Degreasing a fab shop to convert to office space

[Jerry D]

I have a job lined up where we have a fab shop that has been sold and is being converted to ofice space. Roughly 7500 Sq ft

The brick walls and ceiling are covered in a grime.

New walls are being built with insulation along all the exterior brick walls so they will be covered however they still need to be cleaned.

The ceiling is going to stay open and it is going to be painted once it is cleaned.

What is the best practical way to clean this coating of grease off everything?

We are happy to rent required equipment.

Thanks

[Dewey Cox]

Sheet over it.

[pikergolf]

Steam and then wash with a degeaser.

[wildbill]

Get a pump pod with industrial degreaser ie. biosol 315, natural blue, soak the walls with that stuff, then wash it off with a pressure washer, we did all the process buildings at a certain gas plant that way except we used 2” fire hose with the fire water, operations loved us once we were done. If you use that stuff straight it will peel certain paints off. You’ll just have find a way to dispose of all that water. As well you may want to get a scrub brush ( the one with a broom handle) and work that soap into the real greasy spots, there was buildings that were just saturated in all sorts of chemicals, most of the concrete looked new when we done. Another thing is squeegees to push the water, you can use the pressure washer to aid in this as well. Hope that helps!

[270person]

Originally Posted by Jerry D

I have a job lined up where we have a fab shop that has been sold and is being converted to ofice space. Roughly 7500 Sq ft

The brick walls and ceiling are covered in a grime.

New walls are being built with insulation along all the exterior brick walls so they will be covered however they still need to be cleaned.

The ceiling is going to stay open and it is going to be painted once it is cleaned.

What is the best practical way to clean this coating of grease off everything?

We are happy to rent required equipment.

Thanks

So the walls are brick but the ceiling is?? If it's a hard surface I can probably help you out. Porous or absorbent requires a little more analysis. Can it be simply pressure washed or foamed, or does it require some dwell time to loosen up the dirt?


Rule 1 is what is the nature of the fouling? Simple oil? Oily based? Carbon soot? Everyday buildup of dirt, and dust? There might be some very good, non toxic, non flammable, and safe to atomize products that will do every bit as good a job as an industrial solvent. solvents are great for tar and bitumen emulsifying. rarely required for anything else.


Rule 2 is to read the msds for the product you intend to use. The aforementioned Biosol product, like many of their products, is probably not as safe as they like to say they are. Gotta love open cup flashpoint ratings.


Rule 3 is it's usually not a great idea to ask a general forum what they'd use when they probably have no idea what the fouling is comprised of and by and large do not have any idea what's dangerous and what isn't.

I'm anxiously waiting for someone to recommend a lovely d'limone based orange solvent. Because they're so biodegradable and dammit...they smell good. 43C flashpoint, eye and respiratory damage be damned.

[Jerry D]

Ceiling is a industrial flat roof. All metal. It can be sprayed with water. All electronical is in metal conduit.

May try to add a picture.

The grim is oily based and everything sticks to it. Dust and metal powders from grinding cutting and welding etc

[MooseRiverTrapper]

Citra clean in sprayer and steam works well if possible.

[Jerry D]

Here is one picture.

The walls are a light cream color when clean. You can see on the right side of image the amount of dark yellow orange oil stuff on the walls with all sorts of dust dirt and metal particles all sticking to it.

I will look into the suggestions.

How do you steam the walls? What is the unit or brand called that a person would use?

Sent from my SM-A500W using Tapatalk

[pikergolf]

Originally Posted by Jerry D

Here is one picture.

The walls are a light cream color when clean. You can see on the right side of image the amount of dark yellow orange oil stuff on the walls with all sorts of dust dirt and metal particles all sticking to it.

I will look into the suggestions.

How do you steam the walls? What is the unit or brand called that a person would use?

Sent from my SM-A500W using Tapatalk

I'm not sure where you would get one. I used them when I worked in a glass factory. We would steam the machines and walls off. Cut grease like a damn.

[Coreyh]

Dry ice blasting (aka CO2 blasting) will work. Ice is expensive, but you won't have a bunch of waste water to clean up and dispose of afterwards.