Momma D's Blog: Will the House Blow Up and I Never Knew That!

Gas. At least that is what we smelled. Believe it or not, I was actually in the kitchen making something without chocolate. Amazing. While I was sauteeing the onions and peppers together (don't get too excited, it was all going in the crockpot) I noticed a pretty strong gas smell as in 'my eyes were watering'. It got a little better and since I had two men in the house (plumber and contractor), I asked if they could smell it and got an affirmative. When I was finished cooking, it was all gone, although I noted that it was stronger upstairs. Then I remembered that I had smelled that gas when I was drying the clothes on Sunday. Hmmm. Could we have an issue at the gas line?

Not to be deterred, my husband and I still used two burners and the oven for dinner. I know, I know. But he likes explosions. Besides, he said he would cook if I ran and got a couple of things from the corner store. I looked like a dweeb, but not being entirely stupid, I agreed. Of course, I did run into someone I knew and hadn't seen for a while and she looked fab. Just sayin'.

So the gas smell about knocked me out when I walked back in from my little trip. I got a headache and opened a couple of windows. That helped, but we decided that a call to the gas company in the morning was in order. This would be on the condition that we hadn't blown up during the night, of course.

I called them this morning and found out that anytime you smell gas, it is considered an emergency. I did not know that. This includes while you are cooking with an open flame or using a gas dryer (which also has said open flame). The gas guy would arrive as soon as possible. I went down to the treadmill to do my time since I couldn't leave the house. Plus, it isn't gas powered so I figured that I was safe for a bit. Sure enough, right at cool down (great timing), my doorbell rang and the gas guy started asking me if it smelled like lighter fluid or gas. ??? Was I supposed to know the difference? I haven't smelled lighter fluid since maybe 1974. I said gas. He asked what they were doing to the house and I showed him the bathroom. He turned on the oven and said, yes that is lighter fluid smell. Oops.

Now here is the best part. Apparently, when you are doing anything that involves petroleum products (like say, thinset, paint, grout, primer) some particles will hang around and then be pushed throughout the house when you have on your AC. An open flame will burn off the particles and they in turn will emit an odor that can become toxic to breathe. And (get ready), it will take a couple of weeks for all of that stuff to cure. So just opening the windows for a day won't really solve the problem. No way are we keeping the house open for 2 weeks. We do live in Iowa and it is August.

So, you may ask, what is the solution? We were advised to just open as many windows as possible when using the stove/oven. Then there was a big thing about how to keep the smell off of the clothes from the dryer that I think I understood but could in no way explain here. Apparently, walking around smelling like lighter fluid is not a good thing.

Come on, no way you knew this stuff, right? I didn't. No one told us this might happen. Weird. Oh and we don't need to worry about an explosion because the fumes aren't flammable. At least, that is what he said....

Day 11

Back to business. No, the bathroom isn't finished and probably won't be until Thursday. Heavy sigh. However, things are being put into the room, rather than being taken out and I am taking this as a good sign. There was a do over on a defective tile, but other than that, we were good. Paint is on, sink and faucet installed and shower fixtures installed. This stuff really does take a while.

Now, I am not going to let you see more than a few pieces. I'm such a tease. Enjoy.