Need to clean the interior of an old barn.

[turbonyg 17]

How would you guys approch cleaning the inside of this barn. They want all walls and ceiling washed and the cement floor degreased which looks like old motor oil stains.

It is roughly 33x22, 1/4 loft "ceiling" on each side of center with the center open. They are planning to leave it a rustic look interior and will be installing paneling on the lower walls and leaving the ceiling as is.

My thought for the wood is softwash it with house soap only to remove the dirt/dust/cobwebs, that way there would be little to no change in wood color.

 

Any suggestions?

 

Pics:  http://s50.photobucket.com/user/dbrown35/library/Barn

Edited March 14, 2014 by turbonyg

[cleanhoods 43]

Looks to be old ruff cut lumber, i wouldnt wash it really cause the look wouldnt chamge much unless the birds got crap on the wood to preserve the rustic look best to no wash. But a good old dusting would help a bunch. Just my 2 cents. The concrete wash.

Marko

[turbonyg 17]

The customer wants it washed to give a "clean rustic look". If things lighten up a little it will be fine, but I don't expect it to just doing a soap wash. It will be turned into an interperitve center / livery along the river. It's owned by the county.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Where is the water draining out is my first question, second question is are you doing just the walls or are you doing the beams and ceilings? I can suggest a couple of methods, but questions number one is KEY to answering you.

 

Beth

[turbonyg 17]

There is no set drain point and the floor is relatively flat looking from what I could see. The plan was to have a second person running a shop vac or pump.

 

They want the whole interior (walls, ceilings, beams) washed down to wash off all of the surface dirt/cobwebs etc that will come off. I do not have to do a normal style wood cleaning, basically a soft wash like would be done on a home exterior.

[James 625]

One issue to consider is interior barn wood gets very dirty especially if ruff cut. It holds a tremendous amount of dirt and grime. Rinsing is not enough and pressure is needed. Do a large test spot to determine what is the best option.

[Greg R 82]

Anything ever come of this?

[turbonyg 17]

Nothing yet. It's for a city agency so I don't expect anything until it becomes a rush job. So if you have an suggestions I still open to hearing them.

[Aqua Pro 22]

I had a very similar job a few years ago. Old farm Barn was bought by a church and they wanted everything clean because they were converting it into a youth center with the rustic look.

It had loads of pigeon poop and dirt/webs and bird nests. We factored a scissor lift into our bid and x-jetted power house from sun bright cut with bleach and a red proportioner.

There was no need to brighten it once washed and because we used a mild alkaline wash the rince was easy.

The hardest part of the job was the logistics of it. Getting in and around and above some of the beams. That and keeping our wash strokes even and feathering out areas that we couldn't run the length of the board or beam to prevent stop marks.