If you’re a homeowner or have a family, house fires are likely pretty high on your list of catastrophic scenarios.
If you do experience a house fire, after you’ve ensured everyone in your household is safe, your first thought will always be, ‘what kind of damage has been done? Let’s take a look at what, exactly, fire damage can do to your home and why it’s so important to ensure proper fire damage restoration is arranged.
What is fire damage restoration? And when do I need it?
Once you’ve concluded that everyone involved in the fire is safe, your next step is determining exactly how much, and what kind of damage has been done to your home. This process should always be completed by a Fire Damage Restoration professional.
These professionals will, first, be able to determine what caused the fire and then determine exactly how much damage has been done. Because fire damage restoration is a complex and intricate process, it’s best to enlist the help of a professional who will ensure that everything is repaired and restored as efficiently as possible.
Fire restoration – What Are The Damages?
Unfortunately, even if you’ve taken every possible precaution, fires can still happen in your home. Fire damage is the worst damage that can be done to your home because fire can cause so many different types of damage.
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Soot Damage
Soot is inevitable with any kind of fire and, because of the hazardous properties found in soot, it can be damaging to your health and your lungs if not properly and readily dealt with.
- Smoke Damage
Because it’s gas, smoke will easily travel into your walls, wood, textiles, and surroundings very quickly during and after a fire.
- Damage to Wood
Finished and unfinished wood have different properties and, therefore, require different restoration processes. A professional restoration team will know how to restore a piece and whether or not refinishing an item or using special sealants might help in the restoration process.
- Damage to Furniture, Carpets, and Textiles
With serious fires, fabric furniture, carpets, and most textiles will likely be easier to replace than restore. These items soak up the smell of smoke and are very difficult to properly clean.
Damage to Electronics
Electronics are easily damaged by the heat, smoke, soot, and chemicals caused by a fire.
Because most electronics are covered in plastics or metals that emit toxic chemicals when exposed to high temperatures, it’s important to act quickly to restore these items so that no residue is left behind that could cause the electronics to become future fire hazards.
- Water Damage
Although we should call ourselves lucky to have modern science and quick access to firefighters, the methods used to suppress fire can also be damaging to your home.
Water damage and damage from the chemicals used by firefighters often cause damage that needs to be treated readily by water damage restoration professionals to avoid future mold and mildew problems.
What is fire damage restoration and how it works?
You’ve determined you need a Fire Damage Restoration professional to help you but what exactly is involved in this process?
- Initial Inspection & Stabilization
First off, a thorough assessment of the property will be done to determine exactly what type of damage there is to the home.
There may be some structural damage to the home that needs to be addressed before further restoration to avoid any future damage.
- Cleaning & Removal
The technicians will first remove all items that have been damaged in the fire to evaluate whether not they can be salvaged and restored. Salvageable items will be sent off-site to begin the restoration process.
- Water Damage Restoration & Drying
Because of the methods used to put out fires, some water damage could follow. Some areas of the house may need to be dried out to avoid future mold and other issues.
- Soot & Smoke Damage Restoration
Professionals will be prepared with the appropriate protective gear to immediately clear up the soot and smoke with a professional-grade smoke vacuum and the appropriate chemical sponges and cleaning solutions to remove all the smoke and soot from the affected area.
- Cleaning & Final Repairs
A final cleaning and disinfection of all items left in the home will be completed before the final repairs and remodeling of the home take place.
As you can see, there is a lot of work that goes into restoring a home after a fire, so it’s best to leave these jobs to a professional and contact us.
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