If you have been through the trauma of having a house fire, you are no doubt wondering which of your personal possessions can be saved. After the smoke has cleared and you see the ash and soot on everything you own, you might think you‘ll have to start over with nothing. But you may be surprised by what can be restored to its former condition.
Smoke residue isn’t like normal soil. The burning of meat, oil, or other organic matter, and synthetic materials (such as plastic, nylon, polyester, etc.) give off an oily residue that is greasy to the touch. It requires special cleaning agents and procedures for efficient removal. Some cleaning methods that you are used to using may set the residue, requiring more elaborate restoration procedures later.
Time is a key factor in making sure that the most can be saved from your home. Residue from smoke is acidic in nature and will slowly continue to damage surfaces until it is removed. To contain the amount of the loss it is very important to remove as much smoke as possible from surfaces such as door hardware, bathroom and light fixtures, appliances, drapes, furniture, and carpet. The longer the period of time elapsed after the fire the more difficult the cleaning and restoration will be.
If the fire was severe enough and major structural repairs have to be made, it may be necessary for a cleaning and restoration company to come in and pack up your home’s contents to be cleaned at their facility while your home repairs are completed. A variety of cleaning techniques may be used including ultrasonic cleaning of dishes and figurines, wood cleaning and polishing, upholstery steam cleaning, dry cleaning and laundering of clothing, and ozone deodorization, which can greatly improve odor removal. Walls and ceilings can be cleaned and painted, carpets cleaned and deodorized, heating and cooling duct systems cleaned, and air scrubbers and deodorizers set up to clean the air. In this manner, nearly all the items in your home can be restored to pre-loss condition.
Some items, like food, which may have undergone chemical changes due to the heat of the fire, as well as contamination from soot residue, will need to be listed for insurance reimbursement and then thrown away. Plastic items may have to be discarded due to the severity of the odor that cannot be removed. Plastics undergo molecular changes that trap and hold the odor within their structure, thus deodorization is impossible. Age and previous wear is also a factor when restoring items. This variable along with increased heat will limit the cleaning results of some surfaces.
We hope you never have to go through the process of having your home restored after a fire. But if you do, remember there is much that can be done to make sure that it’s soon a distant memory and you can get back to your normal routine.