You aren't getting fumes from exterior water proofing.

Aw. What seriously disappointing first & only response.

Yes, it definitely is fumes from the tar that was put on the outside of my building. It took me a week to figure it out. I did patch smell tests & had 4 other people confirm which patch the smell was coming from. Then I crawled in the dirt outside & smelled the base of my condo because this problem is making me a crazy person.

Ive ruled out CO & other gasses. That's all been tested via fire dept. I just didn't want to get into all this in my first post.

This smell makes me sick. Headaches, dizziness, nausea, muscle spasms. It gave my mom's dog a seizure. So... again, any suggestions please on how to eliminate these fumes & prevent them from continuing to leach through the wall.

Your better start making some phone calls. I don't know if you can find something to mask the odor. Kinda doubt it.

Yes that stuff has a smell. Sounds like there are some penetrations the smell is getting into the house. Unlikely leeching through the cinderblock. Perhaps from the rim joist, that is usually a leaky spot if not sealed. I guess try to make the house tight, dont know what else to say. At some point it should stop once it is done off gassing.

Might want to look into renting or maybe even buying an abatement purifier if it is an urgent health need. Sounds like it is making you sick so it may be worth it.

Contact the HOA, and get the waterproofing contractor out there.

I would use activated carbon to absorb the odor. It's mostly hydrocarbons which will stick to charcoal. You can get a powered filter unit or go get some granular activated charcoal like they use in fish tanks and lay out thin layers (1/4-1/2") in cookie sheets, flat cardboard boxes, etc. Slow but effective. It will help remove the constant supply of fumes as they are generated.

You could also rent an ozone generating unit which will destroy the stuff but there are two things to consider. It may take days/weeks before the source is exhausted. You may not want to rent one that long although a weekend rental may knock it down (pick it up Saturday morning, return Monday morning for one day rental fee!) and you can follow up with other methods. Also keep in mind ozone can cause headaches so keep the room sealed. It acts a bit like bleach so it can be hard on fabrics, carpet etc. if you run it a long time. It won't destroy them overnight but it's better as a fast heavy duty attack method. Ask the rental place about it.

Another thing you can try if you're CAREFUL is candles. They cycle the air through the flame and will burn up those hydrocarbons. If you're not IN the room be VERY careful and use only glass jar enclosed candles set on a flameproof surface like a ceramic coaster or plate. It sounds nutty but it works. Just don't burn down your house please.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

SAME HERE. IT IS MAKING ME SICK. WHAT CAN I DO?? THE WATERPROOFING TAR IS ON THE INSIDE OF THE BASEMENT WALL. STUCK TO IT IS A VERY THICK VINYL. I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO. I CAN'T LIVE LIKE THIS.

Can you try any of the suggestions in the post I made above?

Me too! OMG. I can't stay here if I can't fix it!

I paid for an environmental test. I came back consistent with the material used on the wall for waterproofing. I could get it sanded off???? Then what do I do about re-waterproofing??? The odor has been here all along when I moved in in April. I smelled it before I bought the house, but thought it would easily air out. It has not. I routinely open the bulkhead doors in the basement for the fumes to go outside. I CAN SMELL IT OUTSIDE. I am very sensitive to it.

I would like to send it to you. my email is: quinnellabella@aim.com

RESULTS THEY FLAGGED: ispropryl alcohol 300 and 1, 2 dichlorothane 3.4 Average for isopropyl alcohol 210 top acceptable number and 0.940 top acceptable level.

I have the windows and door open constantly and an air purifier in that room with a charcoal filter. THIS SMELL WILL NEVER DISSIPATE. IT MAKES ME ILL.

Deana, apologies for not visiting this thread. I'll send you an email and you can reply and attach the report.

Isopropyl alcohol is not terribly toxic but depending on the units, that could be rather high. The dichloroethane is not particularly good, I'm surprised that showed up.

Question: What does it smell like? You mentioned 'waterproofing tar'. Does it smell like tar? Paint? Solvents?

After looking at the report, there are a lot of different volatile organics there, but that's not unusual in a household. You might be shocked how many of those are in products you use every day. Hydrocarbons, chlorinated hydrocarbons, aromatic hydrocarbons.

A couple of observations. First, you might be able to smell some of those at these levels, but micrograms per cubic meter is really really low. I suspect that whatever you're smelling (still waiting on a detailed description of the odor) is not being detected in this analysis. Mainly because there are hundreds and hundreds of chemicals out there and this particular analysis only looks at certain classes, which by the way are the most toxic. Tarry odors that come from phenols and other types are not represented.

Second, as you said they're all below the PA state residential limits except for isopropyl alcohol and dichloroethane. Those standards are based on long term exposure, like 20-30 years or even an entire lifetime depending on what PA chose for inputs. Those levels are unlikely to cause increased disease (cancer etc.) in a population over a long period of time. They do not guarantee you won't have headaches and hate the smell - even if they covered what you're actually smelling, which I doubt, as I said.

It will not last forever. I hope you can win the waiting game. Try some additional tactics as described in this thread. As it gets cold you're going to have to close windows, so you'll need other lines of attack.

Thank you for your response. The AC guy thought he was smelling creosote and ask where my furnace was, which I don't have. I have an air handler up in the attic. I had all the ductwork cleaned last week. Not much was in there. When I first smelled this odor back in April when I bought the house, it smelled like "a swimming pool" to me. Above this tar waterproofing on the outside of the house (because this is in the basement below the stairs) is a 1987 central air conditioner that still runs. I suspected they had water leaking from that unit at some point..because the copper pipes go into the closet and because when I removed the mulch from around the air conditioning unit outside THE MULCH SMELLED OF THE ODOR THAT I AM DETECTING. 3 Air conditioning repairmen later, and they all said the unit is not leaking and is running fine with no cost out of my pocket except for the service call. The windows are open every day and the bulkhead doors too. I am guessing it will not dissipate. I can smell it in my clothing if I leave my laundry to hang there near the washer. I would like to paint over this dry-feeling tar with something like a KILZ ODOR BLOCKER, but I am not sure which one I should use. Sadly, if I cannot overcome this I will literally have to sell the house. I have also removed the drop ceiling tiles in that area and the insulation- that ALL smelled of this odor. I will just have to cover it up, I guess. Any ideas what I can use? The Baxter Group out of Chambersburg, PA said they could sand the tar off the wall in January. Not sure I want to remove the waterproofing tar material, though, without a back up plan. And after all this, WHAT IF it is not even the tar being the culprit sickening odor? LOL OMG. Thank you for your information! Stay safe, Sir.