3 years ago I painted one room in our house with Pittsburgh ceiling paint and MAB paint on the walls and trim. The MAB paint was latex semi-gloss on the walls and high-gloss oil on the wood. Within 1 week we noticed a very strange smell in the room. It smelled like cat pee, or amonia, but only when we opened a window and the room temperature was at least 75 degress. I figured the smell would go away when the paint fully cured, but I was wrong. 3 years later it still smells as strong as when we first smelled it. It only smells when the windows are open letting fresh outside air into the room. Turning on the central air lessens the smell somewhat by cooling the room, but it usually takes a day or two for the smell to go back "underground" after fresh air has entered the room from an open window.

I just pained another room with a brand new can of MAB paint and now it also has the smell. This room definately did not smell before the painting. Unfortuantely, I painted part of the ceiling with the old Pittsburg ceiling paint, so I can't tell which paint is causing the problem.

This smell is very strange becuase I can't pinpoint its origin. It seem to be coming from everywhere with no single part of the room, wall or ceiling smelling being the main source. Sniffing the the walls does not help.

Has anyone ever had anything like this happen? Any ideas about what the smell could be? Would painting with a non-VOC paint help?

Any suggestions on how to solve this problem are appriciated. A lot of time and effort went in to these rooms and I don't want to repaint and have the same problem.

Facts:
House Age: 52yrs
Plaster & Drywall Walls
Plaster ceiling
MAB Paint latex/oil
Pittsburgh Latex ceiling
New windows and wood doors and trim in both rooms.