Water | Swimming Pools
Garden bark dust and MCS
Question from tsim
My wife has extreme MCS, and is bothered by the dark red bark that a lot of people use. Is there a “safer” or “better” bark that we could suggest for our neighbors?
Debra’s Answer
Readers, any suggestions?
Air Conditioner Air Handler Mastik Problems
Question from Angelique
I should start by saying that I live in Phoenix, and it’s the summertime. Yesterday, the day they installed our new air conditioner/heat pump compressor and air handler, it was 112.
Debra – Do you have any advice for new air handler mastik fumes? Or do you know if new air handlers/ac units/heat pumps give off gluey/sealant-y/paint-y odors? (I really think we have a mastik problem.)
I thought I knew what getting a new air handler entailed – I handed the guys Gorilla Glue for the PVC pipe, told them to use my vaccum and rags to clean the closet and unit, and had them remove the felt lining from a section of the handler. (They said that the felt was useless for interior use, anyway; interior parts of the handler don’t need it.)
But I didn’t know that they use a type of mastik to seal the place where the handler meets our ducts! For all I know, the product they used was “low voc”; it actually didn’t have a strong odor, but the fumes give me headaches, and they are still lingering after 24 hours. (I am staying in the other part of the house, which has a different HVAC system. I have a safe place to sleep, but I can’t get into the kitchen.)
After they installed it, they tested it with heat and cold, then we ran it with AC and all the doors open (I know!) for thirty minutes. Then they left, and I put it on fan only with all the windows and doors open for hours. They said that air moving through the system would dry the mastik – skim dry in a few hours and totally dry in 24. I also know that heat helps things off-gas.
Since then the doors were shut and the AC has been on except for a short time this morning when I had everything open. (If the AC isn’t on on that side, the other side of the house has trouble cooling.)
Debra’s Answer
My husband says you are doing exactly the right thing, so continue until the odor bakes out.
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Bon Ami
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Coyuchi
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Cowgirl Creamery
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