What Steps Are Involved In The Fire Damage Restoration Process?

When a fire ravages your home or business, the damage it leaves in its wake can seem devastating. Even a small kitchen fire can require a lot of repair. The structural damage is only part of the problem. You likely also have to contend with water damage and soot or smoke remediation. Fire damage and restoration experts are trained to identify and implement the necessary repairs. There are several steps in the fire damage restoration process that your home or office may have to undergo after a fire breaks out.

Material Removal

Fire is incredibly destructive. It doesn’t take long at all for flames to engulf and obliterate drywall, insulation, and flooring. Even an area of your home that is seemingly unaffected by the fire can be compromised by the weakened structure around or beneath it.

Therefore, you should expect that emergency personnel and restoration technicians will require you to vacate the building until repairs are complete for the sake of your safety. All materials that cannot be saved must be removed. This may include load-bearing walls. To save as much of the structure as possible, experts often prop up essential parts during the restoration process until they can be rebuilt.

Water Damage Repair

It takes a lot of water to put out a fire. Firefighters use large hoses that can unleash hundreds of gallons of water into the space. While this interrupts the consuming flames, it also can cause its own kind of damage. Any part of the structure that is saturated by water may also have to be torn out and replaced. While the water is clean when it comes out of the hose, it soon becomes contaminated by smoke and microbes on the area it touches.

Therefore, the space must be disinfected before rebuilding can occur. It is also imperative that water damage is addressed quickly to prevent secondary damage. Mold growth can occur within 24-48 hours of the introduction of excess moisture. Timely remediation not only gets you back in the space more quickly but keeps the restoration process as simple as possible.

Soot and Smoke Cleanup

A fire leaves soot everywhere. Every surface in the immediate area is probably covered. In fact, many parts of your home or office that weren’t directly affected by the fire may have soot and smoke damage that has traveled through the air to adjacent areas. The cleanup process involves removing soot off surfaces and out of cracks. Smoke also infiltrates the air. Full remediation is not complete until the smoky odor the fire left behind is removed. Technicians use air filtration devices and other techniques to not only neutralize the odor but also remove the smoke particles that cause the smell.

Item Restoration

Taking out the materials that couldn’t be salvaged is only the first part of the fire damage and restoration process. Many items that have damage can still be salvageable. You may be surprised to discover how many of your supplies or belongings technicians can save.

Electronic equipment may be able to be rescued. Documents that have smoke damage can usually be recovered. If an item can be laundered or dry-cleaned, it can usually be saved. The technicians can help you determine what needs to be thrown out and what can be cleaned and restored.

Structure Rebuilding

Technicians don’t just gut the building and walk away. Full restoration is not finished until your home or business looks as if it never caught fire. The foundation is inspected and, if necessary, repaired so that it can provide a solid base for the structure. New insulation is installed and new drywall is built. Then the wall is repainted or re-papered to match the existing wall. Flooring, including carpets, that had to be removed are replaced. The technicians repair the ceilings as well. If the plumbing system was affected by the fire, certified experts can conduct repairs to ensure that it is not a problem to the newly rebuilt home or office.

Don’t lose hope if you need fire damage and restoration at your home or business. While there are several different factors to consider for the fire damage restoration process, a team of experts can assess what needs to be done and walk you through the process. No matter how much damage your building sustains, specialists can provide the restoration it needs.