DeWolfers Feel Effects of Rushed Paint Job

Lingering fumes and splattered tiles welcomed DeWolfe residents who moved into their freshly painted rooms this weekend.

Paint crews rushed to finish painting the overflow building's hallways and rooms before students moved in on Saturday morning, a DeWolfe superintendent, who asked not to be identified, said yesterday.

"They didn't give us much time, but we tried [to finish on time]," he said.

The superintendent said paint crews were hurried because the building's summer residents did not have to move out until September 2, leaving just one week to paint the six floors of the two DeWolfe apartment buildings.

Sarah A. Schmidt '96, a DeWolfe summer resident, said she saw paint crews already arriving as students left the building on the last day of summer occupancy.

But residents said yesterday they wish the University had started the job sooner and avoided a pungent problem.

"They only painted them all in three days," explained David M. Kiewish '96. "Everyone moved out last week and then they painted all of the rooms in 3 days."

"My room has no face plates for the switches and plugs," said David M. Kiewlich '96, a Quincy affiliate.

Jeremy Faro '96, an Eliot House overflow resident, said he had been airing his room out for more than 24 hours, but the scent still lingered in the air.

"It totally stunk," Faro complained, "I like the paint, I just wish they had aired it out. It was kind of disgusting when I moved in."

A specialist from the Massachusetts Poison Control Center said yesterday that there was little physical risk in inhaling paint fumes, but advised residents to open windows and turn on fans to air out their rooms.

"[They need] good ventilation, and people need to be out of there," he said. "Get some fans going and some cross ventilation. Anybody with a headache should definitely leave. The fumes in and of itself are enough to make you sick."

But Faro and other residents said all of their windows were closed when they arrived and that they received no advice on how to deal with the fumes.

"[The smell is] really strong," Mather affiliate Daniel A. Lopez '97 said. "We opened the windows and then it went away entirely. And then we opened the freezer and we just got blown away."

Not all DeWolfe residents said they were disturbed by the paint's odor.

Dunster affiliates and roommates Jose R. Zayes '96 and Jacob B. Silber '96 said they were less disturbed by the smell than by the spots of paint on their bathroom floor.

"It hasn't been much of an inconvenience, although there is paint in the bathroom," Zayes said. "[There are] little drips of paint all over the floor."