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THAT SMOKE SMELL – how to get rid of it

toolbear | Posted in General Discussion on March 25, 2009 05:14am

THAT SMOKE SMELL – how to get rid of it

@@@

We’re starting the reframing on the apartment burnout.

(Do not try to heat a can of pad glue on the stove. The explosion tried to blow the stove thru the wall. Flaming glue all over. Flaming apartment followed.)

The roofer tore off that section yesterday. The burned rake strips and such were coming off this afternoon.

This means that the SoCal drought will be broken shortly by 7″ of rain, all at once, vicinity Fountain Valley, CA.

(The roofer also busted a water line on the roof and put water two floors down onto the new drywall lid in an apartment that was finally coming on line, but that’s another story. Carpet installers were still there – which was good. They pulled the carpet as the water came down.)

The charred wood is coming off, but there is a lot in the overhead that is just sooted up.

WHAT SOLUTIONS FOR THAT SMOKE SMELL?

Do we prime it?

Seal it? With what?

It’s going to be behind the drywall, so is it an issue?

Forget about it and move forward?

The ToolBear

“You can’t save the Earth unless you are willing to make other people sacrifice.” Dogbert

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  1. WayneL5 | Mar 25, 2009 05:16am | #1

    It has to be sealed.  Hiding it behind drywall won't stop the smell, and regular primers will not either.  Shellac is one of the best sealers for smoke smell.

  2. BoJangles | Mar 25, 2009 05:52am | #2

    alcohol based BIN or Kilz primer will cover it all up.

    1. KenHill3 | Mar 25, 2009 07:26am | #4

      +1 on alcohol/shellac based primer for this.Be careful if you're sprayin' it, you'll get pretty high and sick, have to take breaks, run outta there about every ten minutes when you can't stand it.

  3. kt82 | Mar 25, 2009 07:21am | #3

    I just got through with a burnout with lots of smoke damage and had good success with BIN.

    I did use TSP before I primed to clean the smoke off ,but I am not sure it helped much

    I tried the shellac primer by zinnser but it kept gumming up my tips,so i went to an oil base primer ,

    1. WayneL5 | Mar 26, 2009 09:11am | #7

      I'm curious about spraying shellac based finishes, especially over a large area such as a room.  Alcohol is quite flammable.  Would it not be an explosion hazard to apply shellac by spray?

  4. jimAKAblue | Mar 25, 2009 08:28pm | #5

    The last firejob I did in MI was extensive. They came in and soda blasted everything for us before we started the rebuild. That cleaned up most of the charring and smell. Everything was then sealed with KIlz or something. Anytime we had to put new wood against something that we exposed, we sealed it first with the primer/sealer.

    Soda blasting ate up most of the smell though. Instead of sand, they blasted it with baking soda or something that came in 25 pound bags.

    1. toolbear | Mar 26, 2009 05:04am | #6

      Folks,Thanks for the input on smoke smell. Sounds like BIN or Kilz might work. I am thinking that a conversion gun might be handy for spraying this stuff.I have forwarded all the comments to the foreman.The ToolBear

      "You can't save the Earth unless you are willing to make other people sacrifice." Dogbert

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