Top 6 Fire Damage Restoration Tips

7/2/2019 (Permalink)

We’re not going to kid you.  Fire damage restoration is tough work.  People call SERVPRO of Bath frequently to ask for advice on how to clean up after a fire. Most people can put these six tips into practice.  But remember that fire damage restoration takes time, work, and skill.  Realistically consider whether you want to try these ideas on your own or whether you’d be better off hiring highly trained restoration specialists who will guarantee their work.

Here are six of the best tips we give people who ask about fire damage restoration:

Remove Smoke Damage

With any fire, you’ll have a degree of smoke damage to your walls, wall paper, and paint.  If the smoke damage is not too serious, you should be able to scrub it clean with detergents and bleach.  Soot from smoke damage is greasy stuff, so always try to dust as much of it off from a surface before trying to scrub the surface clean.  Often, you’ll want to repaint it, but make sure all surfaces are clean and dry before you paint.

Limit Activity & Other Simple Fire Damage Restoration Steps

Until your house is restored, limit your activity and movement in the house.  This helps prevent soot particles from being embedded into upholstery and carpets.  Keep people’s hands clean so you don’t further soil upholstery, walls, and woodwork.  Protect your things by placing clean towels or old linens on rugs, upholstery, and carpet traffic areas.  Before you clean know the best cleaning method for that particular cleaning job (one example:  Clean and protect chrome with a light coating of petroleum jelly or oil.)  Wash both sides of the leaves on your houseplants.  Change your HVAC filter, and tape double layers of cheesecloth over air registers.

Get Rid of Mold & Mildew

Firefighters are great.  They save many lives and many homes.  But they do introduce mold and mildew into houses when they must use water to extinguish the fire.  SERVPRO of Bath highly recommends you hire fire damage restoration professionals to deal with mold and mildew.  Mold and mildew can cause serious health problems.  It’s difficult for a nonprofessional to know for certain if he’s cleaned up all the areas affected by the mold and mildew.  And mold and mildew can contaminate your furniture, carpets, clothing, mattresses, walls, and vents.  The best thing you can do immediately is to air out every room and clean out all vents and filters.

Replace Carpets.  Clean and Dry Your Floors.

Your floors and carpets end up absorbing the worst of the damage from all the water used to put out a fire.  In almost every case, SERVPRO of Bath recommends that you pull up any carpets that have water damage and replace them.  Water can also seep underneath vinyl flooring and into the cracks in hardwood.  You must address this.   If you have experience with flooring, you can lift it up and clean under it.  But you may want to call a professional fire damage restoration company to assist you.

Avoid Smearing Soot Into Clothing

Cleaning smoke damage from clothing is one of the biggest jobs you’ll have after a fire.  Make sure you don’t smear greasy soot into the clothing or just throw the smoky clothes in the wash.  Often times dry cleaning is the best bet, and you should ask around local dry cleaners if any have experience with post-fire laundry.

Scrub, Soak, and Cleaning Dishes

Dishes are also important items to clean thoroughly after a fire because they will be in contact with your food.  Scrub all dishes well, let them soak in a solution of bleach and water (2 tablespoons of bleach per gallon) for at least 20 minutes and scrub some more for safety.  When in doubt, if a dish, pot, or pan won’t come clean, cut your losses and throw it out – especially rubber or wooden dishes that absorb smoke.

Help is Here

The team at SERVPRO of Bath also has specialized training and experience in fire restoration services, natural disaster prevention, water damage, chemical cleanup, and natural disaster cleanup.  Call SERVPRO of Bath at (252) 923-0213 anytime.