Painted Attic

[caryseidner]

10 year old, $2.5 mil house with white paint sprayed in the attic. The ceiling joists were painted from bottom to top every where I checked, so clearly this was done before any of the insulation (blown-in over batts) was installed, but after the mechanical equipment was installed because I could see the spray on the PVC vent lines and flex ducts.

Other than the joists, there was a couple of feet of overspray on the sheathing & rafters and the left-hand side of one of the gable ends was painted. I could see into a couple of adjacent attic sections that I could not enter. They weren't painted at all.

My 1st thoughts were previous fire damage or mold, but there was no indication that either of these had been the problem here. Any thoughts?

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[Marc]

Are you saying that you could not find a single square inch of charred or blackened wood anywhere, however small?

Marc

[caryseidner]

Are you saying that you could not find a single square inch of charred or blackened wood anywhere, however small?

Marc

Correct. And except for the left hand side of the one gable end wall and the overspray, there was no paint anywhere else. Including the adjacent attics.

[Bill Kibbel]

Smoke remediation? I'm thinking the insulation and ceiling drywall was removed, everything sprayed and drywall/insulation was replaced.

Check the address with the local fire marshals office.

[Robert Jones]

Doesn't look like fire repair and if it is associated with mold remediation, the homeowners got taken. Every attic cavity that I have inspected, that was previously treated for "mold", was entirely painted/stained to cover all of the wood surfaces.

[caryseidner]

Smoke remediation? I'm thinking the insulation and ceiling drywall was removed, everything sprayed and drywall/insulation was replaced.

Check the address with the local fire marshals office.

Thanks Bill -

Called the FD and they did have a record of a fire occurring during construction. They said it had likely been caused by improper storage of used oily rags, so I'm thinking you are correct about the way it was remediated as well.

[mgbinspect]

Yup, Kilz is used to seal in the soot (carbon) smell. It is kind of surprising that there is virtually no visible soot or charred material.

We actually had an ozone room for treating furs and furniture, etc. It was only done when it was an heirloom or something priceless, because the process is expensive. When stuff from a fire was chocked in that room for a period of time and filled full of ozone for several days, it somehow bonded with the carbon to become something else, which eliminated the soot smell. It worked like a charm.

[Marc]

It oxidizes the carbon, in much the same way that diatomic oxygen oxidizes wood in a wood fire. Of course, the ozone will oxidize the fur and clothing too if you have enough exposure to it.

How'd you produce the ozone?

Marc

[mgbinspect]

I'm afraid I can't tell you, because I managed a satellite office and we just shipped such stuff off to the home office in Roanoke, which was about four hours away, to be treated. I actually only went to Roanoke a couple of times, including the day I signed on. I saw the room that first visit - not much of a room, simply a heavy mil clear plastic tent within a larger warehouse, but not how it was produced - no clue. If you know, I'd love to hear what is the norm. I seem to remember an air pump involved similar to the kind found on an air compressor, but that's about all I remember. And, oh yes, it was kind of like a fog when the room was fully pumped up, but I don't know if that was the ozone, or possibly humidity that was added to permit the ozone to do its work. I'm completely ignorant when it comes to the subject other than knowing that it worked. [:-dunce]

This was 19 years ago.