What Tools Do I Need to Clean Up After a Fire in My Pottsville Home?

5/10/2020 (Permalink)

Fires can occur without notice. Contact SERVPRO to remediate fire damage to your property.

SERVPRO recommends you outsource the task of cleaning up fire loss in your Pottsville for both safety and the best outcome

A little or a lot of damage left behind after a fire in Pottsville needs professional help to clean up, and the reason is simple, soot can spread throughout the home, and with it, fire odors. Plus, with the proper cleaning methods, walls and ceilings may be completely restorable rather than requiring replacement of sheetrock, priming, and painting. 

What Type of Cleaner Gets Used for Smoke and Fire Damage on Walls and Furniture? 

When cleaning up fire damage in your Pottsville home, there are numerous equipment and cleaning agents needed. SERVPRO technicians test the smoke residues and the surfaces getting cleaned to determine the best fit. When homeowners attempt to DIY their fire loss with consumer-grade cleaners, in some cases, they can wind up, causing greater damage than the fire did. Some of the equipment commonly found in the arsenal of the technicians include:

• Dry cleaning sponges for lifting away dry smoke residues
• Heavy-duty sponges for working on wet smoke residues
• Professional cleaning solutions with solvents to release smoke 
• Air scrubbers to capture airborne soot particles
• Protective clothing and respirators as soot can be an irritant

Special Considerations for Hardwood Furnishings

Numerous applications assist in lessening the harm done by smoke and the heat in a Pottsville home fire to furnishings. Wood furniture may have restoration potential in many cases. A smoke-covered favorite end table may look horrific when covered in a thick, black residue. However, with the correct application of cleaning agents to release the grip the residue has on the surface of the wood, the table may have strong possibilities of a full recovery after Pottsville fire damage for reuse in the home.

Things that may make the furniture non-restorable include heavy exposure to water that caused the joints to swell and crack and too long of a time frame before the mitigation services began. Another common factor is exposure to high heat that caused the structure to become brittle and unreliable for reuse. 

Upon request, the SERVPRO techs can bring in industry professionals to inspect items such as electronics or furniture for inspection before bringing back into the home. The experts can examine items exposed to fire loss and determine if any repairs are necessary for reuse. Contents exposed to fire, particularly electronics, should never get plugged in and tested without an inspection. 

What is the Process for Removal of Soot from Hardwood Furniture?

When addressing this type of fire loss on furniture, SERVPRO technicians inspect the item to determine it has restoration potential. They then use brushes and dry cleaning sponges to lift away any loose residues. The remaining "stuck on" smoke damage needs the application of cleaning agents specifically designed for use on wood products. In this manner, the techs can remove the black coating on the furniture without marring the surface. In some cases, the furniture may require revarnishing to return it to its pre-fire status.

Resolving Fire Odors in the Home

Once the contents and structure have the evidence of the fire removed, it is time to handle the smoke odors that may remain. Before beginning mitigation, containment of the work area most likely happened, and this includes covering vents. Once soot particles invade the ductwork, odors can spread wherever they go in the home.

The technicians rely on a few critical pieces of equipment such as; 

• Hydroxyl generators that safely eliminate odors through the use of UV light
• The use of thermal fogging within the structure
• Deodorizing cleaning agents
• The use of sealants on walls to halt any further odors from embedded soot

After confirming the air quality in the loss area has no further fire odors, the technicians inspect the ductwork in the home to determine if it requires cleaning to remove any residual odors. This is particularly likely if the ductwork has dirt, dust, and debris that can trap and hold soot particles. 

Final Touches After Fire Loss Mitigation

Even in cases of small scale fires in a residential property, there are often repairs necessary for the full restoration of the home. The sealant applied on painted walls to halt the odor still needs priming and painting. While hardwood flooring may have been restorable from the exposure to water and heat, it may need a light sanding and refinishing to return to service for the home. If SERVPRO is not handling these tasks, they can assist homeowners in engaging with local professionals to ensure the job gets done quickly and correctly.

When large or small fire damage situations happen, SERVPRO of Pottsville at (570) 622-8991 stands ready to help local property owners clean away the loss and restore their home to its preloss condition.