Older linoleum flooring can smell
An employee complained about a noticeable odor in the office
A small office space in the attic was fitted with linoleum flooring that was over ten years old. Shortly after spending time in the room, a new employee complained of headaches and a scratchy throat. For this reason, we wanted to examine the characteristics of the flooring more closely: Linoleum is often used as an alternative to synthetic flooring. Its components are natural materials like linseed oil, cork or wood flour, limestone powder, and resins. Newly installed linoleum can develop a characteristic odor due to the outgassing of residual substances. These volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, release in low concentrations over several weeks and are essentially vented off after that. However, as the flooring ages, additional odors can develop.
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Mold grew nearly overnight – Sylvia Bittner couldn’t believe her eyes when she moved the bed in the children’s room to one side. Within two weeks, a dark turf of mold had grown on the wallpaper from the base to a height of forty centimeters. Sylvia had only moved into the rented apartment on the second floor with her family in the summer. The realtor had told her nothing about a mold problem and the apartment had been freshly painted. In late November, mold growth came upon the residents out of the blue. Sylvia picked up the phone and reported the matter to the property manager. When after eight days there was still no remedy in sight, the worried mother of two asked the consumer advice center. The friendly lady on the phone advised her to record the damage with a camera and to put the property management in default in writing. The advicer recommended that the rent payment be made with reservations so that she could later assert claims for repayment. But Sylvia Bittner was not thinking about money at first – she was much more concerned about the health of her children.
