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Air scrubber for oil finish paint

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15K views 55 replies 17 participants last post by  gamby  
J
#1 ·
I'm going to be starting a very high end repaint at an exclusive condo high rise in my city. The walls and trim are specced semi gloss oil. I know that the odor is going to be strong. I don't want the building getting upset with me. They say it's ok to use it but until they really smell it I don't know. Has anyone rented an air scrubber that will fight those fumes?


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#16 ·
Without any direct ventilation to the outside, I dont think theres a good way to do it, especially if they want walls too. You 'd have to be able to take out a window and put in a vent system, and with high rises, taking windows out isnt easy.

Tell them if they want oil on everything, to buy a house....
....and call an old timer.
 
L
#23 ·
When I first started painting (1970's) I had a few customers that insisted on oil on the walls - BM Sani-flat. Sani-flat wasn't near as oderifferous as most semigloss oils, but will still stink the place up. As Woodco stated, going to be hard to control odor. I have a feeling some fumes will permeate the building regardless of efforts to ventilate, but I know what you mean about wanting to satisfy a good (and good paying ) customer. If they insist, and they get HOA approval, I'd just set up the best ventilation possible and do it. You might want to get a written statement from the HO that they are responsible for dealing with any repercussions caused by the odor.
 
#24 ·
Well, I would get whatever air scrubbers you can get in there, and suppliment it by putting box fans with air filters taped to them in every window you can.

Maybe you can work it out to where only the final coat is oil....

Advance on walls would be good. Watch for runs though.... and use a damn good 1/4" roller.

I still think you should give them a sample of scuff-x. The final film on it looks damn close to oil. A lot easier to apply and will have less problems in general than real oil, or advance. I think that would be a much better product for the walls at least.
 
M
#25 · (Edited)
At the very least I'd have a box fan in every window (pointing out) and air movers & fans on the ground blowing it out. A single air conditioner won't do s**t.

First,I'd try to educate the owner that Advance is just as good as a traditional alkyd. These anal types are the worst customers in my view. If the trim is white I'd sell him on the oil based paint yellowing, and to prime and topcoat with Scuff-X.
 
P
#28 ·
I’ve used a couple air scrubbers and they basically use a furnace filter as a pre-filter and then a HEPA filter to remove finer particulates. Unfortunately, I don’t think this setup would remove the smell because it’s designed for removing dust particulates in the air.




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#30 ·
I think in this instance you might be best off, if you want to steer them towards Advance, to try and make two samples, one with a Ben Moore DTM oil, and one with Advance, so they can see/feel the finish difference themselves and see if it's worth it for the extra smell. Do it on some 2x2 sheets of drywall. Possibly also just open the two cans for them as well.
 
#41 ·
I was working a little late at night in a rental, and used Rustoleum oil based DTM on some steam heaters and the person on the other floor actually thought there was a gas leak and wanted to call the fire department, but thankfully she didn't.

I used about quarter of a quart for that, so I think a couple of gallons will scare or piss people off. I've also always had people thrilled when I used oil primer for smoke damage jobs. In my state there's no "cheap" oil primers anymore, so now I'm at the point where I'll just use BIN for less smell/better brushability indoors now.
 
#45 · (Edited)
Steering them to advance would be the best option. From my understanding it is oil but they atomiz the oil so small that it can be suspended in water. Once the water dries out the end result is oil. Explain it to the like that and make a test board for them to feel.

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#51 ·
Rbriggs82 said:
Steering them to advance would be the best option. From my understanding it is oil but the atomiz the oil so small that it can be suspended in water. Once the water dries out the end result is water. Explain it to the like that and make a test board for them to feel.

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Click to expand...
I understand it in a similar way. The alkyd resin molecules are patently suspended in the water base vehicle until the water base vehicle evaporates, leaving behind a film of the alkyd resins, binders, and pigments. Another reason why certain coating films need to exhaust all of the coalescing process before recoating.
 
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