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Painting over smoke damaged walls

56K views 117 replies 30 participants last post by  Paradigmzz 
#1 ·
I have been contacted by a family friend to do some painting after a tiny fire with lots of smoke. His furnace was installed improperly and caught fire but luckily another hose near by burned and pissed water on it. this happened a couple of times through out the day causing a lot of smoldering. but no visible soot anywhere.So my question is. Should the drywall areas be cleaned with a solution? I am planning on oil priming the walls and ceilings with either coverstain or zinsser odor less oil. I am waiting to hear from the insurance company to see if they have any wacky protocol for this. All info would be appreciated, i want to have ammo for my guns with insurance company.....also should my rates change a little for the job???:whistling2::whistling2:
 
#3 ·
really duh? thats your intelligent response? I feel the that sealing properties of an oil or shellac based primer would holdout the smell, but want to double check. Thats why this website was originally created so we can interact and educate each other. So thanks for you mindlless response brother brush-------> douche
 
#4 ·
I have been contacted by a family friend to do some painting after a tiny fire with lots of smoke. His furnace was installed improperly and caught fire but luckily another hose near by burned and pissed water on it. this happened a couple of times through out the day causing a lot of smoldering. but no visible soot anywhere.So my question is. Should the drywall areas be cleaned with a solution? I am planning on oil priming the walls and ceilings with either coverstain or zinsser odor less oil. I am waiting to hear from the insurance company to see if they have any wacky protocol for this. All info would be appreciated, i want to have ammo for my guns with insurance company.....also should my rates change a little for the job???:whistling2::whistling2:
Yeah,I'd TSP the walls then use coverstain or Killz oil..Don't forget to wash the trim and seal/paint the ceiling as well.
 
#7 ·
i like to have a belt and suspenders approach on all tasks. My initial thought was because there were no actual flames that the oil primer would be enough, but want to cross reference with other professionals. Thanks
By the way i saw pictures on your site of you painting in blue jeans......lol!!!!:laughing:
 
#19 ·
I have been contacted by a family friend to do some painting after a tiny fire with lots of smoke. His furnace was installed improperly and caught fire but luckily another hose near by burned and pissed water on it. this happened a couple of times through out the day causing a lot of smoldering. but no visible soot anywhere.So my question is. Should the drywall areas be cleaned with a solution? I am planning on oil priming the walls and ceilings with either coverstain or zinsser odor less oil. I am waiting to hear from the insurance company to see if they have any wacky protocol for this. All info would be appreciated, i want to have ammo for my guns with insurance company.....also should my rates change a little for the job???:whistling2::whistling2:
I said there is no soot!! thats is why i asked. no soot......the walls are clean....they just smell like smoke.....holy moley. Bender thank you for reading and responding to my question. NC too
 
#25 ·
Google "protein fire" . Customer of mine had one of those. They replaced the entire hvac system, hardwood floors, cabinets, and even the granite countertops. Probably would have been better off bulldozing the house and starting over. A year and a half later the house still smells....like rotten meat.
 
#28 · (Edited)
Josey, Kilz will block cigarette smoke, and staining, fire smoke ODORS it will not. It is not a Vapor Barrier.

That article also claims "countless hours" of cleaning. I'd rather half assed clean it and shoot shellac and be done and on my way....while they're on their 3rd or 4th vinegar wash. ;)
 
#29 · (Edited)
Josey, Kilz will block cigarette smoke, and staining, fire smoke ODORS it will not. It is not a Vapor Barrier.

That article also claims "countless hours" of cleaning. I'd rather half assed clean it and shoot shellac and be done and on my way....while they're on their 3rd or 4th vinegar wash. ;)

You are dead wrong...Restoration crews have been using Killz with great success for decades to seal smoke damage from fires......That company used Killz to seal off the brick walls which is very porous..They used vinegar to clean the brick.

Drywall would not need to be cleaned as much as the porous brick...I've used Killz for fire damage countless times with great success.
 
#33 ·
I believe if you took a poll, most painters with the most experience would rate BIN far superior over Kilz for smoke and odor sealing.

I understand that there is a cadre of folks who insist Kilz is adequate, but I'm just saying , IF one took a poll, BIN would gain more votes.

Personally, I have found that BIN and Kilz have their own forté. For my money and reputation, I always relied on BIN for smoke and odor.
 
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#35 · (Edited)
I believe if you took a poll, most painters with the most experience would rate BIN far superior over Kilz for smoke and odor sealing.

I understand that there is a cadre of folks who insist Kilz is adequate, but I'm just saying , IF one took a poll, BIN would gain more votes.

Personally, I have found that BIN and Kilz have their own forté. For my money and reputation, I always relied on BIN for smoke and odor.

Far superior? What does that mean? I've never had Kilz fail as a smoke sealer.Are you talking about bringing in a bloodhound as a judge and jury? Ridiculous.What is the so-called criteria you base your judgement on? You gotta do better than say a poll of painters {YOU GUESS] would subjectively pick shellac based primers over kilz.We've already had 3 painters in here who've had no problems with kilz....And these are professional painters.

