What to do right after a fire?
Right after the fire, immediately call emergency services for a rapid response. It is important to call the professionals that specialize in fires as soon as you can since they do an excellent job at making sure that no further damage is afflicted.
After you have done that, you can contact any restoration services. A restoration project may take a lot of time so it is best to start working on it immediately.
The actual restoration process, like structure repairs and reconstruction, should be done by restoration services. But the cleanup jobs like deodorization, soot removal, cleaning and sanitization can be done on your own.
How to start a fire restoration
One of the first things you need to do after the fire has been put out is check your home for all the damages. This is necessary to do in order to figure out what next steps to take to remedy such situation.
Structural Damage
Start by taking a look at the home's exterior and keeping an eye out for things like foundation cracks, downed power lines, broken gas lines, and damaged support beams.
You might want to hire an inspector or contractor to make sure your home isn't structurally endangered because these problems can be significant.
Once inside, search for issues like drooping flooring or ceilings. Along with fire and smoke, water frequently causes damage to the house. The weight might cause both the floors and the ceilings to fall.
Electric and Plumbing
Check the systems in your house next. Turn off your power at the fuse box if you observe sparking or any frayed wires. Look around for any tripped breakers while you're there. You should have an electrician and technicians look them over.
Turn off the water main if you believe that the water pipes have been damaged. Showers, sinks, and toilets should not be used until a plumber has been called.
Important step before fire restoration cleanup
Before you start cleaning up you home after a fire, make sure that a proper fire restoration has been made. You should have all structure damages fixed as well and electrical and plumbing.
After a fire, you might need to consider doing a fire flood restoration since you water extraction might be needed after putting out the fire. If the water is not properly removed, you will run into a problem of mold growth that will require specialty cleaning that costs a lot of money.
Things to throw away after a fire
To start a deep cleaning of your home after a fire, you must first throw out the damaged items.
1. Electric Equipment
Before using small appliances, entertainment systems, or other gadgets, make sure they have been inspected for heat and water damage. It is best to throw them away than take the chance of igniting another fire if you are unsure of their state.
2. Burnt Clothes
You can clean your clothes, but it's not always a good idea. Chemicals in smoke and soot can irritate your skin when touched and your respiratory system when inhaled. They might also smell like the toxic chemicals that firemen use. It is best to just toss away your burned clothing.
3. Furniture
Like clothing and other textiles, mattresses and fabric furniture can trap odors and pollutants that are difficult to remove. Not to mention that the heat or flames can endanger their structural integrity. The best course of action is tossing these enormous goods from your home if you're unsure of their condition.
Start Cleaning
Open all the windows and turn on the fans before you start working on the interior of your home. The stench of smoke and chemicals will be lessened as a result. Don some gloves, use a shop vac to remove any remaining standing water from the firefighting operations, pull up any wet carpet or vinyl flooring, and properly dispose of them.
Remove Smoke damage, Soot and Ash
Use this solution to clean the walls, floors, cabinets, and other surfaces in your house:
- 2 tbsp dishwashing soap or laundry detergent
- 4-6 tbsp tri-sodium phosphate (TSP)
- 1 cup chlorine bleach or household cleaner
- 1 gallon of water
Wearing gloves, using a sponge, and quickly rinsing with clear water are all recommended while cleaning surfaces and objects in your home.
After cleaning, if you can still smell smoke, check to see if you've fully cleansed your HVAC ducting, which may be retaining odors. After that, if the scent persists, speak with a restoration business about thermal fogging, a cleaning method. In the attic and wall insulation, smoke scents will be released as a result.
Cleaning Walls and Windows
The smoky smell will go away if you remove the soot and ash off of the walls and windows with the cleaning solution mentioned above. After cleaning the walls, give them 24 to 48 hours to completely dry out before repainting.
Use the aforementioned method to clean washable wallpaper as well, but avoid getting the wall beneath the paper wet to avoid mold and mildew. Any wallpaper edges or parts that are coming away can be reapplied using a commercial paste.
Cleaning Furniture
You might be able to save your furniture if it was not burned in the fire and is still suitable for use. Furniture made of hardwood, in particular, may be simple to save. Use the same oil soap you would for hardwood floors and other wooden objects to clean it. Sand the furniture and refinish it if there are deeper stains. Even if you are successful in eliminating the stains, you may want to have your furniture professionally cleaned to ensure that any remaining chemicals are eliminated.
Non-porous Surfaces and Floors
Fabrics can be more easily saved than other materials, such as glass and metal, but you shouldn't save anything that has been burned, charred, melted, or is otherwise deemed unsafe structurally.
Glass can be cleaned with vinegar and dish soap or soaked in white vinegar and baking soda and will typically withstand a fire.
Metal can often tolerate harm but may discolor. After cleaning with vinegar and dish soap, paint and lightly sand.
In most cases, hardwood floors can be saved unless they have burn marks or have been scorched. If necessary, sand and refinish them after cleansing them with oil soap.
Water Damage Restoration
A storm, flood, or burst pipe problem can leave your home with extensive water problem. This is why water restoration services should be contacted immediately to ratify the damage.
Water removal and inspection need to be conducted as soon as the damage has been acquired. It is important to remove all contaminated water from your home to make sure that you are not putting yourself and tour family in danger.
After those necessary steps have been taken, it is time to cleanup.
Water Damage Clean - Flood restoration
If all the surfaces are not dry, turn on ceiling fans to help speed up the process. Work closely to get rid of all the moisture and humidity in order to stop any mold growth.
Floors
Following the removal of carpet, padding, and other flooring, start drying the subfloor as soon as you can.
If submerged for an extended period of time, wooden subfloors would probably swell, and the affected areas will need to be replaced. In general, wood floors suffer after being soaked in floodwater.
Tile may be salvageable, but the subfloor needs to be dried and examined for signs of water damage.
Walls
To avoid odor, delay the formation of mold, and stop the deterioration of wall studs, open all flooded walls.
To encourage airflow inside the wall, take into consideration removing a six-inch part at the ceiling level. Although plaster and paneling may still be usable, it is crucial that air flow into wall cavities in order to dry the area.
The interior of the wall should be cleared of any moist insulation. Wall studs should be cleaned, disinfected, and sprayed with a fungicide to control mold.
Brick outside walls will need to be pressure washed, and if the wood or masonite siding is water-damaged, it may need to be replaced.
Mold remediation
Mold can be very tricky to get rid of. This is when using a steam cleaner like out Volt Mini will help.
The Volt MINI works at high pressure and temperatures, unlike other small professional portable steamers for cleaning, and can produce 101.5 psi of steam at a maximum temperature of 338 degrees Fahrenheit. This allows the machine to kill all mold growth and spores.
This machine is great to use for fire damage restoration as well as water damage restoration since steam can be used on multiple surfaces and this machine comes with variety of accessories that will help speed up the cleaning process.
Summary
Fire and flood damage is a big stress, but with right aproach and methods you can perform recovery out of leaving any signs of this disaster.