I have never seen this cleaning but bet it cost a lot more than aluminum paint. Seems you would find a lot of white power in the attic also.

I have seen soda blasting used on a sever mold home and where the applicator applied the soda, the wood was cleansed to a like new condition.  It does produce a great amount of non toxic residue that must be removed with a vac cleaner.  Many homeowners consider it to be a stigma to have the aluminum paint in their attic.

William S Cook

I have had soda blasting done on exterior wall to remove discoloration and to present a good match and it works well. There is a lot of soda residue after the blasting, but it does work well. I would think blasting the rafters and deck that it would be very expensive and impossible to remove the soda residue. If your just sealing to cut the smell, aluminum paint would be the best and the least expensive of the two.

Yeah - I will never forget the first time I went up in the attic of a house chasing down a roof leak on a claim and saw it was all sealed with Kilz. "Jeeez this house must have had a fire or smoke damage in the past... Why else would they paint up here??"  Yeah, it is like a scar that remains.

stigma.... several in my old Websters, but is close to a scar, "a mark of shame or discredit" why would an accidental fire in a residence leave such a mark on the house ? If the house was repaired by sealing in the smoke stains and the smell of smoke by sealing with a coat of paint, how would you have a direct physical loss. And what is the differance in cost ?

How about this for a loss. The wife and her lover were killed on the counter top by buckshot which destroyed much of the granite tops and Wood Mode Cabinets. The house was foreclosed on, but would not sell, because of the stigma and the bank wants a fair offer to settle.

Yeah, I agree - it is a reasonable repair and one that I use in scoping a fire loss. I tell people that we would like to roll back the hands of time, and re-write history. But at this point - what would a reasonable person do? It isn't reasonable to yank good framing for odor control. It needs to be sealed. The walls get covered with drywall, so you don't see it. The attic isn't where you go to watch the super bowl...

Wow. Reminds me of one where the tenant was trying to do a clean job of suicide by cutting his writs while in the bath tub. No problemo until he changes his mind and walks all over the house looking for a phone.

An appreciative thank you for all who replied!  John