Adequate? What do you mean by adequate? Be specific and quantify it.{ps, I know the definition of adequate}

I'd bet my bottom dollar that you would not be able to tell if a house had been treated with BIN or KILZ a month after the house has been finished.
 
#36 ·
JoseyWales said:
Far superior? What does that mean? I've never had Kilz fail as a smoke sealer.Are you talking about bringing in a bloodhound as a judge and jury? Ridiculous.What is the so-called criteria you base your judgement on? You gotta do better than say a poll of painters {YOU GUESS] would subjectively pick shellac based primers over kilz.We've already had 3 painters in here who've had no problems with kilz....And these are professional painters.
Have you ever used BIN? You seem to be married to Kilz? Bin covers, seals, penetrates, and dries in a fraction of the time of Kilz. How is this not a better choice? I think Kilz is geared more for the DIY'ers.
 
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#37 ·
Yes I've used it..It's a good primer,no doubt...It's also twice the cost of kilz..Kilz dries in an hour BTW...Not sure you need anything much faster drying than that.

Again, a month after the house is finished you would not know if it had been treated with BIN or KILZ.


I seriously think that because it is sold at Home depot,you have a problem with it.
 
#39 ·
I really like some oil primers(Killz included) but when it comes to odor, nicotine,body fluids/solids, etc, BIN, with its sweet, sweet boozy vapor, is the smell of success. Plus, the odor of BIN dissipates waaay quicker than any EFFECTIVE (Coverstain, Killz...), full strength alkyd primer. That being said, 35$ a gallon can be rough, but factored into a job, the cost doesnt bother me. Just dont forget to scuff BIN for topcoat adhesion.
 
#41 · (Edited)
I think you should tear out the drywall, reframe the room and put a vapor barrier up.

Here's what I would do: Hire the Captain to drywall it, Aaron to orange peel texture it, Lambrecht to paint it and Tim Hag to keep dummaszzes in their place. :jester::jester:
 
#67 ·
Tim Hag to tell everyone how friggin slow they are at doing their jobs. :jester::jester:
TimHag doesn't tell anyone how slow they are moving. Timhag hates uneducated people. Timhag hates morons. Timhag will attack if an uneducated moron approaches. I can understand someone asking and trying to learn. I can't understand a know it all asking basic, dumb, retarded, moronic questions.
 
#44 ·
Did a fire job three years ago. A GC that I work with bought the the existing structure and gutted it to the outer brick walls. I'd guess 50% of the charred framing was replaced. I gave him a split price to spray before the build-out, a price for Bin that I recomended, and a price for Kilz because I knew he was price sensitive. He chose the Kilz. We sprayed 200 gallons of Kilz to seal that baby.

We also did the build out, and I've also worked for the new homeowners. In that situation, there is not an ounce of smoke smell. And this is coming from a Bin guy........
 

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#61 ·
Shellac= the ultimate sealer. I think we can all agree on that.

That said, I really don't like using BIN on large areas. It smells, it's hard to clean up, it's runny, can be relatively difficult to work with, etc. Without seeing your situation I am inclined to say that I would use the BIN, and not worry to much about washing, unless there is a film on the surface. Otherwise I would sand for tooth, and be confident that the BIN will do the job. I would be more comfortable using the KILZ if I did a careful washing job.
 
#63 ·
Shellac= the ultimate sealer. I think we can all agree on that.

That said, I really don't like using BIN on large areas. It smells, it's hard to clean up, it's runny, can be relatively difficult to work with, etc.
That's the truth.

Gardz is also smelly, harder to clean up that other coatings, runny, and can be relatively difficult to work with. HOWEVER, it is real good at what it does. The product from which it was reverse engineered, Draw-Tite, also has those characteristics, but I would not use something else when they are needed.
 
#62 ·
Josey,

We understand how you feel and nothing anyone says will change your opinion.

However, most posts here are not made to try to win an argument or to turn one person's unwavering opinion around, but the posts are made for others to absorb.

BTW, did I see that you were from NJ? You definitely have that New Jersey "resolve". Were you born and bred there?
 
#64 · (Edited)
Josey,

We understand how you feel and nothing anyone says will change your opinion.

However, most posts here are not made to try to win an argument or to turn one person's unwavering opinion around, but the posts are made for others to absorb.

BTW, did I see that you were from NJ? You definitely have that New Jersey "resolve". Were you born and bred there?[/QUOT

That's exactly what I told you...I also told you that I was responding to inaccuracies and I'm trying to help others..I'm not trying to win an argument.You are the one who seems willing to go on and on with this discussion.

Resolve? Look who's talking, hehehe .You are as determined as me to keep this thread going.I gave you the opportunity to "educate" me with FACTS but so far all I get is hyperbole.

What you need to do is acknowledge that other painters agree with me on this subject..There is no shame to being unaware of other,less costly methods to seal smoke damage.

If you are going to respond again, I suggest that you come back with some good research.I'm always searching for a better way to do things...Sometimes you can put good money into bad when an easier and less expensive way to seal smoke damage will do the job well.
 
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