White ceiling tiles turned yellow

[BIG WOOD]

In this old building I cleaned carpet in yesterday, these ceiling tiles were completely yellow with not white areas. When I was finished cleaning the carpet, it had several areas that looked yellow brownish colored. Could off gassing from this carpet be the cause of all those ceiling tiles in this 3000sq. ft room?

 

[Mark Saiger]

Humidity introduced into the building expose something such as old painted over cigarette smoke?

 

[BIG WOOD]

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Humidity introduced into the building expose something such as old painted over cigarette smoke?

It's an old church fellowship hall, so maybe they smoked in it back in the 80's

 

[BIG WOOD]

Keep in mind the metal grids that hold the tiles are still white

 

[Mark Saiger]

Keep in mind the metal grids that hold the tiles are still white

The grids might be fine because not as much soft good of course to absorb.

Not sure if I have heard of a church area that you were allowed to smoke but would investigate what is in the ceiling tiles that wicked out

 

[Jimmy L]

Get on a ladder and scratch some residue off and taste it to determine if it's cigarette or cigar smoke.

Or it could be FART residue

 

[Dolly Llama]

It's an old church fellowship hall

Have a kitchen?
deep frying chicken for 40 years?

lots of candle vigils?

..L.T.A.

 

[BIG WOOD]

There’s a kitchen in that building. I should’ve been more nosy about it while I was there. It’s about 45min away.

The yellow is like a yellow mustard color and it’s just weird how it’s all over the tiles and not blotchy. That’s what made me think it was off gassing

 

[Cleanworks]

There’s a kitchen in that building. I should’ve been more nosy about it while I was there. It’s about 45min away.

The yellow is like a yellow mustard color and it’s just weird how it’s all over the tiles and not blotchy. That’s what made me think it was off gassing

Not your problem. They need to have the ceiling tiles cleaned.

 

[Nomad74]

Who cares, just bend over and report it to your insurance agent.

 

[BIG WOOD]

Not your problem. They need to have the ceiling tiles cleaned.

More like replaced

 

[jcooper]

Like others said, I'd imagine it's from smoking years ago.

However it could be anything, cooking oils, etc.

 

[ruff]

Hold a minute folks. Isn't Matt the one who constantly been looking to diversify and add services.
Hauling.....gosh I forget the list.

Ceiling tile cleaning was all the rage a decade and a half ago. All the manufacturer and suppliers were pushing it.... and sonic cleaning..... and portable duct equipment and......

Seems like the only ones making the profit were the suppliers/manufacturers.

Ask Chavez. If it was offered, they bought it.

 

[steve_64]

I was thinking upsell also. A few hundred bucks take them all down and spray them all white with ceiling tile paint.
Easy money.

 

[Nomad74]

Hold a minute folks. Isn't Matt the one who constantly been looking to diversify and add services.
Hauling.....gosh I forget the list.

Ceiling tile cleaning was all the rage a decade and a half ago. All the manufacturer and suppliers were pushing it.... and sonic cleaning..... and portable duct equipment and......

Seems like the only ones making the profit were the suppliers/manufacturers.

Ask Chavez. If it was offered, they bought it.

I had a guy trying tonsell me a ceiling cleaning franchise. He was quoting $.60 per sqft. We had an appointment to gonover everything but the more I thought about it the more I didn’t want to do it. I can imagine working looking up all the time. What a pain in the neck. Then having all that crap splash on my face. No thanks.

 

[jcooper]

I had a guy trying tonsell me a ceiling cleaning franchise. He was quoting $.60 per sqft. We had an appointment to gonover everything but the more I thought about it the more I didn’t want to do it. I can imagine working looking up all the time. What a pain in the neck. Then having all that crap splash on my face. No thanks.

I have a longtime friend(Chris Brown - he's on here occasionally) that did ceiling tile cleaning years ago, said it was miserable work, but nobody was doing it. They stopped a few years later.

I believe they take the tiles down to clean them. Lots of wet desks if they didn't.

Good job not wasting your money!

 

[steve_64]

I'm charging the dealership $500 to clean the lights. Open them up clean both sides and change bulbs. I counted a 100 of them. Half a day inside in the winter sounded like good money to me.

 

[Dolly Llama]

He was quoting $.60 per sqft.

they can buy brand new for that

Open them up clean both sides and change bulbs. I counted a 100 of them.

they supplying the florescent tubes?

..LT.A.

 

[steve_64]

Yes Larry.

 

[Dolly Llama]

Yes Larry.

we did a com building with 12ft ceilings and a million and three flo tubes to change
also changed 500sf of ceiling tile

I rented a scissors lift.
It more than paid for its self in efficiency

..L.T.A.

 

[steve_64]

The ceilings aren't that high. Use to do this stuff in my janitor days for $8 an hour. We also do it for some other smaller places we clean. I zip through them pretty good.

 

[The Great Oz]

Matt, It's easy to clean cigarette smoke residue off of the painted grid, but it can soak into the tiles. It's likely the gunky tiles were painted with a Kilz type quick drying cover-up paint and the smoke residue is leaching through. Before trying to remedy with another cover up, check with Chavez. I think he has a personal connection with a manufacturer.

The old ceiling cleaning stuff had bleach in it. I remember seeing commercial carpet that had a star field of tiny bleach spots from cleaners that didn't protect the floor.