We recently had soy foam insulation applied to our dining rom and living room wall and a garage wall. We had situation where the original siding of the house on the garage level was not properly secured to the framing and there was air coming from outside the house getting trapped between the wall directly above it (dining room/living room) causing the sheetrock or dry wall to smell. We removed the sheet rock and insulation. There was no mold or any rodent infestation but the wood was old and smelled.

We can’t replace the wood siding because our home is right up against another building (typical San Francisco) so the contractor first applied a sealant (used for homes that had been in fires) and then applied foam insulation to act as a barrier, seal the gaps and to secure the frame work. It has only been 3 days but the smell is terrible. We are ventilating as much as we can but feel that we just traded one terrible smell for another.

The foam installation guy was not very reassuring. It wasn’t particularly humid the day it was applied although a warm day for SF, 81 degrees. The foam insulation guy was recommended by our contractor. He has used him before.

We are really worried that we just got ourselves into a huge mess and might have to remove the insulation. We have put off the dry wall installation for a few days until the smell abates.

Any advice?