SMOKE DAMAGE RESTORATION IN LOUISVILLE, KY

The Importance of Time When Dealing With Smoke Damage

Smoke damage is not as easy to get rid of as one might think. Opening windows and doors and letting the place “air out” is part of the process but is far from being the process. In most cases, smoke from a home or business fire does not come only from burnt wood but also from other objects such as plastics, leather, and other chemicals. All of these things affect the way you deal with it.

The first thing to keep in mind is that time is of the essence. The longer you let smoke damage to hang out on your property, the harder it will become to remove it. The math is pretty simple here, the slower you act, the more expensive it will get to bring your property back to its pre-smoke-damage state.

Within minutes, acidic soot may turn plastic yellow and discolor any porous material around. Within hours it will discolor more surfaces and stain metals. Within days it will cause permanent damage to painted walls, clothes, floors, etc. The moral of the story here is, you need to act fast to prevent further damage from settling in.

Just as important as how quickly you clean is how you clean. There is a wrong and right way to get rid of smoke damage, and if not done correctly, a home can be loaded with unpleasant smells forever. To eliminate smoke damage the right way, you should strongly consider hiring a professional team such as Orange Restoration to do it for you. Fire and smoke damage restoration companies have the experience needed to get rid of any signs of smoke damage from your home efficiently and effectively.

Smoke Damage Cleanup Process

Now let’s go over a few steps that cannot be skipped when dealing with smoke damage. If you decide to try to do this project yourself or hire a professional company to do it for you, you should still follow along and get a few of those steps out of your way on your own if it’s safe to do so.

Also, do not forget that smoke is toxic. You should wear a respirator, long sleeves, long pants, eye protection, and some thick gloves when dealing with things damaged by smoke. If the area affected by smoke is enormous, furniture should be removed. If small, you might be able to get away with covering it. Safety is always our key priority, and it should be yours as well.

Ventilation and removal of the source

If there is no fire present, the first thing that needs to be done is opening all of the windows and doors to let the place air out. Your HVAC system should be turned off to prevent moving smoke and soot around the house. 

Meanwhile, remove the source for smoke odor if it is possible to do so (for instance, you cannot remove your fireplace). Doing this will significantly decrease the amount of smoke smell on your property.

Fans should be placed and turned on at full capacity while directed towards the open windows or doors to move the building’s air. If you see any items that are damaged beyond repair, you should discard them immediately.

Things that can be cleaned or need to be removed

Surfaces that are not very porous can usually be cleaned. However, you need to be aware of the possibility of smoke hiding behind it. For instance, even if drywall can be cleaned, it should be replaced if there is smoke in the wall cavity. Insulation materials, if damaged by smoke, need to be removed and replaced.

Kitchen countertops can also be cleaned for the most part. If not, they should be replaced. You will be able to tell if cleaning the surface is working. However, a professional team will have more tricks up their sleeves to eliminate smoke and soot that might seem impossible for an inexperienced person to remove. Hiring a professional might save you from quite a bit of a headache.

Real wood floor can usually be sanded off and refinished to remove the smoke. Laminate floors might have smoke seeped through them into the foam underneath. If that’s the case, they should be removed and redone. Carpets are usually replaced completely unless smoke damage to them was minimal.

Smoke damage cleaning

The cleaning process is relatively straight-forward. It would help if you covered all of the undamaged areas with plastic so that falling soot doesn’t damage it while you are cleaning. If you have decided to this job on your own, you’ll need a powerful shop vac to remove soot particles. While vacuuming the soot, you should use a brush attachment for the upholstery to lightly go over the surfaces affected by soot. Be careful not to rub the soot into the surface since it will become much harder to remove in the next step.

Next, use a dry cleaning sponge. The technique to do this step is essential to your smoke damage cleaning success. It would be best if you used the dry-cleaning sponge in a wiping motion and, as before, do not rub the soot into the surfaces. Also, do not over-use the same side of the sponge, or you will spread soot even more. You will go through quite a few of these sponges, but that’s part of the process.

Now it’s time to use commercial soot, and smoke remover or other agents are known to remove smoke damage. Soak a clean rag with the substance chosen and start wiping down surfaces inside the area that experienced smoke damage. You should keep your rag as clean as possible and keep rinsing it out in clean hot water. Make sure to keep changing the water constantly as well.

Once you have completely wiped down all of the surfaces and gotten rid of any soot, you should continue letting the area air out. The smell of smoke might still be present for some time. Make sure to replace your HVAC filter before turning back on your AC or central heat.

Ozone treatment and fog machines

At Orange Restoration, when dealing with fire damage or smoke damage, we use thermal fog machines and ozone treatment simultaneously to make sure that the smell of smoke is completely gone. These machines are incredibly useful in getting rid of the smell of smoke.

Any professional smoke damage restoration company has them in their inventory and brings them to the job site. If you are doing this job yourself, you can rent these machines in your area.

Smoke damage restoration in Louisville, KY, New Albany, IN, and surrounding areas

Covering up the visible smoke damage is relatively easy. However, smoke odors are invisible and can linger inside your building forever if not taken care of the property from the beginning. At Orange Restoration, we pride ourselves on bringing your property back to its pre-smoke-damage condition the first time around. You will forget that smoke damage was even there. If you need a smoke damage restoration company in Louisville, KY, New Albany, IN, or surrounding areas, please don’t hesitate to contact us.