Wall Ghosting

4/10/2020 (Permalink)

This home had a fire damage in an adjacent room. But the heat built up to a point where you can see ghosting.

One thing we here at SERVPRO of Dover/ Middletown know is that fire causes different types of damages to a home or business. I can say that I understand this from being a volunteer firefighter in the past, to now working for a company that comes in after the damage has been done.  There is one thing that I was always curious about after a fire had occurred. "Why are there a bunch of black dots all over the wall where the drywall screws are?"  

Those black dots are actually called ghosting. No they aren't actually ghosts so don't be afraid! The dark spots are the result of convection. The surface of the drywall cools faster than the nail heads because they are driven into the stud and continue to wick out that heat still within the studs for hours and even days. Therefore they are leaving a small heat signature behind the wall since they are still warm and are slowly smoldering away.  

Sometimes if candles are often burned inside of a home with a lot of moisture, the same effect can happen and people will start to notice that they can see lines where the studs in the wall are. That is also called ghosting.