Removing the stink from a barn?

[Iplayfarmer]

That perfectly describes mice.

Remove any source of food, set traps, and don't kill the rat and milk snakes.

Natural of forced ventilation will take care of the moisture.

There are no chemicals I know of that have lingering odors. The worst offender is usually
grease. A little tube grease in a barn will stink it up for years. Scrubbing it with strong soap
and airing it out helps, but nothing can totally eliminate grease smell.

+1 on the mice.

Maybe this has already been established, but does the barn have a ridge vent or some kind of roof vent? If not, you're going to have a heck of a time reducing humidity until you get one.

Bleach is great for killing micros. Pure odor control is better accomplished with either peroxide or bicarbonate (baking soda). If you can get it, hydrogen peroxide is probably your best bet. I know you can get it from companies that sell cleaning supplies to food manufacturers. There may be other sources as well.

PM me if you want help finding someone who can get you peroxide.

 

[forgeblast]

I was thinking of the tv show mythbusters. They were talking about getting the stink out of a car. They put a pork in a car and sealed up the car for a week or month at 90 degrees. They had a guy come to help and he was a crime scene cleaner. They used some type of enzyme cleaner to get rid of the biological stank.
I would look in the phone book for one of those guys, or
Pet Odor Stain Enzyme Blood Urine Rug Cleaner Dog Cat - eBay (item 230392336329 end time Nov-24-09 17:42:01 PST)

Zymex Dual Enzyme Cleaner Concentrate 32 oz case of 4 - eBay (item 220501378464 end time Nov-26-09 07:04:10 PST)

 

[zmoz]

Well, I went and wandered around Home Depot for a while and found several outdoor/wood type spray on mold/mildew killer, and some things that even claim to leave a "barrier" behind. Might try some of that and see how it works. Also noticed 5 gallons of Kilz is only $54. Think I could spray that out of a garden type sprayer?

Maybe this has already been established, but does the barn have a ridge vent or some kind of roof vent? If not, you're going to have a heck of a time reducing humidity until you get one.

Right now there's some triangular vents in the wall at the apex of the roof, though they're just holes in the wall covered with screen and rebar. Eventually I'm going to cover those up and probably install one of those "turbine" exhaust vent things, and/or some electric exhaust fans.

 

[charlz]

Also noticed 5 gallons of Kilz is only $54. Think I could spray that out of a garden type sprayer?

I know the Killz 2 interior/exterior latex is pretty thick and I believe the instructions say to not thin it if it can be avoided. Don't think you could get that through a deck stain or garden type sprayer in any type of mist.

 

[woodlandfarms]

I am north of you, just past Vancouver WA. Our property was a major meth operation a few years ago. It has caused us some interesting moments.

First, the first week on the property the cops stopped by. Told us about the previous owners activities, and asked us to keep an eye out for strange mounds of dirt, they a business partner of the previous owner is buried on the land.

Second, we have had visitors. We put up video security as we are not always around. Seems that you can be in prison for a few years and your friends still don't know or forget.

We have found tons of paraphinlia, some heroin, and some coke. Cops came and took the stuff away, but said that if we find any cooking stuff that it was our responsability to clean up. (they take the drugs, they leave the toxins and the cooking gear).

Thankfully the guy cooked in a trailer, so the whole thing was self contained and we had no issue with cleanup.

Go watch SUNSHINE CLEANING. It has some great tips for your situation.

We were told to glove and mask if we found any leftover cooking material, and to dispose of it in the dump unless we wanted a big bill from Hazmat. I do love living in the sticks...

Oh, and the Killz thingy. I don't think you want to do that. You need to permeate the wood, and killz is a cover, not a killer. A good cleaning supply place (industrial) will have stuff used for dead bodies (someone suggested that) or pool bleach (nasty stuff).

 

[zmoz]

Well, I can say the humidity is DEFINATELY coming from the floor. I don't know why. I laid down about a 10x10 peice of plastic and put gravel on top 3 days ago, haven't been back to the barn since. Went to check on things tonight and where my fans had been blowing above the plastic was dry as a bone, but another area I raked 3 days ago was clearly moist. It seemed dry when I was raking it. By the way, raking gravel sucks. Grrrr....

Humidity is still hovering around 80-90%, I think once I get that down the smell should be significantly decreased.

I've also pulled out at least a few pounds of nails and screws from the gravel. It's like somebody went in there and scattered them around like confetti. Found two in my shoes for crying out loud! Need to go over the place with a giant magnet before I park anything with tires in there...

 

[carasel]

in the barn to control horse urine smell we use pdz. white/gray crystals
we clean the stalls out. then sprinkle this on wet spots. cover with shavings.
you could apply this. leave it down for a few days. then reapply.
we never have a problem of smells. i assume it would work on human pee also.
you can buy it at farm supply stores.
if it was a meth lab. get it checked. here in tn. a few places have been condemned because of contamination.

 

[woodlandfarms]

Two more things on the humidity. We battle both a sub surface underground spring, and a sloped hill that allows water to run in.

Not sure what part of oregon you are in, but if you are on the wet side might be worth a look.

 

[Pops15]

Well, I can say the humidity is DEFINATELY coming from the floor. I don't know why. I laid down about a 10x10 peice of plastic and put gravel on top 3 days ago, haven't been back to the barn since. Went to check on things tonight and where my fans had been blowing above the plastic was dry as a bone, but another area I raked 3 days ago was clearly moist. It seemed dry when I was raking it. By the way, raking gravel sucks. Grrrr....

Humidity is still hovering around 80-90%, I think once I get that down the smell should be significantly decreased.

I've also pulled out at least a few pounds of nails and screws from the gravel. It's like somebody went in there and scattered them around like confetti. Found two in my shoes for crying out loud! Need to go over the place with a giant magnet before I park anything with tires in there...

Did you try running fans where there was no plastic? I suspect you'll find the air movement is what caused the gravel to be dry, not the plastic......unless theres a water source you haven't discovered.

 

[Harvest Moon]

If for some reason the floor is exceptionally cooler than the air, it could be pulling moisture from the air being vented through, concentrating it in the stone and increasing the humidity overall. Pumping lots of air through could be making things worse.

Check the temperature differential between the floor and the air.