Extreme Fire Restoration - Workshop Guys Must Read!

[Scott B.]

This thread was split off (thanks Peter) from the Festool Selfie thread.

I will be sharing some of what we have been doing with a customer whose house burned, but not all the way. Just burned enough to be a tremendous project to gut and rebuild.

Here's the kicker: THE FIRE STARTED IN A BASEMENT WORKSHOP!!!!

A faulty surge protector on an outlet strip servicing several battery chargers for cordless tools. I'll be gathering up some of the chronology and sharing all the different phases of the project. Fire restoration work is a bird of a VERY different feather, so tool and product selection have been challenging and interesting - an extreme testing ground for all of our gear and product combos.

Hope you enjoy.

 

[awil66]

Hi Scott. Whats going on there? Did you prime the walls before the sheetrock?

 

[Scott B.]

Hi Scott. Whats going on there? Did you prime the walls before the sheetrock?

Good catch. It is an unusual scene, and a very interesting project. We don't do much fire restoration work, but...

It is a 18 year old timberframe that had a basement fire and sooted out most of the house. The house was demo-ed down to the bones. Then bin sprayed on all framing and subfloor. Then reinsulated. We stripped and refinished the timberframe. We acid bathed and resealed the voluminous stone hearth and chimney work on both floors.

In this photo, we are stripping and refinishing all the window jamb and sash in the house.

This project was the stage for our recent torture test of 3m Edge Lock tape, amongst many other things (including abrasives, many abrasives).

Here was the tape test: http://topcoatreview.com/2014/12/3m-2093-edge-lock/

We are currently refinishing the entire kitchen from the house, in our shop. Another interesting project.

 

[WarnerConstCo.]

Figures they would spray everything with bin with no regard to what they sprayed it on.

 

[Scott B.]

Figures they would spray everything with bin with no regard to what they sprayed it on.

Yah, I declined to price that particular line item so it was defaulted to the demo company. I don't want to know how much money it would take to get us to spray that many gallons of BIN on framing and subfloors.

Sanding out a timberframe is more our[attachimg=1] speed.

 

[Scott B.]

So...we entered the project just as the demo company exited. Our first charge was sanding out the timberframe.

There is the old saying, "when you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail" applies here, only in RAS and Rotex clothing. We won't be in a hurry to sand out an entire frame again anytime soon, but its a bucket list item...we did it.

The frame had 18 years of linseed oil applications, open floor plan kitchen grease combined with a good old fashioned smoky hearth spewing occasional smoke dust into it, oh yeah, complicated by the fact that the house had smoldered from the basement up.

Needless to say, it was h e l l on abrasives. We went in expecting 80 grit to bust it out. We had to restock quickly...bought out all the low grits at our local dealers and were challenged to keep feeding the beasts.

And the smell...nothing like it.

[attachimg=1]

 

[Scott B.]

After we burned through our local dealers' supplies of Festool abrasives for our sanders, we had to buy some Abranet. We had never run it head to head with Festool abrasives to this extent.

[attachimg=1]

 

[Scott B.]

For those who sometimes experience internal dust "caking" in sanders, take full advantage of the way the vac hose end fits the sander housing...

Linseed oil dust is pretty extreme that way.

 

[Scott B.]

This is how the sanding looked at RAS eye view.

24g.

[attachimg=1]

[attachimg=2]

 

[Scott B.]

PSA: Be sure to check those outlet strips and surge protectors around your workshop, garage, and home. This is a lot of work to have to do over a $10 item failure.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming, already in progress.

 

[jools]

Scott. How did the abranet perform in comparison? I would be very interested in your opinion. I have found that it clogs less but sharpness fails quicker and is best run with an intermediate ( and cheaper to replace) backing pad.
Regards
Jools

 

[Scott B.]

A quick word on grit steps...we were as low as 24 frequently, and stepped from there up to 120. We blew the entire frame out with air as the final prep move.

Every step up to this point had that pungent sootie smoked out stink.

Earbuds and ipods were popular on these stages of the project.

[attachimg=1]

I'll take a break here and let some other threads have air time. Feel free to post up questions or comments.

Thanks for reading.

 

[Scott B.]

Scott. How did the abranet perform in comparison? I would be very interested in your opinion. I have found that it clogs less but sharpness fails quicker and is best run with an intermediate ( and cheaper to replace) backing pad.
Regards
Jools

In linseed oil sanding, it didn't clog less. Probably clogged a bit more than Granat. The hole lineup and sizing is less than ideal on 5" Festool, although better on 6". Definitely hard on backing pads in 5".

The hook and loop is entirely compatible, which is nice.

It is a good abrasive, and probably would be more on par with Festool abrasives if sanding bare wood. I know floor finishers who have very good luck with it.

At a similar price point, I'll stick with Festool abrasives on Festool gear.

