# paint sprayer and "encapsulating" paint recommendations for meth home remediation



## Spiderzak (Jan 31, 2013)

*paint sprayer and "encapsulating" paint recommendations for meth home remediation*

Please respond if you have a specific paint, primer and/or paint sprayer that you'd recommend that fits the bill for this project!

I've recently purchased a home that was decontaminated from meth and I plan to live in it soon and use it later as a rental. I'm going to follow the EPA voluntary guidelines for meth lab cleanup which includes washing and sealing the walls. The washing has already been done by a certified decontamination company and the house has passed state regulations. So, the project that needs to happen before I can move in is painting all walls, ceilings and cabinets in a 1400 sq ft home. I'm looking for input on two items: choice of paint sprayer and choices in paint & primer.

The guidelines recommend encapsulating interior surfaces using oil based paint, epoxies or polyurethane, in multiple coats and using a paint sprayer rather than a roller. It also recommends using a primer that will not "deteriorate over time."

I see a Krause & Becker 5/8 Hp airless paint sprayer kit at Harbor Freight and without other recommendations, will likely go with it. I am not sure if all spray painters work for all types of paint or not. Please share if you have experience.

Thank you!


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## jsheridan (Jan 30, 2011)

Spider, I've never seen a post like this, a previous meth lab, huh? What are you trying to encapsulate, is it odor or chemical residue? Zinsser BIN is the leader in odor sealing. It is a alcohol based pigmented shellac. Zinsser also makes an oil based sealer called Cover Stain. There are other oil sealers like Kilz, but the Cover Stain and BIN are also bonding primers. You can blast all the trim, cabinets, and other surfaces that would need sanding and not worry about sanding to create a bond. Kilz is not a bonding primer. It may be worth a call to their tech line to find their recommendation.
I know both can be sprayed, but I don't have enough experience with sprayers to answer that question.


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## Brushjockey (Mar 8, 2011)

To know what you are sealing back would help- but IMO this is a job that you should hire a pro to do. Spraying that stuff needs proper equipment, including respirators and protection.
Not something a DIY just walks in and does.


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## jsheridan (Jan 30, 2011)

And learning to spray with BIN


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## Spiderzak (Jan 31, 2013)

The meth levels in the home weren't quite high enough to indicate that meth was cooked in the home, it may have just been smoked, but I will never know for sure. Regardless, there is now an array of chemicals that seeped into the wall which I need to prevent from volatizing again. I'd like to do the work myself, both for cost reasons and interest.

Good idea to call the paint companies.


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## ToolSeeker (Sep 19, 2012)

If you end up spraying yourself look into a Graco or Titan sprayer especially since you said multiple coats. Yes they are more money but with the different tips available they are worth it. When done if you have no more use for it put it on craigs list. Sherwin Williams sell a encapsulating primer it's used a lot for smoke damage but I don't remember the name Pro Bond or something like that I think. Ben Moore should have something along those lines also. Just my opinion but for what was there and what you are sealing I don't feel that this would be the time to go cheap. Go with quality products and paint companies that have specialized products.


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## grizzzlle (Jan 27, 2013)

Your lucky. Usually the sheet rock and floors have to be removed.


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## jsheridan (Jan 30, 2011)

Have a lot of meth labs out there in the PRO, the People's Republic of Oregon Griz?:laughing:


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## chrisn (Dec 23, 2007)

jsheridan said:


> Have a lot of meth labs out there in the PRO, the People's Republic of Oregon Griz?:laughing:


 
a couple , it looks like


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## grizzzlle (Jan 27, 2013)

Lol. Hate to say it but I think those numbers actually are low. At the beginning of the meth problem the health department was lagging on how to respond to houses affected by meth. Rumor was by the time the health department and deq caught up to what was needed for homes to be cleaned up some homes had been sold. There was new home owners that received notices that their house had to be vacated till the repairs had been complete.


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## jsheridan (Jan 30, 2011)

Those are also 1998 figures, probably quadrupled now. Look at Missouri, 371, the "Show Me" state. Yea, show me the meth biatch!


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## Spiderzak (Jan 31, 2013)

ToolSeeker said:


> look into a Graco or Titan sprayer


Thanks for the suggestion. I checked into these brands and they do look better than the one I saw on Harbor Freight, and they're not prohibitively more expensive.

