If you’ve ever experienced a house fire, you know what a traumatic event it can be. When it comes to cleaning up the fire and smoke damage, the fire damage is actually the more straightforward part. The only way to get rid of most items that have melted or been charred by fire is to remove and replace them.
Cleaning up smoke damage after a house fire in Springfield Missouri is more complicated, because it’s not always obvious whether it’s better to remediate or replace an item. This can lead to disagreements between the insurance adjuster, the remediation specialist and the homeowner.
Know What You’re Dealing With
To determine the best way to clean up smoke damage after a house fire, you start by identifying the type of fire. Every house fire has a personality and damage type of its own. High oxygen fires tend to leave behind drier smoke residue that is easier to remove than the wet, smoky residue that a low oxygen fire gives off.
If water was used to extinguish the fire, the humidity inside a home can rise up to 100 percent, causing the wood in the home to open up and absorb more smoke and soot residue.
Safety First
Smoke from a house fire is highly corrosive. In many case, smoke and soot from a house fire is not coming just from burnt wood, but other items like plastics, leathers and other chemicals. All these things will impact the way you deal with it.
Due to the toxicity after burning these items, you’ll need to wear dust masks and gloves. Whatever can be done to ventilate the home after the fire will make it safer for the people working inside.
Time is of the Essence
The sooner you start the fire and smoke damage restoration process, the lower the level of damage to the property. That’s why our smoke damage restoration specialists are always prepared to begin cleanup immediately upon being called out to a smoke damaged property.
The Smoke Removal Process
How you clean smoke and soot damage is as important as how quickly you clean. There is a right way and a wrong way to clean smoke damage. If done incorrectly, a house can be tainted with unpleasant odors forever.
We start by getting rid of the sources of the odor. Items that are deemed to be a total loss or that need to be cleaned and deodorized offsite should be removed from the home as soon as possible. This will help mitigate a significant amount of the smoke odor.
Clean Everything Left Behind
Once all non-salvageable materials have been removed, it’s time to start cleaning. After scrubbing everything down, we use specialized equipment including thermal foggers and ozone treatments. You can’t cut corners when it comes to smoke cleanup if you want the house to smell as good as new when you’re finished.
Seal Salvageable Surfaces
If there is any framing that has been lightly scorched but it doesn’t warrant being removed, the best approach is to seal it. This is important when summer rolls around because the wood will expand in the heat and can cause the pores to open and allow smoke odor back in the home if it’s not properly sealed.
Hire The Professionals
Getting rid of the sight of smoke and soot damage after a house fire is fairly straightforward. You clean it, paint over it or remove the items.
Odor on the other hand is invisible and more bothersome. Eliminating smoke damage odors must be done using the latest professional smoke remediation techniques. Who you hire to handle this task will make all the difference in getting the job done right the first time.
If you ever have to deal with the aftermath of a house fire, call the professionals at PuroClean Certified Restoration to make sure all the fire damage and smoke damage problems you can see and those you can’t see are dealt with to eliminate all these issues permanently.