5 Tips for Fire Damage Restoration

The destruction and damage caused by even small home fires can be devastating. If you find yourself dealing with fire damage, the mess created when the fire was extinguished, and the loss of potentially irreplaceable contents, it can be overwhelming.

If a fire does occur on your property, there are several things that can be helpful to know to help restore your home once the fire has been dealt with. The tips given here can be done by most people to tackle fire damage restoration themselves. However, these tasks can be both emotionally and physically stressful, and you may find better peace of mind by hiring a professional service to do the work. At IDC and similar companies, you can hire professionals with years of experience to help with the restoration of your home.

In this article, we list 5 helpful tips for fire damage restoration that you can choose to do by yourself or hire a professional to help with.

1. Repair Damaged Walls

With all fires, there’s likely to be smoke damage to your walls. It is a good idea to use fire retardant woods to reduce the fire damage. To clean your home after a fire you can scrub the walls clean with bleach and detergent to remove smoke marks and stains. The soot residue from smoke is very greasy, so try to dust as much away as possible before using water or cleaning products. You may want to repaint after a fire, so make sure all surfaces are clean and dry beforehand.

2. Mold and Mildew Treatments

One of the biggest problems after a house fire is mildew and mold caused by the water used to extinguish the fire. It’s a good idea to get professionals to deal with mold and mildew because it can cause serious health problems when left untreated. The best thing to do as soon as possible is to open all windows, air out rooms, and clean all filters and vents.

3. Inspect Clothes and Clean Appropriately

Clothing will need a deep cleaning after a house fire, and it’s important that you don’t just rub the soot residue further into the clothes or chuck them straight into the washing machine. In many cases, the best thing to do is visit a dry-cleaner to restore your clothes. You may be able to find one in the local area that has experience with post-fire laundry cleaning.

4. Repair and Replace Carpet and Flooring

There’s a lot of water involved in putting out a fire, and much of this will be absorbed by carpets and floors. Most of the time the best option is to remove any carpets that have absorbed lots of water and replace them.

Water can seep into all cracks in wood floors and under vinyl floors, so this needs to be addressed too. You may wish to lift the floors yourself and dry and clean them or get a professional company in to do this for you.

5. Clean Kitchen Items and Crockery

Many house fires start in the kitchen, so that’s where the worst damage and residue will be. Even if your fire didn’t originate in the kitchen, it’s important to inspect all kitchen items for soot and smoke damage, because the fumes and residue left behind can be highly harmful.

All kitchen items should be thoroughly cleaned as they will be in contact with your food and could cause health issues. Wash at high temperatures and soak in a bleach and water solution for extra safety. If some of your items won’t clean up after a fire, cut your losses and get rid of them. This is particularly important when it comes to wooden or rubber dishes because they absorb smoke.