Cannabis
yes Colorado, it's time to talk about your love of the flower.
What about cannabis, you say?
Before we dive in, let's take a step back and explain the natural behavior of your flowering friend.
We've all learned about flowers and why they exist. Marijuana is no different. That stinky smell is a odoriferous chemical known as terpenes. The plant releases this chemical like all plants to attract pollinators and ward off predators. Unlike any other flower, these chemicals are pungent.
We're not judging! Some people like lavender, some like lilacs and some like cannabis.
So, what's the issue?
Unfortunately, chemical terpene penetrates deep into surfaces, resulting in a dead giveaway to your ritual.
So what? Who cares if it smells? I'll just paint and mask the odors...
How we all wish it was that easy. Unfortunately, like cigarette smoke, marijuana odors range from 0.5 to 128.0 microns. Paint only has a permeable vapor range down to approximately 80 microns.
Will an odor blocking primer work?
Odor blocking primers can have suspended shellac solids of .015 microns. This can help, but in the long run, it will cause more issues.
Why?
Shellac primers have a permeable vapor range of approximately 64 microns. Due to natural equilibrium in a home, especially during humid and hot seasons, this means even odor blocking primers can't stop the aromatic terpene from returning with a vengeance and filling your home with that naturally stinky smell you were hoping to mask.
Is that all?
Not even close! With all of this shellac priming and painting you've not only just sealed in the odor and turned your entire home into a odoriferous slow release diffuser. Worse, it can no longer be removed at a later date by a professional without an extremely costly restoration process!
But I'm selling the house so who cares?
Well, let's look at this from a buyer's perspective. A buyer walks into you freshly painted home and smells cannabis that you couldn't cover up. They also smell all the VOC's you've now added to your home from all the priming and painting. Now not only are you hiding something but now they know you just pawned off that expensive restoration to them. Which means you're not getting what you could have out of your house.
So we win some we loose some right?
WRONG! How much did you spend on that odor masking primer that now destroyed your chances of getting top dollar?
Well a 5 gallon bucket is about $100 which gets you about 1,500 sq ft of coverage for just one coat.
The average sqft of size of a home is 2,400 sq ft. This means you have 2,400 sq ft of ceiling space (assuming you remembered to prime and paint that smelly terpene impregnated surface), you likely have an average of 1,500 sq ft of walls that needed be coated. Not to mention the floor. You had to remove all of that carpet, tile, vinal flooring, hardwood floor etc.... To paint that 2,400 sq ft of subfloor for that primer to properly seal the odors then put it all back.
That comes to around 6,300 sq ft of primer or around 21 gallons or four 5 gallons ($400) of primer to seal just one coat. Remember, shellac primers need at least three coats $400 x 3 = $1,200
So you're $1,200 in so far and you haven't even painted which will set you back around $600-ish if you do it yourself and still you've got some work to do to put flooring back!
So, you're going to lose top dollar for your home and your out $1,800...
Worse, we haven't even talked about your carpets and in all the nooks and crannies in your house where you couldn't paint.
What's a better option?
Contact Renovair your odor specialist for your free in home estimate.
Odor treatments start at just $75!
What about that smelly carpet?
We do that too! Our specialist are IICRC trained and all of our carpet cleaning equipment is carpet and wool institute certified. Trust renovair with your dirty malodorous carpet if you want it done right!
