[Paul_R]

I looked at a job today, that at least to me, is a puzzle. The homeowner stated that about 12 years ago there was a fire in her house. The house is what we call in this area a "National", which was a home manufactured and then constructed on site from many pieces. It is a one floor ranch style house.The origin of the fire was the kitchen, and the homeowner was not home when the fire was in progress. When she got home the firemen were there and ventilating the house via the front door. They told her that the fire had went out due to lack of oxygen. They stated that they had not turned on a hose. She had some pictures that showed the damage, including kitchen cabinets burnt to a crisp, and all that remained were some black sticks showing. The walls were black, as was the ceiling. The main damage was limited to the kitchen and adjoining living room.

Here is the puzzle, and I hope you will give some input. A service company was called to clean up, she said Serve Pro. She said that they sprayed something on the walls, and wore respirators. She also stated that the guy that painted was in a hurry. For some time the paint has been pealing off the walls, the worst being the wall across from the cabinets. Other areas are peeling as well, but not in the rooms that had closed doors, and she says, no smoke damage. The paint is peeling down to bare drywall and the paint that is peeling does not appear to have any primer on the back. The drywall seams seem to be holding the paint, but exposed spots are powdery.The drywall is dry, and has no oder or discoloration.


I realize that all answers are strictly best guesses.
1)Why did the paint fail? Was there some unseen chemical residue left on the walls after the smoke and paint was removed?

2)Should a primer/sealer have been used and wasn't? Example:no BIN, KILZ

3)Is it possible that a sealer was used and is not now detectable? Is there a special clear sealer for smoke smell?

4)Will the paint continue to fail, even if a coat of something is applied to seal the walls ?

What happened?:blink:

Happy Painting, Paul.

 

[slickshift]

It is hard to get a handle on it w/o seeing it
And it's also probable it's more than one thing
There are too many unknowns

1)Why did the paint fail? Was there some unseen chemical residue left on the walls after the smoke and paint was removed?

Very possible
Chemical residue could have been left from the fire fighting and/or cleaning
Also remember there still could have been copious amounts of water
The actual fire damage, clean-up, and restoration procdures are still really unknowns

2)Should a primer/sealer have been used and wasn't? Example:no BIN, KILZ

Possible
Also, as it seems to have no primer where it's pealing to the wallboard, that lack of primer on the original build may be contributing, if not actually causing the problem at this point

3)Is it possible that a sealer was used and is not now detectable? Is there a special clear sealer for smoke smell?

Yes
Non-pigmented shellac can be used as a sealer

4)Will the paint continue to fail, even if a coat of something is applied to seal the walls ?

I would count on it
A slow drying penetrating solvent-based primer or a penetrating specialty primer (like Gardz) may help, but I wouldn't mortgage the boat to place a bet on it

I'd say a scrape and sand, then a penetrating problem solving primer on anything left
I'd expect it to be messy and time consuming and price accordingly

 

[Paul_R]

Thanks Slickshift, I kinda thought that it would continue to peel. Funny though, the drywall does not appear to have anything at all on it between it and the paint, don't the restoration guys apply something to kill the smoke smell? I guess I will call the company and see if they will tell me anything.

Thanks for the response, Paul R.

 

[slickshift]

...don't the restoration guys apply something to kill the smoke smell?

All the companies I know use BIN or something similar

But remember, they go right over the paint that was there if it didn't fry/fall off

 

[Tonyg]

I would either say the heat played a factor or maybe moisture from the heat was pulled out of the boards. I have seen very high humidy offer up the same type of symptoms on drywall so if it wasn't the high temps maybe it helped to separate the coating from the substrate.

I am surprised that it took 12 years for the problem to surface. You could prime over it all you want but it sounds as though the coating will contiue to fail. A solution, other than replacing the wall board, would be to use a very heavy acrylic with primers so that if the coating separates from the wall maybe the sheet of coating will bind together to atleast keep it from peeling off.

 

[Tmrrptr]

If it has peeled after a 12 year interim, no surface coating will resolve the problem unless it can etch through whatever barrier is creating the situation.

It really doesn't seem to be TOO much area...

1/4" rock.