Gasoline in the walls...

[Jason Carlton]

I've made a few threads about having my deck rebuilt, and the issues that have come along with the contractor. I have to admit, though, that at this point, the work is looking pretty darn good... as long as I stand over the contractor the whole time and not let him get away with shortcuts!

Anyway, today's issue has to do with a decision the contractor made that I'm not even sure was legal.

Apparently, I had a nest of yellow jackets inside of my wall, behind a GFI outlet, which he stirred up this morning. He tried spraying them with wasp spray, and when that didn't kill them he decided to pour gasoline into the hole.

Now, I have concerns with the smell that's overpowering the house, the fire risk with electric wires, the risk of damage to the subfloor that the gas has to be sitting on, etc.

It rained pretty hard today and I hoped it would wash the gas out, but it smells stronger now than ever before. What exactly do I do to get the gasoline out of the wall?? Or at least, get the smell out?

[Winston]

Ventilate. Gasoline is volatile.

Were it me, I would pressurize the house, using fans placed on the *opposite side of the house* from the outlet in question. I would start with a fan in clear air outside of a doorway.

If you are even a tiny bit lucky, all the gasoline will slowly vaporize and exit without any drama.

Lock your most important paperwork in the trunk of your car and be ready to shut off the fans and dial '911' if things go sideways.

--Winston

[Bob F]

How would rain wash the gas out? Can rain get into the hole he put the gas into?

Why not call the local building inspector and see what he suggests?

I bet he would love to get that call.

Or maybe you should just call a lawyer. He'd probably love to get the call also.

________________________

Just another reason why I do-it-myself, I guess.

[Jason Carlton]

That's pretty much what I did today, and I thought everything was fine until it got cold and I shut the windows. 15 minutes later, it was just as bad as before. I'll do the same tomorrow.

Now that I think about it, my MIL has a huge fan that they used to use in a factory. I'll see if I can borrow that tomorrow, and then just let it blow all day. That's a lot more powerful than the little window fans that I have.

I'm not really all that upset about the smell (although the dogs are!), because I figured that would go away. I'm more concerned with the concept of having gas soaking into the subfloor, drywall, etc. I certainly hope it DOES evaporate quickly! I thought about dumping sawdust or kitty litter in the hole and then trying to suck it out with a wet/dry vac, but even with the outlet out I don't think I can get the hose down to the floor.

[Thomas]

I'm really speechless. There is something wrong with both of you. All I smell from here is 'free' deck.

[Jon Danniken]

As would the local contractor's board. Pouring gasoline into a wall, that's about as reckless as I've ever heard.

Jon

[norminn]

I'm almost speechless, too....especially after advice to run a lot of electrical fans or vacs with a house full of gasoline fumes. Call the freaking fire department and then fire the freaking contractor.

[Stormin Mormon]

Gentle reminder that gasoline is flammable. It has a flash point lower than 100F. Also, gasoline and air mixtures can be explosive. Sounds like a safety problem, to me.

[dpb]

Well, just a little lower, yeah--about 150F lower, in fact. The flash point isn't of terrible significance here other than that gasoline is, (surprise, surprise!) volatile and flammable...

The ignition temperature is about 500F.

I'll agree this is a bad deal if not just trolling and the advice to call the fire department and expect the contractor to pick up any tab for the resolution.

This could get expensive since the absorption into wallboard, studs, floor, etc., will remain highly flammable for a long period of time even after the most of the vapors are gone may require a significant amount of material be removed and replaced to rid the place from the long term problem...

Only thing I'd think might be beneficial other than ventilation (but as somebody else noted it's spooky to put open electric motor in close proximity for the "boom" factor) _might_ be non-flammable foam to encase it but what the specific product might be I don't know...

This has to be about the stupidest trick I've heard in years...

[Cheri]

You were standing over him the whole time, and let him do it? I would not have allowed it, but it's good to know that anybody would actually try it. Sorry for the mess you have, and I hope it resolves quickly for you.

Cheri

[Tom Horne]

Call the Fire Department. They will call in there hazardous materials team. The only truly safe thing to do is to remove all of the contaminated building materials. The effect of the gasoline on the insulation of the wiring would be major concern of mine. Lets see. We have a small amount of gasoline spilled in a confined space. If the vapor mixture is in the flammable range and the deteriorated insulation leads to an arc... One cup of gasoline mixed with the right amount of air has the explosive brisance of a stick of dynamite.

-- Tom Horne

[fftt]

Jason-

Do NOT try to soak it up with saw dust or kitty litter and vac it out!!!!!

Shop vacs generate sparks with their crappy little motors....sucking vapors through shop vac is a good way to get an explosion. Every couple years someone in SoCal blows up their residence by washing greasy clothes in washing machine with gasoline.

Do as others have suggested.......pressurize the house using windows on he opposite side of the house from the gas spill.

Gasoline is volatile and stinking but it will go away.

cheers Bob

[clare]

Not a WHOLE lot different than many of the bug killer products - at least as flamable and almost as bad smelling.

[AZ Nomad]

You have a hazmat site now. The contractor needs to clean his mess if he wants to stay out of jail.

[stan]

Suggest: Don't switch anything on or off in the house until the smell dissipates!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. The spark from a light switch, radio, TV cooking stove could set off an explosion. Very very dangerous. Also surprised that your battery operated smoke alarms have not sounded. Gasoline fumes are not the results of burning (yet) but our smoke detectors will often sound off with excessive dampness, somethimes when showers are operating, once or twice when using certain household sprays, and/or when cutting wood on a bench saw which then jams and while not making obvious smoke sets off the alarm. Ventilate; ventilate. What a stupid thing to do .......................... gasoline into wall of house!

[Twayne]

Why are YOU feeling responsible for it? The contractor did it, make him take care of it. HE has fans, etc., and it's his job to do that. And don't let him charge you for that work; it's something HE did. If the money's in the right state, I'd fire his ass if he didn't fix it; he should have done that without you even thinking about it. I'd watch that bass turd like a hawk thru the rest of his work. He obviously believes in shortcuts and using any method, right or not, to get a job done. Wonder what else he screwed up?

[Twayne]

No, not as flammable, not even the fumes. Gasoline is initially very explosive depending on how much was used, which hasn't been mentioned.

[Twayne]

But was it an ounce or a quart of gas? Did it go into the nest and the nest was pulled out and the rest was clean?

[norminn]

I remember reading an article, long ago, about the person with the worst burns ever to survive. Being a nurse, it really hit home. It was a young girl who had gotten paint on her skin. She was given a rag wet with gasoline and went into the bathroom to clean off the paint and to shower. She wiped the paint off with gasoline. When she turned on the shower, the water heater caused the gasoline to explode. Fumes not flammable? Insane! She had 3rd degree burns, 99% of her body.

[dpb]

Twayne wrote: ...

It was stupid beyond words no matter how much or little--only the consequences might change some.

The chances it went solely on the nest are, imo from the OP's comments, marginally nil...

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