I am actually replacing the flooring in the house too, though not the subfloor. The main purpose isn't for meth reasons though, it's just because the floors were horrible. The house has a lot of other needs outside of the meth issue.


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## blugularis (Oct 7, 2018)

*Re: paint sprayer and "encapsulating" paint recommendations for meth home remediation*



Spiderzak said:


> Please respond if you have a specific paint, primer and/or paint sprayer that you'd recommend that fits the bill for this project!
> 
> I've recently purchased a home that was decontaminated from meth and I plan to live in it soon and use it later as a rental. I'm going to follow the EPA voluntary guidelines for meth lab cleanup which includes washing and sealing the walls. The washing has already been done by a certified decontamination company and the house has passed state regulations. So, the project that needs to happen before I can move in is painting all walls, ceilings and cabinets in a 1400 sq ft home. I'm looking for input on two items: choice of paint sprayer and choices in paint & primer.
> 
> ...



I recently did a meth house, smoked, and not a lab, labs are stronger. but with a swipe, it tested over the limit for our state. I also had a very difficult job, harder and worse than this, doing a tobacco house, lady had smoked like five packs a day for ten years (no joke). I agree with some of the others, a pigmented shellac, such as zinser 123, is your best bet, we used to call it, incolac or zerolac (brand name?) or lsd in a can...LOL ;o). but you better make sure to run at least a half a gallon of alcohol through your pump, then a good hot water rinse, before switching to latex. this is what i did, learning from the tobacco house, and also doing research. i first hit it with kilz oriigonal. my brother looked it up, and said 'it's hot kersonsene and finely ground up rocks' chemistry. so one coat of that to lock it into place. sprayed that, damn best wear the best charcoal mask you got, and keep some ventilation going, even my eyes burned, and snot came out of my nose, and i almost puked once. my mask was loose. then i was going to top coat with kilz max, but found a product at sherwin williams, it's their, what i call 'pink label' oil modified, acrylic alkyd, blend, primer, it's like an oil/alkyd, but its' waterborne, and it's one of the best products i've ever seen, goes on like an oil, but cleans up like a water borne, smells like alkyd the next day, w/o the stink. kilz max might be good, but i think that this is better. i've see a water stain come through kilz max. i then found a journal resarch article, where they ran tests, exposed wood and sheetrock to meth smoke, and then tested products. they said that "kills' a mispelling, stoppped it cold, and that an oil base, stopped it cold too, zero percent meth came through. what's funny, is that the realtor had two folks tell him that you had to use a semigloss rather than a satin, finish coat, to stop the meth, and he believed them.:vs_laugh:


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## woodco (Jun 11, 2017)

*Re: paint sprayer and "encapsulating" paint recommendations for meth home remediation*

I would do it the same way I used to do dead body or fire houses. Prime the walls AND the subfloor with BIN. Either spray and backroll or just use a roller on the subfloors. I used to use kilz. If you're on a budget, oil based Kilz will work, but its REALLY nasty, fumewise. You need a damn good respirator, and take a break after every room. The fumes will go through the blood vessels in your eyes, and you could literally pass out, then die of asphyxiation. BIN isnt quite as bad, as its alcohol based.


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## ron45 (Feb 25, 2014)

*Re: paint sprayer and "encapsulating" paint recommendations for meth home remediation*

Just my opinion.

I would call in a pro.

Way too much involved

The people who do this type of work have completed classes.


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## Miniwax (Sep 13, 2018)

*Re: paint sprayer and "encapsulating" paint recommendations for meth home remediation*



blugularis said:


> I agree with some of the others, a pigmented shellac, such as zinser 123...


123 and 123+ are both water-based primers.


blugularis said:


> ...best wear the best charcoal mask you got, and keep some ventilation going, even my eyes burned, and snot came out of my nose, and i almost puked once. my mask was loose.


No, your mask was woefully insufficient for the job. You need an actual respirator.


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## cocomonkeynuts (Jan 12, 2018)

*Re: paint sprayer and "encapsulating" paint recommendations for meth home remediation*



Miniwax said:


> 123 and 123+ are both water-based primers.
> 
> No, your mask was woefully insufficient for the job. You need an actual respirator.



In particular filters for organic vapors like 3m 6001 or 6006


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## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

*Re: paint sprayer and "encapsulating" paint recommendations for meth home remediation*

While I've done some fire restoration work, I've never been called on to do a meth house. I assume but don't know that the work would be similar. 



That said, y'all do know this thread is several years old.


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