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The house is 3 years old and the irritation seems to be worst upstairs where there is carpet (downstairs is laminate wood). I pulled out the carpet in the spare bedroom, but my eyes still get irritated in it. I've never had this type of irritation before, and I don't have it in similar houses in my neighborhood. So, a couple questions...
1. Is there something in the building materials that could be causing this after 3 years? Or something that could have happened in production/storage of the materials to change their chemistry?
2. Is this normal? There seems to be an abnormally high amount of caked on drywall dust or whatever substance that is on the floors. I don't know if that is what is causing this, but I've never seen it before.
Most subfloor materials, including plywood, OSB, and particle board, are manufactured with glue that contains formaldehyde, a chemical that can cause allergic reactions in some people. The formaldehyde outgasses for many years, so it's possible this is what's causing your problems. Maybe a doctor could test you specifically for this allergy.
The caked on white stuff is a combination of drywall/spackle dust and paint overspray. It is not unusual to see a subfloor like that under carpet.
I see T&G OSB sub flooring. I see the type of heat register that suggests you have oil heat. The formaldehyde could be an issue in the flooring and many people can not tolerate eating oil odors though I don't know why. I did not read all 8 pages of your last thread 3 months ago. How did you make out with your visit to the Allergist? Did you give him clues? There are several thousand known allergens and everyone reacts differently to them. Do you seem to get better if you go away from home for a few days?
Ask the neighbors if they knew the people before you and have they ever mentioned that they were sick or at least had symptoms similar to yours. Good luck man.
maybe you have chemical sensitivity? (MCS) Have you ever lived in a home with natural gas heat before? fossil fuels can affect a person with it, along with a host of other things discussed here on this thread, like drywall and glue. Just because drywall isn't Chinese, doesn't mean anything to a person with chemical sensitivity. I know a builder on FB who is fighting for a grant to build a community in his state that is MCS safe. It's strange that only experience it in your home..but that could only be because you spend the majority of your time there. Maybe if you stayed in one of that builders other homes for a week or more, you'd experience the same as you did in your home?
Just to clarify desertsun, those registers are pretty common on all types of forced air systems. We have almost no oil heating systems in the Knoxville area, yet I see those type of registers all the time.
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