Air Filter for New Home Offgassing?

[chelsea]

If you were moving into a brand new home, would you feel it was necessary and worth it to buy an air filter to help minimize the off gassing that is sure to happen? If so, how can you be sure to get an air filter that is actually going to make a difference? Are there certain things to look for? Does anyone here have one? Any recommendations from anyone?
Thanks in advance!

[mamacat]

How soon will you be moving in past finished home time? Materials now tend to be lower VOC and safer than in past.Is there carpet involved? Opening windows if temps allow can really help speed the process and using negative ion type air cleaners or those salt lamps and that kind of thing.I keep hearing pros and cons about being in rooms at same time of negative ion air cleaners but also having a fan going at same time can help.If you do a google search there are plants supposed to help clean the air of chemicals like spider plants and ferns

[Soliloquy]

I would get lots of plants. They would be far more effective.

[chelsea]

Thanks! Wow, I`m super surprised! I didn`t realize that plants would be that effective with chemicals, but that`s super awesome if it`s true! So spider plants and ferns specifically? Any other plants come to mind, in case I can`t find either of those ones? Those ones aren`t prone to attracting and harboring bugs, are they? I`m paranoid of plants since buying one at IKEA for my previous apartment 12 years ago and it was full of worm-bugs that found their way over to my pots and pans drawer where they died. *Gag!*

That is actually interesting, because my paternal grandparents always had spider plants and ferns and my grandpa lived into his early-mid 90`s, and my grandma is still alive and is now almost 94. Not that it is the whole reason, of course, but I`m sure the chemical-removing effect didn`t hurt them!

And in answer to the questions, yes there is carpet in both bedrooms. The kitchen and living area is Vinyl Comfort Plank (looks like hardwood but isn`t... I know it`s bad for off gassing but it cost a bit less and they said it is more durable with children than hardwood) and the bathrooms are tile. I will be moving in pretty much as soon as they finish it, as far as I`m aware. And the weather around now is usually snow and freezing but it has been absolutely beautiful this year so open windows will be fine (and not a safety concern as we are on the top floor.)

Sorry for the garbled *apostrophes*... apostrophe should have quote marks around it but my computer is doing that wonky thing where it won`t do apostrophes or quote marks, and it feels too formal to use two words constantly instead of apostrophes (it is instead of it`s) so the crazy looking marks it will be. And I also can`t do question marks but I copied and pasted one from a reply. So thanks for the question mark.

---------- Post added at 03:03 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:00 AM ----------

...oh and there will be paint, and new furniture to add to the crappy air quality. I hear that IKEA uses particle board and that particle board is horrible but that`s going to make up at least a few of the furniture pieces in my home.

[Katigre]

Oh ugh with all of that I would expect the majority of the off-gassing to take the first 3 months, and then the first 24-36 months will take care of the worst of the rest. IIRC offgassing looks like an exponential curve - it's highest in the beginning then trails off with a looooooong tail up to 7 years for some of the formaldehyde stuff.

Here are the best detoxing plants:
http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/phot...452423,00.html

[luvinmama]

House plants (I have a specific list I can link here later) are effective, but where we live (one of the most polluted cities in the world), we also utilize a very high quality air purifier and filter for our entire home. If you're solely relying on plants to filter out all of the VOC's, you're going to be living in a jungle. So, if you're particularly concerned and want to also invest in a good machine, here are my recommendations:

IQ Air makes a great machine. I think they run about $1,000 on Amazon.
Blue Air also makes nice machines, great for smaller bedrooms.

Good overall ventilation will also help.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

[mamacat]

can you request low VOC paints and flooring? We have some inexpensive honeywell room size air filtrs that have a built in neg ion feature and would def consider having one for each room and leaving on all day.So is carpet already laid down in bedrooms?Could you ask for the other kind of flooring to go in there as well? We got laminate in MB and hall and I dont love it but it seemed to outgas very quickly and doesnt scratch form having dogs run around on it.Actually we have vinyl flooring in baths thst I thought would dislike but it is Congoleum and low VOC.Once glues dried and outgassed for a couple days it has been fine and very sturdy.Dishes of baking soda can help too.If you have a dehumidifier that actually helps too

---------- Post added at 01:51 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:48 PM ----------

http://www.congoleum.com/air_quality.php We got a vinyl that looks like stone tile rather than wood and it really does.People often think we have tile in baths

---------- Post added at 02:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:51 PM ----------

This is a great list: http://wellnessmama.com/4629/clean-indoor-air/