There is nothing like seeing your house engulfed in flames. Emotions of hurt and loss consume you just as the fire consumes your possessions and memories. But you can take a small amount of solace in knowing that most fires don’t completely destroy everything in the house.
To recover salvageable belongings and valuables, you’ll want to call professional experts for fire damage restoration. Charlotte has its share of fires every year, and the fire damage restoration experts at ServiceMaster Quality Restoration are some of the best. Here are some tips for keeping fire damage to a minimum:
Accept That Some Things Are Gone
Don’t keep things that are damaged beyond repair, and don’t hesitate to demolish any parts of your home that are badly burned.
Circulate the Air
The first step toward getting things cleaned up is to do everything you can to get aerate your property to remove smoke and reduce moisture. Open windows, use box fans, air movers, and anything else to get the air within your property moving.
Vacuum Fabric Items (Without the Beater Bar)
Fabric items are common places for soot and smoke smell to linger. To help cleanse them, vacuum them thoroughly without using a beater bar or a harsh brush. Otherwise, the bristles will compound the soot into the fabrics.
Cleaning
Soot on nonporous surfaces like glass or metal can be wiped with simple spray cleaners and paper towels. On porous surfaces, you want to use a chemical sponge (available at your local hardware store) and a cleanser designed for cutting grease.
Repaint
Painted surfaces (in particular drywall) hold soot smell remarkably well. Strip the old paint off and repaint in order to get rid of it. If you have hardwood floors, you may want to consider stripping and re-varnishing them for the same reason if they release any smoke odors.
In Charlotte, our experience in fire restoration has given us a great reputation for being able to mitigate damages and restoring damaged properties. With ServiceMaster Quality Restoration, we make it our goal to get the job done successfully and properly, to get your life and your property back to normal.
