Which paint for covering up smells

[etpm]

We have an outbuilding that is just a room, about 200 square feet. I used it for my business office but retired a couple years ago. Then starting about a year ago we let a guy stay in it for free and he lived there for a year while getting back on his feet. He used the bathroom in my shop which has a door to the outside that is only a 20 foot walk away and so is quite convenient. Besides the bathroom door to the outside it also has a shower. Despite the convenience the guy didn't use the shower often enough.
Anyway, the room is all cleaned out but smells bad. Unwashed body smell, dirty laundry smell, rotting food left out smell and dirty dishes smell. After washing the walls with TSP I'm thinking about painting with Kilz and then new paint of the color we want over the Kilz. But I'm open to suggestions. We want to use the room again for guests and are going to be adding a bathroom. The room will need to smell good though. I don't want those bad smells returning later.
Thanks,
Eric

 

[MaxLee]

Kilz the way to go

 

[bmaverick]

We have an outbuilding that is just a room, about 200 square feet. I used it for my business office but retired a couple years ago. Then starting about a year ago we let a guy stay in it for free and he lived there for a year while getting back on his feet. He used the bathroom in my shop which has a door to the outside that is only a 20 foot walk away and so is quite convenient. Besides the bathroom door to the outside it also has a shower. Despite the convenience the guy didn't use the shower often enough.
Anyway, the room is all cleaned out but smells bad. Unwashed body smell, dirty laundry smell, rotting food left out smell and dirty dishes smell. After washing the walls with TSP I'm thinking about painting with Kilz and then new paint of the color we want over the Kilz. But I'm open to suggestions. We want to use the room again for guests and are going to be adding a bathroom. The room will need to smell good though. I don't want those bad smells returning later.
Thanks,
Eric

You need to rent an ozone generator. One capable of reaching 12 to 20ppm. You would run it overnight in the room or 6 to 8 hours. Best to run at night with no sunlight. In the morning, open all doors and windows. If too small of a room, use a blower.

Ozone rids bad smells, odors, mold, mildew, bacteria, many viruses, etc.

My 1st home was a fixer-upper. The tri-level lower level had been in sitting water for a few months. It had wood paneling. There were all kinds or reaking smells, worse than an old man body smell being dirty. After we pumped it all dry, ripped out all the paneling, studs, ceiling tiles, the odor still was a killer. We had to do the ozone treatment 3X. And finally was able to se the house.

Bleach works well on concrete.

Then we did come back with Kilz for 2 coats and finally got to doing the lower level they way we wanted it.

Ozone Generator Rental: Is Buying or Renting Best For You? | OdorFree

Why rent an ozone generator when one can be owned for much less? With OdorFree, buying a residential or commercial ozone machine is typically more cost effective than renting.

www.odorfree.com

 

[2manyrocks]

What floor and ceiling materials do you have? Drywall on the walls? Anything else left in the room that would have absorbed odors?

 

[ponytug]

Sorry to hear it.

I would start with the ozone generator or washing the walls with TSP and bleach, and then think about painting. Odors can be very pervasive. What is the floor?

All the best,

Peter

 

[MAX-24-Dean]

We recently had a similiar situation, wiped down the painted sheetrock walls with bleach. Worked quite well, did a second wipe down with bleach using a damp sponge and that took care of the residual odor. Have a gallon of KILZ stain blocker and odor control, but have not repainted yet.

 

[Yogi05]

I have used an ozone generator. One we had at work that supposedly can be used to get dead person smells out.
It was used for airing out used cars.
I smoke like an '89 Ford Tempo and have used it at home to remove years of smoking.
Recently had some repairs done and just a fresh paint job did the trick for the cigarette smell.

 

[oosik]

I have my doubts about suggested methods of removing odors. A couple attempted to renovate a farm house where drugs had been manufactured and used for years. It was REALLY bad. There was a continuous brown stain on all the walls. A smoke stain from mfg of drugs.

Further examination revealed that the "smoke" had invaded the sheetrock walls - the wood floors - all the cloth furniture - all the draperies - the ceiling - the insulation. It was determined that no amount of cleaning would render this house safe for young children. The fire dept did a controlled burn - the insurance company paid for the house.

As Director of Environmental Health - it fell upon me to declare the house - unfit for human habitation.

 

[2manyrocks]

The chemicals from making meth will penetrate interior surfaces, and there's no safe way to get them out, to my knowledge. They can also contaminate septic systems, too.

But the OP is talking about smell from basic lack of hygiene, I hope.

