Chemical in crawlspace
Brand44
| Posted in General Questions on
I just recently bought a house in northern AL. that was build in 1972. I have a greenish blue chemical that has been sprayed over most of the surfaces in the crawlspace that I cannot identify. Can anyone help me identify what this chemical is? I have been doing some work under the house fixing pipes and lifting a sagging floor and I would like to know if I’ve exposed myself to something dangerous.
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Replies
Can you provide a pic? It’s difficult to give you any idea of what a “greenish blue chemical” might be. My first guess would be it’s a fire retardant jokingly known as “smurf barf” in the trades, but I’ve never seen that stuff used in a residential structure before. Smurf barf is a crumbly bluish foam-like material. Smurf barf is usually applied to steel. The other possibility is you’re looking at some type of waterproof coating, which would generally be applied to the inside of a foundation wall.
Without a pic and some more info it’s really not possible to know what you’re looking at.
Bill
This was a liquid that was brushed or sprayed in a thick coat over everything in the crawlspace. It is on the duct work, the copper pipes, the blocks, and the wood. It seems like overkill whatever its for.
Deleted
That looks like termite treatment. Probably a borate solution. Not really something to worry about, more info is available here: http://www.caloakstermite.com/preventamite/wholehousetreatment.html
The treatment is really only needed on the wood, but the people that applied it were probably just sloppy and spilled or sprayed on other things by accident.
Bill
The coating looks like a copper based wood preservative.
This link is to a modern version.
https://www.menards.com/main/paint/exterior-paint-stain/exterior-wood-toners-and-clears/wood-toners/woodlife-coppercoat-green-wood-preservative-1-gal/1901/p-1444452898274.htm
There were some very nasty wood preservatives the only way to know what you have is to pay to have a sample analyzed in a lab.
If it is from before 1980 copper chromium and arsenic would be expected.
Walta