Steps to Smoke & Fire Damage Restoration
If you’ve had a fire in your home, first let us tell you we’re sorry you’re going through that! Any fire, no matter the size, is traumatizing for those involved. Having an experienced restoration team on your side will help get you back on your feet sooner than later, with the goal of restoring your home and the items inside to pre-loss condition.
Most fires only cause major damage to a small portion of a home. However, that small kitchen fire likely created soot and smoke damage throughout the entire home. Simply cleaning a home damaged by fire is likely not going to be enough, as odors can linger in objects, carpet, walls, and any other porous surface if not properly treated.
Let’s walk through the process of properly getting rid of fire and smoke damage in your home.
- The restoration company gets the call and will respond as quickly as possible. Good restoration companies, like Advanced Disaster Recovery Inc., understand the longer you let the smoke and soot sit, the harder it will be to fix the damage that’s been done.
- An estimator will take a walk through your home and see the damage, and create a plan of action. This estimator will likely also be able to work with your insurance adjuster or insurance company during the loss.
- Crews will come in and box up any contents in your home that may have been damaged – from clothing and bedding to dishes, electronics, etc., that are salvageable. Believe it or not, many of the items in your home could be saved through special cleaning and restoration techniques in an experienced contents restoration division. If one of your children has a special stuffed animal, doll, blanket, or other sentimental items that could help them through this tough time, we are happy to clean that first and return it to you as soon as possible.
- Restoration begins. This could include removing carpet or other porous materials, scrubbing down walls with special solutions that will remove the soot and the odor, and will wipe down every single surface over and over until it’s clean. It could also mean doing things like removing cabinets from the wall to clean behind them or removing charred beams saturated with smoke and soot.
- Address the smoke damage. There are a number of innovations restoration companies, like Advanced Disaster Recovery Inc., can use to address smoke damage. If not properly removed, the smoke smell can reappear during a change in the weather, presence of moisture, or other environmental changes. That’s why it’s important to have an experienced team making sure not only that your home is clean and the visible damage removed, but also that the smell is removed as well.
- Return the items to your home that had been removed for cleaning. When they were removed from your home, they were carefully packed up according to room and location. When they are returned to you, it will be the same scenario – except everything will look as it did before the fire.
The best restoration companies go above and beyond when helping you after a traumatic loss like a fire.
