RE: sideways odors

[Guest guest]

Barb: When air moves due to temperature differences (hot air rising, cold air sinking) a partial vacuum can be created in one portion of a room. This means that air must flow in to replace that which has risen or fallen. If the easiest route is from the walls and the interior of the walls are moldy, then the air will smell like mold. Sometimes air exchange occurs within the same enclosed space, i.e. colder air above is exchanged with warmer air below creating a vortex. (This is what happens in thunderstorms when very cold air aloft is exchanged with very warm air below, and can lead to tornadoes). Fortunately, a room is not likely to have such extremes of volume and temperatures and one may experience just a mild vortex. If air flows in from a moldy place to replace the air which is flowing out of a space, then the new air will smell moldy. Norm Gauss From: iequality [mailto:iequality ] On Behalf Of barb b wSent: Thursday, February 02, 2012 11:09 AMTo: iequality Subject: sideways odors Usually air moves up and down I know. Now with air sealing done in house there should be a minimum of that but on very damp days there is an area of central hallway upstairs that has slight sour smell. I noticed it same day at work in one area and yesterday I noticed it in courthouse entranceway. I don't see how it could be traveling down from attic in my house and also no mold or algae or water damage has ever been found up there during multiple projects including cleaning the entire attic out. Could the odor be moving sideways through the walls when wind blows? OR, does air move sideways to balance dry interior and damp exterior? House built in 1938 and signs of water leaks have been ceiling stains here and there, lathe and plaster walls and indoor air tests for mold did not show anything unusual.

[Guest guest]

Thanks Norm. Doesn't smell like mold to me, sour, maybe a small animal died or some other thing. Big trees hand over the house and squirrels etc scamper around but I really don't know there are so many different types of microbes, could be. I guess the search is on, on damp days anyway. One thing I learned the hard way is to not ignore odors. Prior to that lesson, I learned not to ignore noises in the house. Barb: When air moves due to temperature differences (hot air rising, cold air sinking) a partial vacuum can be created in one portion of a room. This means that air must flow in to replace that which has risen or fallen. If the easiest route is from the walls and the interior of the walls are moldy, then the air will smell like mold. Sometimes air exchange occurs within the same enclosed space, i.e. colder air above is exchanged with warmer air below creating a vortex. (This is what happens in thunderstorms when very cold air aloft is exchanged with very warm air below, and can lead to tornadoes). Fortunately, a room is not likely to have such extremes of volume and temperatures and one may experience just a mild

vortex. If air flows in from a moldy place to replace the air which is flowing out of a space, then the new air will smell moldy.