Every year, during summer, a lot of homes are subject to fire damage in Phoenix, AZ; thanks to the scorching heat and human factor (wildfires, negligence etc.). No matter how hard you try, you can’t be 100% ready for something like house fire and what it can cause. However, you can do your best to minimize the losses through efficient fire damage restoration.
Fire damage never comes alone. It goes hand-in-hand with smoke damage, so even if the fire damage is minimal, you need to act quickly to minimize and avoid further losses due to smoke damage.
Fire damage restoration starts the moment you know the extent of the damage and by securing things that weren’t damaged and beginning renovation.
In this guide, we will try to help you avoid expensive fire damage restoration and avoid high bills due to damaged structure.
Fire Damage Restoration – Assessment
Once you were able to put out the fire (with the help of the fire department if necessary) the first thing you need to do is contact a professional restoration company so you could begin your fire damage restoration process.
ASAP Restoration 24/7 will not only assess the extent of the fire damage, but also of the smoke damage. The assessment usually involves determining how deep did the fire penetrate your home, how much of your home’s surface was covered in smoke or soot and whether your furniture shows signs of heat damage or not.
You can of course conduct some of this assessment yourself, but in order to have a comprehensive and complete report, we strongly advise that you work with professionals.
Every step of the assessment process will be recorded and documented so you can submit it with your insurance company.
It’s important also to note that you should remove undamaged furniture from your home as soon as possible. Since smoke can linger and embed itself into the fiber, even after the fire is put out.
Why should you hire an expert for fire damage restoration?
Before working with a professional fire damage restoration company, make sure that you do thorough research and even consult friend and home insurance companies on who would they recommend.
You will for sure find some organizations, known as fire chasers, that aren’t professionals and not even certified. Even though the situation might be urgent, don’t feel pressured to sign a repair contact with an unprofessional company.
Foundation security
Once you begin the actual work of fire damage restoration, the first think you need to secure is the foundation. You need to plug up any holes that might weaken the structure and cause further damage. If the walls, floors or roof of your home also got singed, they need to be properly inspected and repaired (if possible) or replaced (if necessary).
Just as fire and smoke damage go hand-in-hand, the same applied to fire and water damage. For example, if fire damage weakened your roof, the first heavy rain can inflict more damage to you home through water damage, which can then lead to mold infestation and all sorts of other trouble.
When assessing the extent of the damage, you shouldn’t trust the “eyeball test”. It’s not accurate enough to detect potential leaks. Instead, trust the inspection to professionals. They will not only notice any weak points, but also repair them in order to prevent further damage.
Cleaning and removal
Cleaning out the soot and smoke that usually come with house fire is an almost impossible task. Especially if you try to do it yourself. Home cleaning supplies can mostly remove stains from the surface. But this kind of staining goes beyond that. It requires extensive scrubbing, sanding and refinishing in order to get everything clean.
And if your house was also affected by water damage, then you will need to pump out the excess water and air out the moisture in order to avoid mold infestation. Professional services have special heaters and fans that will dry out the area quicker than you could. It’s important that everything is dry, before you can sanitize everything.
If you have carpets and upholstered furniture, you will also need to clean them thoroughly to remove any odor that lingers after a fire. Sometime though, it might be a cheaper and better option to simply replace them with new ones instead of cleaning them.
Fire damage restoration
If you have any items that have great sentimental values such as family heirlooms, priceless pieces or furniture that is hard to replace, you will need to repair/restore them, which is a careful process.
Bubbling or blistered pain on the walls needs to be scrapped and repainted. Wood surfaces that have been damaged by fire and smoke need to be sanded, covered with a sealant and refinished. This can be an incredibly delicate work, for which you need to have the right experience, knowledge and tools. So it’s best to leave it to the professionals.
Consultation
Fire damage restoration is more than just cleaning and repairing parts of your home that were affected by fire and smoke. You need to think about the bigger picture, meaning how the fire has affected other parts of the house too.
The decision on the course of your fire damage restoration shouldn’t be made likely and in a hurry. You should definitely consult with companies that licensed and have the right experience and tools for the job. They can give you a realistic assessment and take care of the entire restoration process for you.
