A building fire is a devastating experience for everyone who has gone through it. While this is never an ideal situation, the good news is that fire restoration services help to salvage items and reconstruct your home to pre-damage condition.
Why Does Smoke Damage Linger?
It isn’t uncommon for the odor of smoke to linger, even after the fire gets extinguished. Microscopic particles of volatile organic compounds and incomplete combustion particles, referred to as VOC and PIC, create these smells. Soot is larger particles visible to the human eye, while many PIC’s are smaller than 10 microns. During the fire, these particles become airborne and eventually settle in wherever they land. Since they are so small, they can fall or become lodged in the drywall, flooring, structure, and contents of your home or business. Without the aid of a professional fire restoration expert, changes to humidity levels and barometric pressure activates the particles, which results in the smell of smoke lingering for months after the fire. Smoke odor removal helps to preserve as many assets as possible after a fire.
What Is The Smoke Removal Process?
Smoke removal is time-consuming and takes several steps to thoroughly remove the PIC’s and VOC’s from your environment. Our smoke removal technicians evaluate the size and damage of the fire. Larger fires create more smoke than smaller fires. However, fires in small areas tend to burn more intensely and have higher concentrations of contaminants. Then, we assess how long the area got exposed to soot and smoke. The longer you delay addressing the issue, the more time for smoke particles to become embedded in porous materials. After identifying the types of burned materials, the specialist will determine the best course of action to remedy smoke damage.
Extracting The Source Of Smoke Odors
The first step in treating smoke odors is removing the sources. Anything that’s burned or charred, like drywall, furniture, cabinets, flooring, and other non-salvageable items get removed. Items determined to be salvageable get cleaned using recommended cleaning products.
Air Duct Cleaning
After assessing the initial damage and taking steps to salvage items, the next step is cleaning the home’s ducts. Because the chances are good that soot made way into the duct system, cleaning these contaminants early in the restoration process prevents cleaned areas from recontamination.
Airborne Odor Removal
To treat airborne VOC’s and PIC’s, we utilize a range of industry-specific techniques to rid the air of the smoky, acrid smell. This process could include using fans, dehumidifiers, HEPA air scrubbing, vapor modifications, thermal fogging, ozone generation, and Hydroxyl generation. At Doiggs Restoration, we strive to provide timely and professional fire restoration services to clients in the greater Rockwall, Texas area. Contact us today for a free estimate