 

[BMH]

I had a much smaller project on wood beams wich was covered with probably lindseed oil. Was burning through RAS 115 at high speed so I started by using a scraping card first then RAS 115, it helped. Next time, I will pay the man to do it for me.

 

[Scott B.]

I had a much smaller project on wood beams wich was covered with probably lindseed oil. Was burning through RAS 115 at high speed so I started by using a scraping card first then RAS 115, it helped. Next time, I will pay the man to do it for me.

Agreed. Let's make sure the Man has a cob blaster or something like that in his truck!

 

[Scott B.]

Tomorrow we are back at it on the smoked out kitchen, in our shop.

Meanwhile, looking back, here is how the oil app went on the timberframe, after many days of sanding through the multiple grits.

[attachimg=1]

 

[wow]

Great project and documentation! More, please?

How many guys and how long did it take you to get 'er done?

 

[Tinker]

I noticed on your blog that you were cleaning soot of of the stone work.  What do you use?
Many/Many moons ago, when i was learning the trade, my boss had told me the best way to clean soot off of brick and stone was to make a slurry of yellow laundry soap (the kind that was used in the days when the wimmin folk used to go down to the crick and slop the fabrics with yellow soap,lather up and beat on the rocks).  i have never tried that.  as time went on, new cleaners came out on the market that i have used.  I never use muriatic acid, as many suggest as first step.  That is dangerous stuff that can severely burn eyes, lungs and skin if not used properly.  (Yes, it is dangerous even when used as directed.)In the later years of my masonry expeience, they were coming out with several organic, non acid masonry cleaners that i used on new work and for efflorescence.  I don't remember the names of most of those materials.  I quit the biz in 1981, and a lot of new things have come along since. 

Every now and then, somebody who remembers my previous experience, (not many still around  [blink]) will call me to ask how to clean soot off of stone or brick.  I have told them to go to supply yard and look for an organic brick cleaner (The only one i remember is a tough one to remember for cleaning brick --- Brick Clenz).  I dread sending them for as the first thing a lot of places sells them on, even tho i have warned against, is Muriatic acid.  That has happened enough times that for the last 100 years or so, i have recommended only Yellow soap.  That amounts to sending them for the acid anyhow.  Nobody remembers what yellow soap is any more ???  It seems like the longer I have been 39, the more things I remember that nobody has even heard of, let alone set out to find. (I wonder what it will be like when I reach 40)
Tinker

 

[Scott B.]

Great project and documentation! More, please?

How many guys and how long did it take you to get 'er done?

Thanks Wayne, more coming for sure. Trying to stay in sequence with the tale...the next step was spraying the timber frame, which I'll round up some footage of later on and post.

To your question, just two of us - me and Todd. It took us 2-3 weeks from start to finish, allowing 72 hours for the oil to cure before spraying clear.

Today we are back in the shop working on the kitchen from the house...gonna be an air assisted spray day. Perhaps we'll live stream!  ;D

 

[Scott B.]

I noticed on your blog that you were cleaning soot of of the stone work.  What do you use?
Many/Many moons ago, when i was learning the trade, my boss had told me the best way to clean soot off of brick and stone was to make a slurry of yellow laundry soap (the kind that was used in the days when the wimmin folk used to go down to the crick and slop the fabrics with yellow soap,lather up and beat on the rocks).  i have never tried that.  as time went on, new cleaners came out on the market that i have used.  I never use muriatic acid, as many suggest as first step.  That is dangerous stuff that can severely burn eyes, lungs and skin if not used properly.  (Yes, it is dangerous even when used as directed.)In the later years of my masonry expeience, they were coming out with several organic, non acid masonry cleaners that i used on new work and for efflorescence.  I don't remember the names of most of those materials.  I quit the biz in 1981, and a lot of new things have come along since. 

Every now and then, somebody who remembers my previous experience, (not many still around  [blink]) will call me to ask how to clean soot off of stone or brick.  I have told them to go to supply yard and look for an organic brick cleaner (The only one i remember is a tough one to remember for cleaning brick --- Brick Clenz).  I dread sending them for as the first thing a lot of places sells them on, even tho i have warned against, is Muriatic acid.  That has happened enough times that for the last 100 years or so, i have recommended only Yellow soap.  That amounts to sending them for the acid anyhow.  Nobody remembers what yellow soap is any more ???  It seems like the longer I have been 39, the more things I remember that nobody has even heard of, let alone set out to find. (I wonder what it will be like when I reach 40)
Tinker

Great story, Tinker, thanks!

We vacuumed the bejesus out of the stone and then scrubbed with a product called Mighty Indigo Cling with lots of rinsing.

Then, we sealed with Dupont Stone Tek Bullet Proof sealer, which is $180/gal...the most expensive gallon of anything I have ever bought.

I too am all set with muriatic, we try to avoid it whenever possible!