Ask the Architect

Remember, fumes can ignite

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Q. I’m a faithful reader of your column, and I don’t have a question, just an observation. I started to redo my living room and dining room wood floors last week, thinking I knew everything I needed to about the job. I rented a sander, lightly sanded off the remaining old polyurethane, and then began the cleaning and first coat to make my floors like new again. I got about halfway through the first coat and heard a click. The next thing I knew, there was a blue flash and I was up to my ankles in a blue flame. My boiler had turned on, and the fumes ignited instantly. It was so cold out that I’d only opened the window a crack. Warn others not to do this. Fortunately we don’t have drapes, and the furniture was out of the room. I opened the windows afterward and decided to wait for a warm day.

A. Over the years I’ve heard stories, and once redesigned a home that had burned from such an accident. My most compelling story of this sort is about a Michigan man. We lived nearby, in Ohio, and the cold and snow were so bad that we all used dry gas, an additive you pour into your tank so the engine will start. This clever guy decided to make his own by getting a can of gasoline, pouring it into a lobster pot and heating the fluid on his gas stove. Click. The story sticks with me because the man survived, with 80 percent of his body burned and his house in ashes.

The winter brings on a whole new set of fire-related problems. Although many people don’t open their windows year-round, winter often makes people forget that they’re living in an enclosed environment. A woman got so fed up with the bugs in her kitchen that she decided to try a bug bomb, an aerosol can, set up in the middle of her kitchen floor. Oops! She forgot to turn off the pilot light on her stove. In the winter, we like to do inside projects, so floor cleaning, de-greasing stovetops and painting seem like a good idea.

Gasoline is an excellent solvent, but a man who tried to remove glue from his recently installed vinyl floor tiles found out the hard way that turning off anything that can ignite is a great idea. The explosion blew out a bay window and brought down part of his kitchen ceiling. I wish I were making this up, but this kind of accident happens all the time. I imagine a report of what people did in just one year in any community that mobilized the local fire department would be very educational to all of us about what not to do. So if it can ignite, think twice. Thanks for your story!

© 2016 Monte Leeper. Readers are encouraged to send questions to yourhousedr@aol.com, with “Herald question” in the subject line, or to Herald Homes, 2 Endo Blvd., Garden City, NY 11530, Attn: Monte Leeper, architect.