HOW FIRE AND SMOKE DAMAGE EFFECTS A HOME

There’s no way to mince words, fire damage can be excruciating. There will be instances when flames engulf a cherished set of drapes or a family recliner passed down between generations where there’s nothing left but soot and ash. For all other instances though Four Seasons  Restoration swings into action, utilizing our specialty equipment and years of experience to help a home rise from the proverbial ashes and sparkle once again.

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UNDERSTANDING THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF SMOKE DAMAGE

Before knowing how different types of smoke damage effects a home, it’s important to note that there are various types of destruction that can occur. The methods used to clean up the smoke depends on which type of damage occurred:

  • DRY SMOKE
    Very high temperatures create a fast burning fire that destroys objects quickly. Often the leftover residue is a dry powdery smoke that doesn’t smear and can be sucked out rather efficiently.
  • WET SMOKE
    Lower temperature fires burn different and smolder longer. It’s actually easier to salvage items caught in this damage because there’s more time to put out the fire. That being said it is much messier than dry smoke, leaving a residue that smears and smells.
  • PROTEIN SMOKE
    An afteraffect of a fire that is actually harder to clean up from because it’s virtually invisible. The residue is detected by a pungent odor and eventual discoloring of paint, varnish, and other materials.
  • FUEL SOOT
    Sometimes smoke damage can occur not even because of fire but due to bad furnace ventilation or a malfunction. The fuel soot given off by a furnace creates a hard to clean black aura that affects walls and ceilings and settles on computer monitors, appliances, and virtually everything else in the home.

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STEPS TO CLEANING UP SMOKE DAMAGE

First and foremost resident safety is the utmost importance when a fire hits. After the flames have been extinguished Four Seasons  Restoration steps in for clean up, salvaging, and restoration. Much like standing water in a home, smoke should be cleaned up sooner rather than later to prevent excessive damage. Ash not only has strong odor associated with it, the longer it sits it will cause corrosion, discoloring, and etching.

The first phase of the process is to open up windows and get ventilation into the home. We do this to make it easier to breathe for our service technicians as well as to get a quality air source to start purifying the home. Next is the task of sorting out which items can be salvaged and which are too far gone. The homeowner has a lot of input on this and at Four Seasons  Restoration our first goal is always restoring before replacing. We then separate the items need restoring from those who are too far gone and focus the attention on the house. The most prevalent ash and smoke is sucked out with industrial strength vacuums first before focusing the attention on the interior of the house. We use special infrared technologies and testing measures to survey the amount of smoke damage inside walls and ceilings.

GO WITH THE PROS

The detailed process involves a thorough work through of the home, inside and out. We clean out ventilation systems, ceilings, basements, and all the other tiny crevasses that ash and soot will creep in to. The process is very tedious but it’s important to get a professional and courteous crew like Four Seasons  Restoration to ensure your family’s safety long after the flames of a house fire have been put out. While the heat of a fire represents a clear and present danger, it could be argued that soot and smoke pollution that remains in the home is more damaging over the long haul.

 

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