a gas heater will sometimes smoke things up.

when I bought my house the renter has used
a gas heater in the fireplace and I had to
wash soot off all the paneling.

I agree with Sewgray. Ask the gas company to check the heater and if it burns butane you will have to have them check it or you can have black soot all over in no time if it is not calibrated correctly.
Wini - House of BCC in Houston

[quote=CAKELSEY]Try some Tri sodium Phosphate to clean with. Go to Home Depot and find it in the paint department. Will cut though all that very quickly. You can even use a sponge mop to apply it.
Good luck ...
Wini - House of BCC in Houston

[quote=mommaB]TSP (Tri sodium phosphate) is a great cleaner for something like this (ask me how I know :D ).
Opps I should have read all the posts before I posted my last tidbit of information.

Wini - House of BCC in Houston

Wish I was close enough to help with the cleaning, painting, etc :roll: It sounds like such a worthwhile project, and you can do everything to suit YOU!! Congrats and will be looking for pictures

Another great cleaning product is Greased Lightning. Available in supermarkets, WalMart, etc and very inexpensive. Good luck with your project.

DSIL swears by some stuff sold at Dollar General. It's called Awesome. Will clean carpet & just about anything else. Too bad you couldn't host a cleaning party so we could all come & get it licked in a day.

We have always had window units in our home, and I have never had any problems.

I used a window air conditioner many years and it did not hurt my fabric, however we had a propane gas heater on the wall that was not vented and it turned my walls yellow and my fabric had yellow lines where the fabric was folded. We have central (electric) heat and air now and I have had to wash and iron all my stash.

I don't have the yellow walls or stripes on my fabric any more. It really depends on the type of gas heater you have.

Wal-mart and Sams carries a odor removing solution. One of my friends has rental property and swears by it. I think it is called "odorid."

You all are great with advise on how to clean the place up but I'm really interested in how anyone could ever live in place like that!! What are the circumstances as to why it got this way? Can you imagine.....?? It always interests me how other people live. I like to go to Open Houses, even when I'm not in the market to buy a house, hahaha.

Hi Carol

I too think a window unit will be fine. If however you have no need for either heat or air certain times of the year I would invest in a dehumidifier in case of high humidity. Also be careful with any kind of plastic near your fabrics unless you are sure it is free of any kind of chemicals or residue. Some times these things can do more damage then one would think.

And also I am very happy for you but very jealous. Congrats!!!
Karol

I think its called Odorban. My sister uses it in her kennels.

If you would use a stain blocker - like Kilz - you wouldn't have had to wash the walls or ceilings. kilz is used to cover water marks Etc. It seals stains so they won't bleed through the new paint. Grease Lightening should remove the grease, or the new Dawn Direct Foam or good ole ammonia.

did i read correctly
A WHOLE HOUSE
lucky you, i just got a swing room after 43 yrs. you got a house!!!!!
good luck

My brother and sister in law have used "Odoban" for years with good results.

How lucky are you a whole house , this would have to be
something I can dream on , whatever you do enjoy it I think the sewing friends around the world are green with envy , .

Thanks again everybody. I'm still taking notes. I have Greased Lightning and Awesome and now I'm writing down Odorban to try it too. I don't feel like I'm in this alone. You don't know how much I appreciate all your responses. Carol

I am so envious of you...I know it will be lots of work, but the excitement and anticipation would be enough to get me up at the crack of dawn each day and get to work. My body is just too worn out to do that kind of work any longer though. Good luck and keep up posted on how things are coming.

Cakesly, Go in on one day and spray EVERYTHING with Fabric softner mixed in water. Floors, ceilings, everything. Then wait till the next day so it is good and dry, scrub them down with a sponge mop and you should be rid of all those smoke odor. Don't ask me how I know this works, I promise, it wasn't me, but I had to do it. Its not an extra step, but a life saver

A whole house, that is a dream come true. Green with envy. Congats. to you.

Thank you, one more thing to try.

I know it is alot of work but if we could come and help we would be there in a heartbeat. congrats on your new craft house.

Wow! How cool is that? A whole house for your studio! Getting organized in that amount of space should be easy! Congrats & have fun!

You shouldn't have any trouble with the fabric unless it gets too much moisture and molds, but your serger and machine will definitely not do well with a Swamp cooler, just too much moisture, ask me how I know. The can rust and really mess up. I woul invest in a window refg. air. Lucky you, how large is the house you just bouight? What a fantastic idea, your own quilting craft house, not just a small room but a whole house. Have lots of fun. Just think you can decorate it completely with things you make while there. Are you going to use natural gas or propane in the deerborn? Natural gas will eventually turn blue fabric to a purple like color and purple to a blue. If you keep the fabric under cover this can still happen. Propane will make things eventually on walls, and other objects become gummy when dirt collects on the residue, but I have no idea what propane will do to fabric. I would just make sure that I had all fabric in a plastic container.

