Where the smell is coming from?

Mishomeister

We have recently moved in to a newly refurbished flat. We have also bought new furniture in to there.
There is unfortunately a strong smell coming of something. It is some kind of a chemical smell.
We are not sure what is smelling but it is causing us breathing difficulty.
Any one has any idea as of who we need to contact to establish what smells?

Thanks a lot

paddyrg

Did you notice the smell before you brought in the furniture? Can you move the furniture into the one room, give it 24h and see if the other rooms still smell?

Cheap imported furniture can have some pretty horrible chemicals (there was a thing some years back about them even burning skin), but maybe you've got good stuff and the odour is just the glosswork in the flat...

Basically, help yourselves by isolating the cause by judicious use of doors and windows and putting things into one room selectively!

Mishomeister

But is there any equipment which could establish the cause of smell? Or any company that deals with anything like this?

vacationgirl

If it is causing breathing difficulties I would contact the council asap

Mishomeister

vacationgirl wrote: »

If it is causing breathing difficulties I would contact the council asap

What kind of department in the council would deal with that?

vacationgirl

I have not encountered anything like this personally, but your property could be unsafe if you have difficulty in breathing.
I would speak to Environmental Services for advice.

SG27

Could be the drains? We often get a chemical smell from the drains we suspect when a neighbour pours white spirit down the drain.

Mishomeister

SG27 wrote: »

Could be the drains? We often get a chemical smell from the drains we suspect when a neighbour pours white spirit down the drain.

Wer live on the top floor so this is unlikely.

pc1271

Is it fishy? An electrical fault causing the plastic socket to heat up can cause a strong smell which is difficult to track down. We had it coming from a shower pull switch in the bathroom, I was convinced it was the drains for a couple of weeks until I got to the bottom of it. Replaced the switch and all was well.

muckybutt

Do you have any Gas appliances ? my first thought would be if you have - have they been serviced recently ?

because

The foam on new sofas can have a very strong chemical smell