How Does Fire Damage Get Cleaned from Contents?

8/28/2020 (Permalink)

We have the training, expertise, and state-of-the-art equipment to restore your home to pre-damage condition after a fire. Call us right away.

Structure fires in Forest Hills homes can be challenging to clean and restore without the products and equipment available to our SERVPRO team. 

Cleaning up your Forest Hills home after a fire loss incident can be a considerable challenge, especially when considering the various types of residues and soiling that could be present. Depending on the combustion rate and the affected materials, each fire disaster's cleanup plan and strategies could look different. Choosing the most efficient paths involves a carefully crafted approach from information obtained in the job scoping and evaluation phases. 

Fire restoration for Forest Hills hinges significantly on the cleaning result that our SERVPRO of Forest Hills / Ridgewood team can provide. Removing smoke and soot residues from structural elements often combine several tactics happening at once. In some situations, chemical agents can remove stubborn soiling from surfaces while abrasive cleaning techniques like soda and media blasting are ideal for thicker coatings that could result in staining or marring of the underlying substrate. 

When Does Cleaning Occur Over Replacement? 

Our restoration mentality relies on cleaning and recovering damaged items and structural elements rather than immediately choosing controlled demolition and later reconstruction. While some fire restoration companies might believe that rebuilding is inevitable, our SERVPRO restorers and contractors understand that the choice in material discarding over cleaning relies on several individual factors. These include: 

• Cost-Efficiency - The replacement costs must become a factor in whether removal and rebuilding is a better option for the customer. With cheaper building materials like drywall, replacement might be more cost-efficient than cleaning and restoration. 
• Accessibility - How challenging restoration efforts are can also play a role in the likelihood of tear-out and reconstruction options getting chosen. 
• High-Valued Contents or Structural Elements - With properties that have been constructed with higher quality materials, restoration might be worth the added time cleaning can take. For example, replacement materials for our historic properties can be nearly impossible to match with modern offerings. 

What Types of Content Cleaning Approaches Are Effective with Fire Losses? 

The contents of your home must require the same attention and consideration that structural elements receive. On-site restoration and cleaning all can reduce the costs of recovery for these damaged items and furniture. Depending on the affected materials and the severity of the damage, a few specific cleaning techniques and products are used to help. 

• Spray & Wipe – Cleaning products get designed primarily to address surface aesthetics after a fire impacts the contents and furniture in your home. Using rags, dry sponges, and other equipment, residues and soiling can get sufficiently addressed. 
• Foam Cleaning – Using a pump sprayer with a shampooing product or an upholstery brush, we can use a cleaner that heavily foams to lift light soils from upholstered, fabric furniture. 
• Abrasive Cleaning – These solutions use products as much as physical actions to achieve the desired result. While we have abrasive chemical agents, often applying chemicals with agitative cleaning utensils, such as steel wool or pads, can also have the desired effect. 
• Immersion Cleaning – While it is feasible to establish immersive cleaning approaches on-site, off-site restoration at our SERVPRO facility can utilize our Ultrasonic Immersion Tank for more efficient results. 

Is Off-Site Recovery Worth It? 

After a fire, many homes and their contents are worse for the wear. Even with the fast response of experienced technicians like our SERVPRO team, off-site recovery and restoration of your valuables and belongings can be inevitable. There are a few advantages to allowing pack out to occur:

• Advanced Cleaning – Unlike the limitations of cleaning and restoring your belongings in the recently damaged property, we have the full measure of cleaning and restoration capabilities in our warehouse. 
• Deodorizing Item Lots – With areas like the ozone chamber, entire lots of smoke-damaged materials and contents can get deodorized simultaneously. 
• Safe Storage & Inventory – Effective inventory solutions mean that our technicians know where your belongings are and can safely store them until they are ready for return. 
• Staging – Before returning to your home after fire recovery, staging restored belongings in our warehouse allows our technicians to look over everything one last time to ensure we have addressed all smoke and fire damages.

Fire losses can be traumatic for homeowners, especially when contents and structural elements become damaged by smoke and soot residues. Give our SERVPRO of Forest Hill / Ridgewood team a call to help you however you need at (718) 381-3702.