Getting rid of odor from a fire

[Donald Mac Donald]

[allensmith]

I bought some barn steel sheets from a building that had a large fire. These sheets were on the one section that did not burn, and they are in good shape except they were really smoked up on the inside and the very top on the outside. They were really cheap so I figured that they would work. I'm just building a small 10 foot shed for rabbits and other small caged animals.

This is a painted steel and the outside is a pale yellow color and the inside white. I didn't want the inside looking all charred so I took each sheet and scrubbed them with a scrub brush and Comet. I was amazed how difficult it was to remove that smoke stain. In fact I discovered that using plain mud with my brush worked best to remove the initial smoke stain. Then I rinsed and used the Comet. The very tops of the sheets were actually slightly charred. The paint did not burn or blister, but the color was changed to a sort of brown. I imagine the tops got the extreme heat. That dont matter because I had to cut off a few feet anyhow. I did manage to get off all the soot, but there were a few places on the inside white where it actually left a slightly gray stain on the surface that I could not remove entirely. I think it went right into the paint, but it's good enough for a shed.

What I dont understand is after all that scrubbing, and I did get the sheets darn near perfectly clean, and after using a whole container of Comet (with bleach) on every three sheets, the shed still smells like smoke. How can that be? I even cleaned inside the ribs. Aside from that minor staining, on the inside, these sheets are perfectly clean. It really dont matter because the shed will keep the water off the animals and thats what matters. I suppose the smell will diminish over time too. But I still cant imagine what smells when they were scrubbed so well.

Al

[beecrofter]

When we worked on insurance jobs after a fire one trick was to put vanilla extract into all the paint. It might not remove the odor but it does become the first thing you smell,

[avid_hiker]

Scroll down to Salvage hints......may give you some options to try.

[hallerb]

kilz is the primer of choice, you cant remove the smoke odor so you seal it in after cleaning thoroughly

this is the ONLY way, and what the fire restoration companies use

[Bob M.]

Paint the wood with B-I-N shellac from Zinsser. May take a few coats, but it will seal in the odor.