 

[etpm]

The chemicals from making meth will penetrate interior surfaces, and there's no safe way to get them out, to my knowledge. They can also contaminate septic systems, too.

But the OP is talking about smell from basic lack of hygiene, I hope.

Yup, basic lack of hygiene. Nothing else thankfully.
Eric

 

[2manyrocks]

A thorough cleaning can do wonders to get rid of odors. I own a commercial carpet cleaner. There can be a heck of a lot of odor trapped in a carpet.

 

[dougtrr2]

I would do a meticulous inspection to make sure that there wasn't something left behind that is giving off the odor.

Doug in SW IA

 

[JasperFrank]

Felt sorry for some folks that bought a local small house that they wanted to fix p and rent out. It had been used prior as a cook house for Meth. They are still working on it two years later. They've had to gut the entire interior down to studs AND replace the entire septic system and the entire septic leach field. I guess the Meth cooks just flushed all their old chemicals? I looked at it briefly when it was up for sale. It was cheap for the area, but then I saw the DEQ sticker and RAN.

I used B-I-N as a vapor barrier all though out my house while building. It off gasses a bit, as does KILZ, so your gonna want some strong ventilation fans going during application and forego the tradtional after work 6-pack.

 

[sixdogs]

I had a situation on a concrete floor with a really bad residual smell left behind from decades old sour gear oil. I could not get the smell out and even tried acid washes and such. Sherwin Williams advised painting the floor with their two-part epoxy 9000 floor coating and I did that. Problem solved.

Which leads me to suggest getting in touch with a Sherwin Williams paint place, or something similar and asking questions. They have paint engineers you can call as well. They have been through this before.

As well, I know that epoxy worked on my floor so maybe there are paints that are epoxies suitable for other surfaces?

The walls may be a bigger challenge because it seems paper and plaster would be easy surfaces for smells to penetrate.

 

[2manyrocks]

Concrete is porous even though it doesn't look like it.

 

[etpm]

What floor and ceiling materials do you have? Drywall on the walls? Anything else left in the room that would have absorbed odors?

Floor and ceiling are drywall. The floor is either going to be replaced or covered. The existing floor is a floating floor but some of the floor is wet and damaged. I cannot find the source of the water. There is no plumbing to the building and the wet spot is a couple feet from the wall and the only door. I am going to remove the sections of flooring where it is wet. When our house was built we had 3/4" maple floors put down. Truly lovely and wonderful floors. And we had flooring left over. It has been stacked in the garage up off of the floor for about 15 years now. There may be enough for the room. We are considering having it put in the room. In fact, it is almost a sure thing that we will be replacing the floor with the maple.
Thanks,
Eric

 

[etpm]

Thanks Everyone for your kind replies. I have decided to use KILZ. It was a tossup between KILZ and B-I-N but KILZ finally got the nod.
Thanks Again,
Eric

 

[ponytug]

Floor and ceiling are drywall. The floor is either going to be replaced or covered. The existing floor is a floating floor but some of the floor is wet and damaged. I cannot find the source of the water. There is no plumbing to the building and the wet spot is a couple feet from the wall and the only door. I am going to remove the sections of flooring where it is wet. When our house was built we had 3/4" maple floors put down. Truly lovely and wonderful floors. And we had flooring left over. It has been stacked in the garage up off of the floor for about 15 years now. There may be enough for the room. We are considering having it put in the room. In fact, it is almost a sure thing that we will be replacing the floor with the maple.
Thanks,
Eric

If it were me, I would find the source of the wet/damp before painting and deciding next steps. It may have a simple explanation like your tenant having a cotton rug where he let his wet boots drip dry, but it might not, and the "might not" possibilities would worry me about smells. I think pulling the floor up to look is an excellent idea.

I would put a liner under your maple to let the floor move a bit relative to the new maple as they are probably going to be in different states of water content/dryness. Just my $0.02

All the best,

Peter

 

[nyone]

Ozone generator. However they really only work when the humidity is low. It may take days or running it or many cycles at it but generaly it's the most hands off approach. They also kill everything living including mold.

Bleach may sound and feel like its killing things but bleach needs oxygen to kill things. White vinegar kills what's below the surface, where a constant stink is. I would still spend $60 on a ozone generator. In today's age that's only about 2gal of paint.

 

[dstig1]

Do be careful if you use an ozone generator. You do not want to breathe that in, in any kind of concentration. It will give you an instant headache that will last a long time, at the minimum, and potentially worse. Just basically use your head when you go to shut it off and open the place up and make sure you don't get a face full of it. But they are very effective as long as you take reasonable precautions.