Smoke Damage

To take a sideways look at an old saying, where there’s fire damage, there’s smoke damage…but at the same time smoke can leave an awful lot of damage even when there’s no actual fire.

Before and after treatment with ozone generators and specialist cleaning.

Fortunately, Fire Flood Restoration is fully equipped to handle all elements of smoke damage clean-up, including soot removal, thorough cleaning, decontamination and odour removal with the help of ozone generators

With walls and ceilings, redecoration may be more cost-effective than extensive smoke damage cleaning. We wash down the surfaces and seal them with alkali-resistant primer to seal in stains and smells, and then redecorate.

As regards items such as carpets, curtains and clothing, we will clean and decontaminate them on- or off-site, as appropriate, and can also store them until you’re ready to put them back into place.

Smoke Damage – Cleaning Up Can Be Difficult

When you’re dealing with the aftermath of a fire there is more to consider than just the obvious burns that the fire left in its path. You must also look at dealing with the extensive problems that soot and smoke can cause. Not only is smoke and soot unsightly, inhalation of either is a major health risk. When dealing with the cleaning of smoke damage you must be extremely careful to use the correct equipment and safety uniform as you will pose a threat to not only yourself but to anyone who will be entering your premises if the problem is not dealt with effectively.

Cleaning smoke damage from fire is not only dangerous, but is also tricky. Equipment that you may need to use will be not only hard to come by, but may also come with an expensive bill. It is imperative that you use it however, because as mentioned earlier, cutting corners and sloppy mistakes could lead to more problems than just stained walls.

If you decide that you are up to the job in hand yourself and you believe that you will be able to deal with it effectively then you will first need to consider which plan of action you are going to take and how you are going to put it into place.

Restoration and the Cleaning of Smoke Damage

Firstly you need to remove all soot from the premises. This is vital, if you miss any it is pointless continuing as you will simply have to repeat all the jobs if and when problems occur later on in the process. Remember that however you choose to do this, you cannot use water. This will make the problem a million times worse and will, in turn, make the process even longer. It not only makes the stain harder to remove, but also makes it look worse on your surfaces.

Once all the soot has been removed you must then look into thorough cleaning. The cleaning of the smoke must be done to such a standard as to ensure that when you get down to redecorating, the processes can be completed quickly and efficiently so as to ensure your bills are kept to a bare minimum. Cleaning away damage from smoke is far from easy as not all problems are obvious. It is easy to remove what you can see, what you can’t – not so easy. Special equipment is vital. Mould build up can, and will, happen if you do not ensure that the surfaces are completely clear of any remaining residue. Smoke and soot in themselves are dangerous. Add mould to the mix and you have one deadly cocktail. Getting rid of smoke odor is nearly impossible without the use of specialist equipment.

As already mentioned, the necessary equipment can and will be costly. If you can find a supplier willing to provide it to somebody without a long list of credentials, you have done well. If you can find a supplier to provide equipment cheaply enough that you can afford it – you have done amazingly well.

The restoration process is long, expensive and stressful. If you don’t think you can handle taking all of it on yourself then you may need to look into expert help. Expert help may involve hiring an extensive amount of professionals to make sure each job is done, of course to the standard you need. You will need somebody to assess the damage and tell you what exactly needs to be done. You will need cleaners. You will need decorators. You will need restoration experts. You might even need builders, plumbers or electricians depending on just how bad the damage is.

Examples of smoke damage cleaning projects are included in our gallery and our testimonials

In an emergency, please call 020 8340 8338. Otherwise, to get started, please send us a message via our contact page