Where's that smell coming from

August 8, 2008 8:36 PM

My boyfriend just called to say his apartment smells like spray paint. He hasn't used spray paint. What gives?

He's been gone all day. The windows were shut. The A/C off. What could cause this? Should he be concerned? He lives on the second floor...if someone was spray painting outside, would that much smell seep into his place?

posted by Epsilon-minus semi moron to health & fitness (9 comments total)

Someone could have been spray painting in an adjacent apartment or in a utility room....have him open a window for ventilation and he should be fine. Really.
posted by messylissa at 9:04 PM on August 8, 2008

Possibly someone in the building had their tub refinished? The fumes from that are incredibly strong, and could permeate into other apartments.
posted by teg at 10:26 PM on August 8, 2008

In most apartments, the bathroom ventilation vents are all connected. That's why you can smell it when someone else is cooking -- or when they're painting, or when they're smoking, or burning incense, or...
posted by Class Goat at 10:35 PM on August 8, 2008

The last time I had a mystery solvent smell it was because I left the cap off a bottle of negative cleaner and the whole bottle evaporated.
posted by Matt Oneiros at 2:00 AM on August 9, 2008

Coolant leak from his fridge, perhaps?
posted by greatgefilte at 8:32 AM on August 9, 2008

Is it a tumor?

I'm feeding you a line on a silver platter here.
posted by Beardman at 12:38 PM on August 9, 2008

Can everyone else smell it too?
posted by -harlequin- at 1:15 PM on August 9, 2008

Teg might have it.

I've noticed this before in the complex I live in, it's always when someone has recently moved out, and it's either because they're putting in new carpet, or more than likely, refinishing their tub.

Very strong paint smell.
posted by mrhaydel at 7:59 PM on August 9, 2008

For what its worth, this happened to me last night and it turned out to be my router was slowly melting.
posted by thebrokenmuse at 4:23 AM on August 14, 2008