You were lucky to be able to buy the house next door. Rentals can be a real pain. The only suggestion that I have is to consider a humidifier. Of course, this depends on the type of air conditioner that you use.

Wow a whole small house dedicated to quilting.

I think the gas heat will affect the fabric over time. I would use Kilz as a primer when I paint. Nothing should bleed thru that. Lucky you. Lets see before & after pics.

I read every word on every page of this post. It's a fascinating read. I can see that you have a monumental job of getting this house to a point where you can say "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!" and can get back to sewing. The real prize winning factor, in my mind, is that you will not have any more renters (weird or otherwise) living only a few yards away. That alone makes it all worthwhile!

I can sympathize with you we have just had some neighbors move out from next door to us, they were doozies too, a 24 yr. old mom with six, yes six kids all hers, and no twins, not sure about all dads though. Her grandmother lives on the other side of us. The house belongs to her Uncle and he is wanting to sell it. She lived rent free for three years , but when her Unce became unemployed and told her he needed some money, she got mad and said she would just move, she is starting to move things out. I told my DH that we need to buy it to keep our neighborhood and our house free from such in the future. I would like to add a breezeway between the two houses and give us a lot more room.That way he! he! he! I can make one great big room for sewing, and we can make him a good computer room. Our two children came in over the weekend when I told them about this, they both had great ideas about how we could join the houses and what we could do with the inside. Keep your fingers crossed for us too. But seriously, that house is exactly 6'8" from the side of our house. We have had vehicles scratched, plain garbage, dirty diapers, fast food trash, beer bottles, etc. in our front yard almost daily. We do not need this mess in the future. We were planning to fence our entire front in because of this. We are getting too old to deal with this.
Something else that is good for cleaning walls like yours is Simple Green. My MIL used propane for heating and also smoked heavily, her walls were like those you showed, when it was cleaned it looked like that. Propany will cause more of a film than natural gas. Our central heat is natural gas and we do not have this problem.

Do you think whoever lived there last ever took a bath? From the looks of that tub it hasn't been used in years.

Please let me know when the "Quilt House" is ready for guests!!! :) ;)

All your hard work will be worth the effort. One thought here--could you set up an area for quilters' day retreats? One of our quilt shops here in Fort Worth purchased adjacent space and allows groups to use it. The room is set up with long tables and plenty of plugs. Also an area for ironing boards and cutting mats. The LQS does not charge for using the space on the theory we will probably purchase something while we're there, duh! This is where our group goes once every couple of months to do hospice quilts. You might be able to rent your space if the price is reasonable.

Hi Gerbie, I hope you get to buy your house too. Mine is only 900 sq ft. I wish I could do a breezeway but my patio is at the side of this house (where my husband was working on the windows). When my neighbor passed away we had a metal wall put up between the houses because we did not know who would be living there and besides we would have to cut an opening in the side of the house to connect. Maybe one day I can at least put a covered walkway to the back door.

Hi Bren, no the house is not that big. It's only 900 sq ft, old and not enough plugs. The more I think about all I will need to put in there the smaller it gets. LOL

I am also from Texas. Central. Too much humidity may make mold so it does need to be controlled. I also found out that if you have electronic or computer machines they need to have consistent temperature. I ruined my computer machine by leaving it in my room that is not attached to the house. It got too hot and too cold in there and ruined the monitor screen. I put in a window unit that is a heater and A/C all in one unit, but it does add to the utility bill. A gas heater does put out a greasy film over time. Electric heaters might be a better choice. Maybe it would just be cheaper to add central in the long haul if that if possible. Your comfort is important too so you can enjoy what you are doing. Congratulations on your purchase.

Thank you, do you like your heater a/c unit? I still need to get one more window unit. Carol

First hubby and I had a couple rentals. Had a renter once that lived like that...you poor thing. He was some kind of mechanic and never cleaned the tub or toilet in the two years he lived in the place plus he smoked. The stove had to be thrown out...you could not clean it. I got sick from the chemicals when I first tried. It would have taken a commercial crew with industrial products to clean it.

The house was about 800-900SF. We gutted the house and started from scratch rather than attempt to clean it. Of course, he never paid the last couple months rent and he acted like it was no big deal when you talked to him.

Never will I own a rental again.

I am not a super duper neat housekeeper but it is TRULY amazing how some people live.

i also have a small rental house on my proprty,& have had dreams of turning it into a sewing "house"i'm sure we could get together & compare horror tales about renters!!!unfortunately,i need the income ! FORTUNATELY i found a young couple about 31/2 yrs ago,& i'm thinking about adopting them!!! they do ALL the upkeep w/o being asked or told.i also have a larger house rented on the same property,they take care of it ,too![i do pay them ,of course,but just knowing i don't have to worry about anything is more than worth what little they charge me!]i swear if they ever have a baby,i'll put on an add. to keep them!
i've lived in the biggest house since 1972,& rented out the other 2.have NEVER had tenants like this couple!love them to death.
thanx for letting me vent,dar