The leak was fixed. The smell stayed.
A condominium in Kuala Lumpur, thirty years old, with a leak from the unit above that had been stopped and a kitchen that had been scraped, patched and repainted a month earlier. The musty odour never left. In two hours on site, the instruments explained why.
- On site, room by room
- 2hrs
- Rooms air-tested
- 4
- Wettest slab reading (0 to 1000)
- ~1000
- Instruments used
- 5
Thermal imaging
Drag across the image. The thermal camera shows an even 27.5 to 30.9 °C band with no cold wet zone. Thermal imaging found no active leak, so this is retained moisture rather than a running one.
Moisture in the slab
Protimeter readings on a 0 to 1000 scale: Dry to 100, At Risk to 200, Wet above 200. Values near 1000 mean the concrete is still carrying significant moisture roughly a month after the surface repair. The slab has not dried.
The air, measured room by room
| Room | Temp °C | RH % | CO₂ ppm | PM2.5 µg/m³ | PM10 µg/m³ | HCHO mg/m³ | TVOC mg/m³ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kitchen | 31 | 63 | 1145 | 49 | 71 | 0.040 | 0.06 |
| Living room | 28 | 67 | 1008 | 46 | 65 | 0.015 | 0.29 |
| Master bedroom | 30 | 62 | 993 | 50 | 74 | 0.045 | 0.05 |
| Office / study | 27 | 54 | 906 | 44 | 61 | 0.013 | 0.06 |
Indicative readings taken with the unit closed, as found. PM2.5 and PM10 in µg/m³; formaldehyde (HCHO) and TVOC in mg/m³. Marked carbon dioxide above 1,000 ppm, which the DOSH code treats as a sign of inadequate ventilation; the record puts it down to a closed, sealed unit at the time of inspection.
- Humidity on the high side. Relative humidity sits in the low-to-mid 60s in the kitchen, living room and master bedroom, a condition that favours mould.
- Carbon dioxide, mildly elevated. Roughly 900 to 1150 ppm, highest in the kitchen. Gentle ventilation resolves this.
- Dust particulates, raised. PM2.5 and PM10 read above guideline in every room, highest in the kitchen and master bedroom.
- Formaldehyde and TVOC, low. Both within comfortable levels throughout. No chemical air-quality concern.












