Restoring fire-damaged property to its pre-loss state is known as fire damage restoration. After fire damage, the affected households might not know what to do.
Remember that checking the house’s safety is the most crucial action after a fire.
Before cleaning, examine the electrical wires first. Allow a firefighter or an agent from your insurance company to examine it. To protect yourself, put on the proper footwear, long sleeves, long pants, goggles, and specialized gloves while recording the damage.
You must protect the wounded area from little children and wear a face mask. Bring a camera to document the damage when your insurance regulator begins the process.
Cleaning Up Your Home After a Fire
After restoring the fire damage, it is preferable to clean the home thoroughly. In general, having a house fire is unfortunate. Thanks to safety fire damage restoration procedures, we do not see any or fewer fire-damaged homes today.
However, even a tiny kitchen fire necessitates extensive scrubbing and cleaning. Of course, we hope you never have to go through this awful situation, but if it does, there are a few ways to clean your house.
Cleaning the House’s Exterior
Before cleaning the house’s exterior, you or your restoration contractor must ensure the foundations, roof support structures, and entrances are all in working order.
If the roof is harmed, you should inspect and clean the drains to eliminate any ash or obstructions resulting in further harm.
Ashes and soot should therefore be removed as soon as possible from the exterior walls. You can clean the surface with a brush, water, and borax in less-damaged places.
To avoid residues re-accumulating, it is advised to start cleaning from the top of the house. Finally, clear the area of any solid debris, clean the doorway, and wipe down the windows with a windscreen wiper.
Home interior cleaning
When the inspector gives the go-ahead, you can begin cleaning the residence. If the damage is serious, it is preferable to hire a restoration contractor business to start cleaning the wood and defective materials and remove residues.
Bringing a fan and all the windows open for little flames is best to assist the airflow. Throw out the carpets and rugs and wet all the vinyl floors. You can transfer all damp objects to a garage or storage place for additional examination or cleaning to fix internal damage.
The heating system with air conditioning removes smoke from the house when it’s windy and unfavorable outside. To help right away, it is advised to use a dehumidifier and change the filters every day.
Remove the soot
All the inside surfaces of the house need to be inspected for soot.
To remove soot from interior walls, cabinets, and wooden and metal furniture, mix two tablespoons of soap, four to six tablespoons of trisodium phosphate, and a cup of chlorine bleach with a gallon of warm water.
Put on rubber gloves before cleaning the affected areas. You should wait at least 24 to 48 hours to properly dry the walls and ceilings after cleaning with bleach because it helps lower the chance of mold growth.
Furniture, appliances, and clothing should all be smoke-free.
Knowing that some fabrics and furniture might become ruined if they stay wet is a smart idea.
You should quickly clean the fabric and cushion to eliminate mold growth if the furniture is wet and you want to maintain the wooden frame. If the damage is not too bad, you can quickly clean wooden items using a furniture cleaner and have the fabrics washed by a professional.
It is advised only to give laundry-labeled items to the laundry and ask them to clean and eliminate the smoke smell.
Furniture, appliances, and clothing should all be smoke-free.
Knowing that some fabrics and furniture might become ruined if they stay wet is a smart idea.
You should quickly clean the fabric and cushion to get rid of any mold growth if the furniture is wet and you want to maintain the wooden frame. If the damage is not too bad, you can quickly clean wooden items using a furniture cleaner and have the fabrics washed by a professional.
It is advised only to give laundry-labeled items to the laundry and ask them to clean and eliminate the smoke smell.
Although they smell like smoke, washable materials cannot be cleaned of stains. If the smoke smell is still present on the clothing after the final rinse cycle, add another cup of baking soda and two cups of water to the washing machine. After soaking the clothing all night, wash it as usual.
Remember that you should use a moist cloth to clean your leather couch. Then, let all leather objects dry in full sunshine to avoid mold. You can use a leather softener to restore the leather’s smooth surface after washing it with soap when it starts to become dry.
Carpet and cushion cleaning
You can hire a professional carpet cleaner to clean your smoke-covered carpets and rugs since they utilize chemicals to clean your carpet and pillows. Be aware that smoke odor can linger for months in walls, attics, and insulation.
If there is still a strong odor of smoke after cleaning the house’s interior, you might employ a cleaning technique called misting. Remember that a trained restorer typically injects chemicals into insulation and walls to eliminate the smell of smoke.
Put These Things in the Dumpster After a Fire
We advise the following steps for cleaning up after a fire:
Foods in the refrigerator should be thrown away since they can spoil if the electricity is out for longer than four hours, and the food within is not bad if the freezer is still partially frozen.
Additionally, you should throw away any food exposed to heat or fire-fighting chemicals, such as canned goods, because too much heat will ruin it even if the cans are not burned.
It is best to discard cosmetics and medications because water, smoke, and fire-fighting agents can quickly harm them.
To prevent the danger of a fire, you are advised not to use any electrical equipment until the wiring has been examined for heat and water damage and to throw away any other questionable things.
Count on MBC Restoration Tampa to restore your home’s unique beauty and safety following a calamity.
Why choose MBC Restoration Tampa for storm damage restoration?
MBC Restoration Tampa is one of the most trusted names in this industry. The experts are available to provide services to property owners affected by hurricane Ian in Ft. Myers, Venice, North Port, Englewood, Pt Charlotte, Naples, and Estero. We are highly skilled professionals with over 20 years of expertise in providing a multitude of services related to storm damage restoration. Also, we are licensed contractors equipped with all the necessary equipment to deal with any disaster situations and provide the best solution. Here are a few reasons to choose MBC Restoration Tampa over other service providers:
- High standards are maintained at all levels
- Best rates in the market
- Swift and efficient service
If you are facing problems due to fire damage, do not delay, as the damage can escalate quickly. Get in touch with MBC Restoration Tampa today!
