Long Island Smoke Damage/ Soot Damage Restoration and Clean Up Service
Experiencing a fire of any sort in your home is disturbing enough, but along with the stress of the fire itself is dealing with soot damage because it rarely spares anything and one wrong move and you can stain the items even more, rendering them no longer salvageable. To be able to conduct soot restoration and clean up effectively, you should know the basic characteristics of soot damage so you will know how to deal with the smoke clean up. Soot damage can destroy your home in many ways including embedding itself into every possession you own. It is important to remedy soot damage to prevent staining and further issues that are difficult to resolve without proper equipment and expertise. Therefore, you should hire a professional fire restoration company to handle smoke/soot damage clean up.
Risks of doing smoke damage / soot clean up restoration on your own
Any type of soot can be ingrained deeper into the surface if improperly handled, thus causing more damage and a more expensive remediation process. Additionally, the restoration should be done sooner than later because soot can damage everything it lands on within hours, sparing nothing. Walls, furniture, items made of plastic, marble, clothing, bedding etc. The time you will waste just trying to figure out what type of soot you have to cleanup can already lead to irreversible damage.
The following methods are recommendations and guidelines for fire and smoke damage:
- Wear gloves such as household dish washing gloves, long sleeved shirts and pants to avoid skin contact. If you get any smoke ash on your skin, wash it off as soon as possible.
- Wear personal protective gear such as a dust mask to avoid breathing in ash and other airborne particles from fire damage.
- Ventilate the area (open windows, etc.) to remove soot and odor.
- Remove fire damaged burned debris to reduce odor source.
- Install dehumidifiers to control moisture in the air (relative humidity) to reduce water damage, especially where water was used to extinguish the fire.
- Wipe all metallic finishes with cooking oil to prevent rust and staining.
- Clean plastic or surfaces such as PVC windows and white painted surfaces using a mild alkali detergent to remove possible acidic soot which may activate with moisture in the air (humidity) and cause permanent staining.
- Undertake triage assessments to clean or remove all contents as quickly as possible and in order of value.
- Deodorants should not be used as they mask smoke odor which is a significant indicator of health concerns.
- Where smoke damage occurs, surface staining cannot be removed and you may consider the use of specialist paint to obliterate the smoke damaged stain. Typically these paints are lacquers or oil based.
Hiring 911 Flood Of Long Island to Clean Up and Remedy Soot Damage
There are several reasons to hire a local Long Island professional restoration company following a house fire. Smoke damage restoration (remediation) is a component of the fire restoration that all homeowners must do after a fire. Hiring a local Long Island professional fire restoration company to complete this task for you offers many benefits. It allows the restoration contractors to address several issues simultaneously such as water damage, fire damage and smoke and soot damage. Professional restoration contractors also have the experience and training to remedy soot damage wherever it occurs in your home. Hiring a professional on Long Island is the easiest and most worry free solution to any soot/smoke problem.