What happens during the fire damage restoration process?

3/21/2022 (Permalink)

What happens during the fire damage restoration process?

Damage caused by a fire can be vast – that goes without saying. However, there are many levels to fire damage that most of us aren’t even aware of. There is structural damage, an overwhelming smoke and soot odor, damage to belongings, and water damage from extinguishing the fire.

Assess structural damage
Once the structural damage has been assessed, any obvious breaches or ingress points need to be sealed. This refers to holes in the ceiling, broken windows, and missing doors. 

Look for further damage
It’s not only the obvious damage (from smoke and fire) that the professionals are on the lookout for, but sometimes the water used to put out the fire can cause structural and mold damage, too.

Removal of debris
The removal of debris needs to happen quickly in order to reduce the intensity of the smoke odor. In larger fires, you will need to pack up and remove personal belongings to prevent them from being damaged further and recontamination.

 Removal of water
Any standing water needs to be cleared up and, as water will soak into absorbent surfaces (walls, floorboards, and even seep down to the next level in a multi-story building), air movers will need to be used to accelerate the drying process.

Deep cleaning
Unfortunately, not everything can be saved. Many professional products can polish surfaces and remove smells, but this may be a very time-consuming process – and often replacement may be a better option.

As you can see, fire damage restoration is more than just cleaning and repairing places that fire has touched. You have to take into account how fire transforms the foundation of the home as well as the contents within. Making these tough decisions while under the stress from what just happened isn’t easy.

At SERVPRO of Martin County, restoring your home or business after fire damage to its pre-fire condition is our main goal. As a leading fire damage restoration company, we specialize in fire and water damage restoration, removal of smoke odors, and deep-cleaning soot from walls, carpets and upholstery.