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We're restoring a fire-damaged house and hired a subcontractor to do smoke remediation, after we'd stripped the house down to the studs.

The contractor was supposed to soda-blast all surfaces, clean, and then apply smoke seal.

The contractor claims to have finished the job, but the smoke seal has been applied right over: cobwebs, bits of stray insulation, loose dirt, and even wasps' nests!

This suggests that the blasting was not done but, of course, the contractor swears that it was.

Is there any way to tell for sure? (Maybe they just missed a few -- okay a lot of spots.)

Typical problems with the smoke seal (click on images for a larger view):

Spider webs 1 Sealed in dirt Wasps' nests! Spider webs 2

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    I call BS on that contractor. I do not believe him. – Evil Elf Aug 31 '15 at 12:39
  • @EvilElf I call BS as well but I would be interested in seeing some "before" pics. Hopefully Brock has some :/ because this would also help him solidify his case against the contractor. – MonkeyZeus Sep 1 '15 at 14:53
  • @MonkeyZeus, Unfortunately, all of the "before" pics are with the drywall still in place. Just have this one poor shot, taken for a different purpose. I'd love to see close-up pics of untreated versus blasted wood -- especially after primer has been applied. But, haven't been able to find any yet. – Brock Adams Sep 1 '15 at 17:41
  • The Youtube videos I watched of soda blasting suggest to me that it would have knocked those cobwebs off. To this untrained eye, I agree with the others. – InbetweenWeekends Sep 25 '15 at 12:23
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    soda blasting wipes even loose paint off not just cobwebs, they may have only blasted areas that were "smoke dammaged" but deffinatly not the areas the photos were taken in – Ed Beal Nov 18 '15 at 20:54
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attic rafters

soot and smoke removal

underside of first floor from basement on suite after cleaning

basement on suite before cleaning finished

They definitely did not soda blast the wood they simply painted it over. this reply is a bit late but i think your insurance company would still like to know that they as well as you were defrauded by said contractor. and it may still be possible to have them return the money amount that was supposedly the cost of said falsified work they did. soda blasted wood has a almost glass like smoothness to it this ultra smooth surface finish will be reflected in the overcoat. it will be a smooth almost gloss enamel finish if done right.

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  • Thanks. Do you have any pictures? – Brock Adams Dec 19 '15 at 0:07
  • i forgot to post them i fixed my post the company i was with at the time had to come in behind the remediation team and rewire the house, and you guessed it the on suite in the basement and thankfully nothing else burnt to the bare walls from bad wiring done by a non professional electrician. – Arion Mitutoyo Dec 19 '15 at 1:31

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