charlie b wrote:
snip


The question is - would a one pound cut of shellac
seal the would enough to stop future smokey smells?
The wood in question is 50+ year old douglas fir
which, today, would be considered furniture grade
as it's mainly close to all quarter sawn, tight
grown ringed stuff that's hard as a rock.

If there's another, less expensive way to seal
the smoke in please feel free to provide that
as well - specific product name if you can

As others have stated if the owner has insurance they should pay for
professionals to seal the framing.

To answer your question about the use of shellac Zinsser has a web page
dealing with using their products for this purpose. See:

http://www.zinsser.com/Newsletter/BEB2002FallFW.pdf

--
Jack Novak
Buffalo, NY - USA

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