How to improve air quality in 30 year old house?

Question

House has been vacant three years and we will be remodeling everything inside starting this week. The concern is it is very airtight and been locked up so long it smells stagnant. The windows have been opened for about 2-3 weeks and carpets and underlayment floorings been removed and I cleaned the whole home with baking soda and vinegar (to avoid headaches and dangerous chemicals) and it still smells badly. I have 2 months before moving in to let it air out but seems like cleaning and windows opened with fans is not helping. What else can I do? The entire house smells like a camper. What are safe effective ways to clean the air? Not cover it up - but actually clean it and remove old air?

Answer 1

switch to carrier

Answer 2

You can buy an air purifier and plug it in on low.  They do purify the air and it is a good investment  - can be used continually even after you move in.

If you could find some mint and lavender, fresh from a garden  make this natural pot-pourrie and leave little bowls of it throughout th house.

Answer 3

Do you have central air conditioning? If so close all windows and doors and change the intake filter. Spray some febreeze or like substance on new filter.  Let it run for a couple of days, if you can afford it, and that should take care of your problem. The circulation of the air to the filter to the outside will resolve the majority of your problem.

Answer 4

Make sure there's no mold in the house. A house that's locked up tight can breed mold pretty easily, especially if the A/C isn't run regularly to help maintain the humidity. Mold will definitely smell up the house.

If there's no mold, paint can go a long way to help conceal old smells. That musky smell soaks into the walls and floors and will continually radiate into the air. There are some paints and sealers on the market that will help seal the smell.

You can also try using a HEPA filter to try and clean the air, however HEPA may not help w/ the odor. Using a unit with a carbon pre-filter (or a carbon filter specifially for odors) may produce better results.

Answer 5

Dirty, sick, and stale air is recirculated through your home several times an hour by your furance or HVAC system.  A proper installed HypoGenic Home system with integrated submicronic filtration and UVC/UVV components will deliver clean, fresh and healthy air throughout your entire home.

UVC is short-wave radiation; it attacks the DNA of the cell. This wavelength’s primary uses are for the destruction of biological contaminants such as mould, bacteria and viruses. Tile Centre for Disease Control (CDC) recommends this method for destroying viruses such as tuberculosis.

UVV is primarily used for oxidation; this is the portion of the lamp that will destroy chemicals and odours such as cigarette smoke, VOCs, diesel fumes and formaldehyde.