New home has ammonia smell, where can this be coming from?

Question

We have no pets. The smell is confined to 2nd floor and no smell in the attic. New paint and flooring is about 6 wks old. Smell started about 2 wks ago, about 3 days after blown-in (cellulose) insulation was added to the attic, however there is no smell in the attic. The strongest odor is in the game room that has glue down linoleum flooring and a small refrigerator-these are the only differences from the other 2nd floor rooms. The 2nd floor has its own HVAC units. HVAC contractor states there are no components in the system that would give off an ammonia smell. Plumber states the smell is not that of sewage or dead animal. All drain traps have been filled with water. Where can this be coming from? Are there services that can help?

Answer 1

IS it possible that dogs or cats were in the house before you moved in? Squirrels, coons, anything like that? Urine will smell that way. Just a Guess...

Answer 2

Some types of wet applied blown-in cellulose wall insulation contain ammonia and under certain conditions can off-gas ammonia for some time.......Up to several weeks.  Attic  insulation often does not have ammonia in it.  The odor should decrase over time, but the use of a filter containing activated carbon can help reduce the odor.

Answer 3

see ammonia is made from urea which is present in urine.when urea is mixed with water it forms carban dioxide and ammonia gas.

there is one thing.. refrigerators use ammonia in their tanks to refrigerate things.becuase ammonia's thermodynamic properties make endothermic reactions which makes things cold.So it maybe you're refrigerator having a leak(if its a very old model).

ammonia is also used as disinfectant so it may have been used to disinfect you're home.

Answer 4

I just had new tile and carpet installed, the glue from the carpet smells that way. If the linoleum used that same type of glue, that is probably the culprit. The only thing that helps is time. We had to leave our windows open for about a week to get rid of the smell.