Home Improvement

Building Materials -- What on Earth Are VOCs?

Building materials number in the hundreds, possibly even the thousands. Most Western country homes use wood, metal, roof tiles, sheetrock, paint, tiles, carpeting, vinyl, rock, and many more types of materials. To make your house last longer, it's best to find the highest quality you can for the money that you want to spend. Even if it's a small amount of something for a DIY project, getting the best you can will keep your project or house looking better for additional years. VOCs, in case you aren't familiar, mean Volatile Organic Compounds. They can be found in flooring, in paints, inside mobile homes and many other locations. Basically, they are smelly chemicals given off from something and when you smell them you know what they are. If you unpack a piece of furniture you can smell them on the wood or from packing materials. VOCs can be dangerous, especially to pregnant women and those sensitive to chemicals. At the least, they make you sneeze. They are found in bamboo flooring, laminate, paint and lots of other things. These days, manufacturers have to state on the box what levels of VOCs are in there. If they don't, it's best to steer clear. A lot of products state that they do not contain any, or low levels of, these VOCs.