Tag: fire damage

When your house experiences a fire, you have a lot to sort through. Not only is there the initial cleanup of ash and soot, but you also may have structural repair and hardware replacement to do as well. Fire damage restoration requires certification and training to ensure the job is done properly. Even a small house fire can carry hidden damages you may not be aware of. It’s important to get your home inspected after any kind of fire to make sure no other restoration work needs to be done.

Smoke Damage

Smoke damage is a particularly sneaky side effect of house fires. Smoke isn’t always visible, especially once it’s attached itself to upholstery or other fibers. Even after you’ve cleaned up the other damages of a fire, smoke can still cling around. In fact, you may not even notice that the smoke has taken hold until a few days after the initial restoration.

Smoke can ruin your furniture and discolor wallpaper and paints. Smoke can also severely damage your lungs and cause long-term respiratory issues if not dealt with as soon as possible. After a house fire, it’s important to have your home tested for possible signs of smoke damage to ensure your home and your health are safe.

Spreading Soot

Soot is a dangerous substance that can quickly spread throughout your house after a house fire. Every time you move through soot, you spread it around by upsetting it. Soot can easily travel through the air, but it also sticks to surfaces and smears across floors and walls. These marks take more effort to clean up and can get stuck in cracks and holes. If soot isn’t dealt with quickly and efficiently, you could end up with it in all rooms of your house, negatively affecting your home’s health and security.

Fire Damage Restoration in Northern Idaho

If your home suffers fire damage, it’s important to have a home inspection to seek out the hidden damages that could be left behind. Soot, ash, and smoke can all secretly affect your home long after a fire has been dealt with. Insight Restoration offers full-service fire damage restoration. We inspect your home for all signs of damage, repair obvious concerns, and fix any hidden problems that we identify during the inspection. If you had a fire in your home, no matter how big or small, give us a call at (208) 427-2825. We are available 24/7 to respond to any emergency fire situation. Our trained and certified technicians will get your house back to pre-loss condition as soon as possible.

As a restoration company that has 50 years of experience of removing odors from fire damage, we can tell you that the fire is the easy part. Every fire has a special damage type and leaves behind a different, unique smoke odor.

Time is of the Essence

The faster you start the restoration process, then the less likely you are to have damaged property. The IICRC has a certain timeline for fire damage and smoke odors. Within minutes, acid soot causes plastics to turn yellow, and highly porous materials will discolor permanently. Hours after a fire, grout, and fiberglass will turn yellow, uncoated metals will tarnish, and countertops, appliances, and furniture may fade. Within a day, the paint on the walls will be stained permanently, metal will corrode, wood will require refinishing, vinyl will need to be replaced, and upholstery will stain permanently. Finally, within weeks, the restoration costs rise tremendously. Unfortunately, however, you cannot save all items.

Removal Process

How you clean is as important as how fast you clean. If you clean the wrong way, your home may never be able to get rid of unpleasant odors. The first order of business is to get rid of the source of the odor. Items that are a total loss or that can be cleaned offsite should be removed from the home as soon as possible. How can you tell if something is damaged beyond repair? Here are some things to look for:

• Solid counters will clean without a problem, but if smoke is inside, it will require sealing the under-layer. Sometimes you’ll see the silhouette of where an item sat on the surface and darker residue around it from the smoke. The longer the smoke sits, the more likely the discoloration will be permanent.
• Carpet can be cleaned from very light smoke, but moderate to heavy damage needs replacement.
• Laminate floors have a layer of highly absorbent foam underneath. If smoke managed to get underneath the floor, your only option would be to remove the floor, to remove the foam, and then replace both.
• Real wood floors need to be sanded and refinished to clean smoke damage.
• Insulation is one item that you must always remove if there is any smoke inside.

Once you remove all items, clean everything left behind and use an odor counteractant. This is where professionals like us come in handy! We always guarantee our homeowners that they won’t be able to detect any form of smoke odor following the work we do in their homes.

Call the Professionals

A trained professional can eliminate smoke odors from fire damage more quickly and thoroughly. At Insight Restoration, our technicians use special neutralizing products, HEPA vacuums, hot thermal fog, ozone machines, hydroxyl generators, and odor counteractants. These methods and tools are not readily available to the general public. Within 24 hours, these products can permanently remove odors.

General cleaning is not enough to remove odors from fire damage. In fact, it may make the situation worse. Call 208-427-2825 and let us get to work on restoring your property and home. The longer you want to call, the costlier the damage. At Insight Restoration, we are always available to respond to emergency situations.

Winter is the prime season for house fires. According to the National Fire Protection Association, nearly a third of all total-loss house fires occur in the months of December, January, and February. While most fires are small, fire damage can still be costly and potentially injure someone in your home. The good news is that most house fires are easily preventable. Here are some winter activities that can put your home at risk of fire damage and what you can do to avoid a dangerous situation.

1. Space Heaters

Most space heater accidents happen while everyone is sleeping. These toasty devices may be a godsend for some bone-chilling rooms, but they are also the leading cause of house fires in the winter. Here are three rules to always follow when using space heaters:

• Make sure your heater is at least three feet away from anything flammable
• Plug your heater directly into the outlet rather than an extension cord
• Do not go to bed with the space heater on.

2. Cooking

Stovetop cooking is the leading cause of house fires year round, and most occur within the first 15 minutes of cooking. Never leave the room when you have a hot pan on the stove eye. If oven mitts, dish towels, or other flammable items are around, move them at least three feet away. If you’re suddenly faced with flames and spattering grease, the worst possible thing to do is panic. Turn off the stove, put on a pair of elbow-length cooking gloves, cover the pan with a lid, and let the oil cool down. Also, have a fire extinguisher handy.

3. Electrical Cords

We live in a world full of electronics. Because of that, we add an extension cord or adapter to accommodate all of our appliances. Feel the cords to make sure they’re not too warm or overloaded. Also, never run extension cords under rugs, tape them to floors, staple or nail them to walls, or string several together to make an extra-large extension cord.

4. Fireplaces

Fireplaces and chimneys should be checked on a regular basis. However, always make sure to extinguish the fire completely before leaving or sleeping, and keep flammable objects at least five feet away.

5. Candles

The main problem is not the candles, but how we use them. Too many people light them on top of tablecloths or near curtains, which can easily catch fire. Never leave a candle burning unattended, or switch to battery-powered ones.

Precautionary Measures

• Install and maintain smoke detectors

Each room inside your home needs a working smoke detector, including the basement. Test them every few months and completely replace them every ten years.

• Have a fire extinguisher and know how to use it

Having a fire extinguisher will do you and your family no good if you do not know how to use it properly. Watch videos online and know how to properly handle one and where to spray in case of emergency. Local firehouses and firefighters will also show you how to use one.

• Plan an escape route

Know every way to escape from your home in case of a fire. The front door is not always an option. Know how to break away from bedrooms and windows.

At Insight Restoration, our number one goal is to keep you and your family safe from fire damage. If damage does occur on your property, the key to proper clean-up is to act fast. Call us at 208-427-3042 and we’ll send our experts out immediately to inspect the damage.