fe dehumidifier has been in use to reduce moisture.
It seemed like the problem was solved but now that winter is upon us again and the heat is on, we're getting some odors throughout the house that I think are associated with the oil contamination.
I'm wondering if there's a ventilation or air exhange system that could rid the basement of contaminated air and replace it with fresh air that would improve the quality of the air being distributed through the ducts.
I wonder if some pressure differential is allowing bad basement air to get into the ductwork or the furnace even though they have been well sealed and the furnace is direct vent.
In any case, I don't want the air in the basement to bad, whether it gets to the rest of the house or not. We have a 15 month old son who has been in the house since this problem started!
A local environmental clean up company did the testing and excavation and is supposed to be helping us now but they have been slow to respond to the latest issue.
HELP!
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Posted 1/2/2007 5:40:41 PM
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| During cold weather, the normal flow of air is as follows. The stack effect causes air from the living area to rise and exit the home via the attic. The negative pressure from air rising/exiting the home, sucks air from the basement and exterior walls. The negative pressure from the basement sucks air from outside and the earth. The air sucked from the earth concerns me. Pressurizing the basement with house air or exhausting the slab similar to radon mitigation may reduce air flow from beneath the slab. Solving this problem requires extensive investigation by knowledgable local technicians. If the source is the soil under the basement, pressurizing the basement with house air using the fan of the Santa Fe may reduce the problem. Also consider some outside fresh air to blend with house air. Another option could be depressurizing the slab similar to radon mitigation. Keep us posted, Ken.
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