[GSBN] Fwd: [SB-r-us] Attic fire, in a straw bale duplex.

[John Swearingen]

Interesting question, and I certainly don't know the answer.

Personally, I would assume that the earthen/clay plasters would not have
allowed much smoke penetration unless there was intense smoke for a long
period of time.  The question would be how to document that to everyone's
satisfaction.  It's possible that the walls could be tested for the presence
of the acidic smoke residues, such as HCl,  that are commonly linked to
corrosion of metals after a fire.  This could establish the depth of smoke
penetration into the plaster and/or bale walls.

The earthen plaster walls can be incrementally eroded down to a level where
smoke has not penetrated--that is, you could wash/rub/scrape off 1/4" or so,
down to a safe depth, and then refinish without wrecking the whole assembly.

Alternatively, you could train a sniffer dog to pee on any wall that smells
of smoke.

My two cents and a pack of cigarettes.

John





On Thu, Nov 4, 2010 at 6:21 AM, Mark Piepkorn
<duckchow at potkettleblack.com>wrote:

>  Forwarded message. Please include Frank Tettemer in any replies.
>
>
> -------- Original Message --------
>
>
>
>   From: Frank Tettemer <frank at livingsol.com> <frank at livingsol.com>
>
>
>
>   Hi All,
>
> Three weeks before moving into their new straw bale home in downtown
> Pembroke, Ontario, Canada, Suzanne and Rick have suffered a fire which
> started in the cellulose in the attic of their house.  The blame is
> shared between the chimney installer, who only provided a one foot high
> clearance collar in the attic, and the insulation company who pumped in
> insulation to a depth of 23".
>
> Trusses are damaged, the fire was put out, with plenty of water, in a
> cathedral ceiling.  This means that the water ran down the vapour
> barrier, in the truss area, onto the plaster-capped bale walls, and ran
> into the room in black, stinky rivulets, staining all the interior
> plastering, (earthen with American Clay, fiber,manure, and sand.)
> Exterior plaster of lime and sand appears untouched over 95% of the wall
> surfaces.
>
> The building structure is post and beam, located within the inside of
> the plaster and bale wall sections, and is unharmed, structurally. Only
> two small areas have exposed bales, and that was as a result of the
> firemen chopping into the walls at points that they suspected may have
> caught fire.  All in all, the plaster/bale walls are unburnt.
> Clearly, from a structural point of view, the trusses could be removed
> next spring, the mess cleaned out, and structurally damaged bales (very
> few) could be replaced and replastered.
>
> The insurance folks, and the forensic engineer with whom I have spoken
> today, both agree that the main issue is not structural, but is the
> smell, and it's feared ghost-like re-appearance, for years down the
> road.  Their take on it is to bulldoze everything, preserving the
> foundation, and start again, to avoid the stinky-winky odours.
> I'm not totally convinced that the smell has penetrated all the walls.
> But I have no way of telling, at present.
> Is there such a thing as a "smell detector"?
> Does anyone have contact info for other bale home owners who have
> experienced a fire restoration?
> I would greatly like to hear all stories connected to restoration after
> a fire, both successful and unsuccessful, as all info is useful in
> trying to evaluate the current situation.
>
> Any fire victims out there?  And does it still stink?
>
> Frank Tettemer
>
> --
> Frank Tettemer
> Living Sol ~ Building and Designwww.livingsol.com
> 613 756 3884
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> GSBN mailing list
> GSBN at greenbuilder.com
> http://greenbuilder.com/mailman/listinfo/GSBN
>
>


-- 
John Swearingen
Skillful Means Design & Construction
2550 9th Street   Suite 209A
Berkeley, CA   94710
510.849.1800 phone
510.849.1900 fax

Web Site:  http://www.skillful-means.com
Blog:         https://skillfulmeansdesign.wordpress.com
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.sustainablesources.com/pipermail/gsbn/attachments/20101104/136bc63b/attachment.htm>