Homeowners who have gone through a house fire might immediately search for how you “do” fire damage restoration and return your house to its original condition. After small fires, a homeowner or commercial property owner might handle cleanup and fire damage restoration on their own, but it’s vital to note when such work is outside your area of expertise and when it’s time to call on a professional instead!
Fire restoration starts with removing all damaged materials and items and ensuring an interior space is safe for occupation; this might include bracing load-bearing walls or covering damaged flooring. Water, soot, and ash extraction and then proper cleanup are needed, and then materials and surfaces are repaired or replaced. Mold remediation often follows fire and water damage cleanup.
While this is a quick summation of the fire damage restoration process, it’s vital that property owners understand all the steps involved in repair and restoration, as overlooking even the smallest detail can mean long-term damage. Without proper cleanup, your home or damaged business might also present health hazards to your family and other occupants!
A property owner would also do well to note when this cleanup is more extensive than they might manage, so they know when to call a fire damage restoration company near them. This will ensure your home or business is structurally safe and ready for reoccupation after a fire, flood, or other such disaster!
Before you start the fire damage restoration process, it’s vital that you ensure your safety! Remember that working around soot and ash “stirs up” those residues, making them airborne; this increases the risk of inhaling those contaminants and having them land on your hair and skin! Along with eye protection and a breathing apparatus, wear protective, disposable clothing and boots.
After cleaning and fire damage restoration, your structure might need odor neutralizing services. Fires often leave behind very bothersome odors that are not only unpleasant but which can also result in headaches, sleep disturbances, and sinus irritation! Odor neutralizing doesn’t simply cover over those smells with perfumes but neutralizes the chemicals that cause them.
Some building materials and surfaces don’t burn away but singe and char, creating large amounts of smoke. That smoke doesn’t just dissipate but settles along walls and ceilings, leaving behind unpleasant and unsightly stains! Smoke also carries toxins and unhealthy fumes which also become trapped inside a structure.
When items smolder, it’s often easier to contain the damage and avoid the need for structural repairs on your property. In turn, you might not see damaged drywall, wood framing, and other such materials. However, trying to clean that smoke damage with simple household tools is often ineffective!
If your structure has suffered smoke damage, call a fire restoration expert. He or she ensures a thorough clean of your structure as well as odor neutralizing services, as mentioned, and can ensure all surfaces are safe and hygienic.
After fire damage cleanup and repairs, mold remediation is often recommended. Remediation is different than mold removal, as this refers to reducing the risk of mold growth. Mold remediation starts with a check of the structure’s interior humidity levels; remember that water used for fire suppression doesn’t simply disappear but is absorbed by building materials or evaporates into the air.
If humidity levels inside a structure increase the risk of mold growth, your fire damage contractor might bring in heavy-duty humidifiers, heaters or blowers, fans, and other equipment designed to reduce environmental humidity. He or she also monitors that interior environment as needed, to ensure humidity levels decrease enough to reduce the risk of mold.
Your contractor will also check for developing mold around walls, underneath carpeting, and in other such areas, cleaning and removing growing spores. This helps stop the spread of mold before it can seep into wood framing, carpet padding, and other areas where it loves to grow!
After fire damage cleanup and repairs, consider mold remediation and especially if firefighters used water to extinguish that blaze. Even small water amounts, coupled with dark areas away from fresh air such as behind drywall and underneath carpeting, is a perfect recipe for mold growth. Remediation is often far less expensive than mold cleanup and repairs, so talk to your contractor about how to control the risk of mold after fire or water damage in your home or business.
If you drop a lit cigarette or candle on your home’s carpeting and only singe a small surface area, you probably don’t need professional fire damage restoration and repairs! However, a homeowner or commercial property owner should call a professional fire damage restoration company for a thorough inspection and repairs even after small fires, and if there is special risk of damage. Note what is meant by that and when you might call a fire restoration or water damage cleanup contractor near you:
It’s also vital to schedule professional fire damage restoration if you’ve already attempted DIY cleanup and repairs, and still note smoky odors, ash, soot, smoke stains, and other residual damage. A restoration contractor will make quick work of proper, thorough restoration so you can safely and comfortably reoccupy your structure and move on after a fire or flood!