New paint in bathroom smells of cheesy feet. It's grim.

[TootsieFrootsie]

My dh painted the bathroom as a surprise for us while I was away with the kids and now it smells of cheesy feet. I know paint has changed a lot in recent years but this is really foul. That's been three weeks now.

Does anyone know if this is normal or has something gone wrong?

Bump

We've painted just about everywhere in this house and that hasn't been a problem. What kind of paint did he use?

I did hear about that last year. I think the paint company said it is bringing out a smell from the plaster.

Was it Crown Emulsion?

AhHa, we ha a similair problem with Crown last month.

Painted DS's bedroom with Soft Linen and his room stank of amonia. He is 10 and at first I thought he had wet the bed, we even looked suspiciously at the dog. It gradually faded but I recently touched up an area that was chipped and the smell was there again.

www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=1737151#1737151

is it an old house? I'm thinking about traces of old paste or possibly even disemper (which has a very distinctive, unpleasant smell when damp, being made of boiled up dead horses feet)

Thank you Serin and Piglet for getting back to me. Yes it is Crown Emulsion. Yes it is an old house but had been very recently repainted before we moved in and there was only the nice fresh paint smell.

It's exactly like cheesy feet. And very strong. I will have a look at the link you have posted, Piglet.

Yes. It's definitely the paint. I don't know how much prep dh carried out on the wall's prior to painting.

The smell has not gotten any less in the last three weeks. When the sun heats the walls up, it's really, really bad.

What can I do to get rid of the smell? I'm happy to repaint but should I be putting on some kind of primer to seal the smell from the last coat of paint?

Oh and Arbitrary thanks for getting back to us too!

I saw about this on TV a little while ago, it was a big brand of paint and it stank once a room was painted...

That link was the best I've got.

the link suggests "if your present paint system is of good health and shows no signs of premature breakdown, you should apply an oil based undercoat then re-emulsion" which will seal in whatever the smell is behind the undercoat."

Zinsser make some specialist treatments that you wil find at a painter and decorator supply but not often in a DIY shop.

I've never had that so I can't speak from experience. With old walls that have been papered in the past, I like to spray with warm water, then scrape off the slime with a wide metal scraper, wipe off, repeat. Any trace of paste or glue will interfere with the paint's adhesion and may cause cracking and blistering.

Old distemper is often pretty flaky but you can do the same, it needs hot water as the hooves do not dissolve in cold. I found it impossible to get it off the ceilings in my first house, so had them lined.

Thank you PigletJohn. I'll see where I can get hold of Zinsser products.