Advice please - Valspar emulsion left house smelling of cat urine

We have no sun at the moment and have had the windows shut all day; you could detect a slight odour. I've just opened the windows to air the room and the smell is now so strong it takes your breath away .
Fresh air reacts with the paint to make it even worse.

We live are in North Wiltshire.

 

Your name gave that away.

 

Seems like Valspar use a standard we are not to blame reply ! If this is a global issue then why don't all other paints have this problem ? They do accept that you will not use their paint in future . I will not be using it ever .

 

Haven't been in touch with valspar yet but you have inspired me. I will ask them to reimburse me for new paint.

 

Did you see my later post when I said that I wrote back to them, saying that I was unhappy with their response as they were still implying that the fault lay with my walls, when the problem only began after I used their paint. This is the email that they then sent me. Hope this helps. There must be many people out there who are still trying to work out what the smell is coming from.

Thank you for your email.

We would like to cover the cost of a different brand of paint if you do not wish to use our paint on top of the Zinsser BIN sealer/primer. Please send us your receipt for this.

We can also cover the cost of the BIN sealer/primer upon proof of receipt so please send us these and we can reimburse you for this as well.

please also send us a quote for the remedial work and we can review this with management.

 

Well I have also replied (2nd time!!)
I had previously said I wouldn't accept their offer of vouchers too. There was no way I'd be using Valspar again. I also mentioned about the 'frustrating' line being rather an understatement considering the work involved!! They completely ignored my request for compensation for redecorating ( maybe depends who you get as I've had responses from different people). I mentioned this in the 2nd e-mail. They also had the cheek to say that if I was experiencing headaches I should go to the Dr!!!! They are beyond belief and extremely uncaring and patronising!! I have once again said that I expect them to cover my costs.. let's see if I get a better response tomorrow..

 

Good idea. We need this to go viral on social media to prevent it happening to others!!

 

I take it Valspar is really cheap and a new brand? Never came across it thankfully

 

Well done you!!! A good example to copy, thank you

 

Hi, I am new here. I was wondering if anyone had tried anything else to get rid of the smell. I painted my spare bedroom about 3 months ago in valspar paint that was mixed to order. I had newly plastered walls which were then lining papered and painted. Shortly after I started smelling cat urine, I was actually about to 're home my cat! I have tried everything thinking it was cat pee. After stumbling upon this thread I dashed upstairs to smell my walls and low and behold they stink especially if the sun is on them or the Windows are open. I have tried washing the walls in baking soda and white vinegar when I thought it was the cat but this has done nothing. Reading through your posts I feel quite despondent, I really don't have the time or money to 're do the whole room ( I have a hubby who was left badly disabled after a work accident and a daughter with lung disease and my mother is coming to stay in that room next week after breast cancer surgery) incidentally my daughter's chest has been awful for a while, could it be the paint. Bacteria? Do these people understand germ theory, bacteria is everywhere on everything at all times

 

I am so sorry for your situation. I myself am in the thick of trying to sort the situation. I don't believe anything other that sealing the walls with sealant will cure the smell. The one recommended by Valspar is Zinsser BIN, and then repainting. If you read through the posts here, you will see that various of us have been up the wall with this. I myself have health problems and have been fighting to get the full cost of paint and redecorating. I advise you to phone Citizens Advice and speak to them. They report it automatically and refer it on so it will help us all if as many as possible do that. Their advice is to first go to the shop where it was bought from. Take any proof that you can, such as receipt or even credit card payment proof, or paint tin. They may offer a refund and money for the sealant, but in your case I would also consider getting a decorator's quote and taking that also. If you explain your situation, they may be helpful. Also, keep watching this thread for any new developments. You could try contacting Valspar, but many people are getting limited satisfaction from that and they try to say that it a problem with your walls. This is a poor response.

 

Thank you so much for your reply. As I had the paint mixed specially it has all the details on a label on the can. My walls were freshly plastered then lining papered using an anti fungal wallpaper paste before painting and I blind coated the plaster before I papered it. I am pretty sure it's nothing I have done

 

I had the smae generic response from valspar as others have, on top of the faulty paint cost and zinsser BIN I am also asking for the cost of the works being carried out. I don't have the time to deal with this myself

 

Wow, 1 in 100,000. Assuming one in 100 affected customers posts to the net, and having seen at least 50 reports, they must have 500 million customers in the UK...

 

Yes, 500 million customers who are still trying to find the source of the smell of cat pee, or who are getting rid of their poor cats, or calling the gas board our unnecessarily and whose hard work has been wasted and who Valspar are making money from and fobbing off with the idea that it is our 'substrate' that is at fault!!!

 

Anyone know a solicitor (or firm) who might be interested in taking collective redress action against Valspar ?
We want:

• Full refund of Valspar paints
• Cost of Zinsser Bin sealant
• Cost of applying sealant
• cost of redecorating with new paint

 

And buying uv lights to find out where the cat pee is !!!

 

And compensation for distress plus redecorating/painters cost as mine was done by professionals!

 

We are having the exact same problem. Room stinks of gas. I emailed Valspar who tried to say I hadn't prepared the walls correctly before painting. These walls were freshly plastered and are for our babies nursery who is due in 7 weeks. Valspar have said its bacteria and reacts with heat. They've asked for the batch number and will offer us vouchers for further paint. They said we have to put the alkaline sealer on then repaint. There is no way we can repaint as have a carpet being put down on tuesday and furniture on thursday. Im really concerned that this could effect our health and unborn babies health. Ive been having headaches but not sure if it's from this. Has anyone got any positive comments of the smell fading or how they have got rid of it?