Primer/Sealer over spray foam remains?
JamesB2229
| Posted in General Questions on
While I’ve been trying to hunt down an odor in the garage I realized there was some spray foam that was removed a while back. It’s MOSTLY removed but there’s small remains on some spots that’s not possible to remove or even sand off due to where it’s located. I’m wondering if I used something like Zinsser BIN or Kilz if that could successfully seal in any odor that may still exist.
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Replies
I would use BIN. It would likely take multiple coats, but it should seal any smells. Note that BIN will make its own stinky new smell until it dries though :-)
Be careful though because the porosity of the foam will make it harder than you might expect to get a full coat to seal everything. It will be a little like painting a block wall that soaks up paint like a sponge.
Bill
“Stinky new smell” that made me laugh haha. Luckily it’s not a lot of space so I’ll be grabbing some BIN tomorrow! How long would you say the odor of BIN lasts in an area that has low humidity and moderate temperature?
It’ll be pretty bad for at least a day, should get better after that. Try to have some ventilation while you’re working with it. BIN is one of those products that really does a great job when you need it, but it is some really stinky stuff.
I use BIN for really tough sealing work. This can be sappy pine boards, cat pee soaked subfloor, stuff like that. People have used it to seal wood that smells of nicotine too. It works great for stuff like that, but it’s smelly to work with and expensive. I use cover stain, the oil based version, for lesser problem surfaces (walls where I stripped wallpaper, for example). For more basic stuff like fresh drywall one of the new latex primers like Zinsser 123 does a good job with much less smell.
I remember using cover stain in a room recently. I didn’t have enough ventilation and didn’t notice until I was done, left the room, and noticed a weird smell when I was NOT in the room (my sense of smell got messed up from smelling the primer for so long). I also felt a little sick for maybe 3-4 hours that day after the job. You do want to be careful with the more aggressive primers because of the solvents used. Proper Respirators with the correct cartridge (that last part is really important) can help with this, but good ventilation helps too. If you just have a little priming to do with BIN you don’t have much to worry about, but I’d try to ventilate the space for at least a day to get the worst of the smell out.
Bill
This is all great info. Thank you so much for the quick and detailed answer!!