Smoke damage.

Tilikum

Basically my auld lad nearly burnt down the house. The utility room wall is black from smoke damage.

Anybody know what product I can use to remove it? Went to b&q - they said there is a product all right, but they didn't sell it, or know what it's called.

mad m

Best thing to do is wash it down with sugar soap and repaint. Make sure you get a good pair of rubber gloves when using sugar soap.

650gs

You cant wash of soot, no matter how much you wash it you will just spread it around.
You need to call your insurance company as this is a specialist job and also costly it is a sealer that you paint on and not available to the general public

Big Cheese

Hi,
Don't worry too much, this IS a job you can do yourself and all products needed are available to the general public. Firstly, as stated, you need to wash the damaged areas with sugar soap (available in all DIY/Decor shops), make sure you clean it down with clean water afterwards too. Once cleaned, you can apply 2 coats of Johnstone's Quick Dry Primer/Sealer or 2 coats of Zinsser Coverstain (available in Johnstone's Paints nationwide). Both are very good at stain blocking and you can the put a finish coat (or 2) of any standard emulsion you like. The primer/sealers will be more costly than standard paints but not mad money so don't worry.

Tilikum

Big Cheese wrote: »

Hi,
Don't worry too much, this IS a job you can do yourself and all products needed are available to the general public. Firstly, as stated, you need to wash the damaged areas with sugar soap (available in all DIY/Decor shops), make sure you clean it down with clean water afterwards too. Once cleaned, you can apply 2 coats of Johnstone's Quick Dry Primer/Sealer or 2 coats of Zinsser Coverstain (available in Johnstone's Paints nationwide). Both are very good at stain blocking and you can the put a finish coat (or 2) of any standard emulsion you like. The primer/sealers will be more costly than standard paints but not mad money so don't worry.

Yeah, I picked up the sugar soap this morning. Worked pretty well. I'll get the primer tomorrow.

There's a few of spots on the walls where the paint has become flaky. I scraped them off with a scraper. But I'm wondering now will it be uneven, when I paint the whole room.

jack of all

Big Cheese wrote: »

Hi,
Don't worry too much, this IS a job you can do yourself and all products needed are available to the general public. Firstly, as stated, you need to wash the damaged areas with sugar soap (available in all DIY/Decor shops), make sure you clean it down with clean water afterwards too. Once cleaned, you can apply 2 coats of Johnstone's Quick Dry Primer/Sealer or 2 coats of Zinsser Coverstain (available in Johnstone's Paints nationwide). Both are very good at stain blocking and you can the put a finish coat (or 2) of any standard emulsion you like. The primer/sealers will be more costly than standard paints but not mad money so don't worry.

+1 on all of the above, I've seen at first hand a fire damaged property that was cleaned up and repaired by a "specialist" company that deals with fire damage and flood repair. I was inspecting the work in progress on behalf of the owner. The job they did was good but nothing that couldn't be tackled with sugar soap and Zinnser stain blocker and a lot of elbow grease. It's extremely labour intensive but it pays off to remove as much "loose" soot or smoke damage with repeated sugar soap treatments, rinsing off with cold water until the water is reasonably clean. After that the Zinnser does a fine job. It would be advisable to replace any light fittings, faceplates, sockets and the like (even if they appear to be sound) as soot and smoke can be trapped in these and lead to lingering odours (light pendants in particular). Likewise remove any internal vent grilles and clean the vent opening, basically any hole or crevice that can trap smoke or soot needs to cleaned otherwise you'll be wondering "where is that smell coming from"!

650gs

jack of all wrote: »

+1 on all of the above, I've seen at first hand a fire damaged property that was cleaned up and repaired by a "specialist" company that deals with fire damage and flood repair. I was inspecting the work in progress on behalf of the owner. The job they did was good but nothing that couldn't be tackled with sugar soap and Zinnser stain blocker and a lot of elbow grease. It's extremely labour intensive but it pays off to remove as much "loose" soot or smoke damage with repeated sugar soap treatments, rinsing off with cold water until the water is reasonably clean. After that the Zinnser does a fine job. It would be advisable to replace any light fittings, faceplates, sockets and the like (even if they appear to be sound) as soot and smoke can be trapped in these and lead to lingering odours (light pendants in particular). Likewise remove any internal vent grilles and clean the vent opening, basically any hole or crevice that can trap smoke or soot needs to cleaned otherwise you'll be wondering "where is that smell coming from"!

As a jack of all trades you inspected work in progress, come on now.
Specialist company's are here to deal with the likes of these things for a reason, do you know how dangerous soot and smoke is by any chance, do you know the size of soot particles and what they can do to you ????
Soot must be sealed and if trying a diy job it is a must to wear a dust mask with a rating of at least FFP3 for you own safety.

jack of all

650gs wrote: »

As a jack of all trades you inspected work in progress, come on now.

I have a professional qualification in construction technology and 20 years experience in the construction industry; I never read too much into usernames used by anyone on boards or other meassage boards myself....

This is a DIY forum, I'm sure I've seen it said somewhere here before that advice is offered for the benefit of the general user but no one should take on work that is outside their own skill level or competency and it goes without saying that if in doubt you should seek professional advice.;)

650gs

jack of all wrote: »

I have a professional qualification in construction technology and 20 years experience in the construction industry; I never read too much into usernames used by anyone on boards or other meassage boards myself....

This is a DIY forum, I'm sure I've seen it said somewhere here before that advice is offered for the benefit of the general user but no one should take on work that is outside their own skill level or competency and it goes without saying that if in doubt you should seek professional advice.;)

Well as a professional you should warn people of the dangers of soot/smoke and you should know what is needed to seal it.
Also Insurance company's pay a lot of money to clean up this sort of thing more so than water, burglaries, subsidence or accidental damage etc and for good reason, to wash with sugar soap or general cleaners and hope its safe is crazy and bordering on stupidly and defiantly not a job for a diy'er