How Can I Get My Chicago House Cleaned Up After a Fire?

5/24/2020 (Permalink)

Fires can be highly destructive to your home, especially surfaces battling the presence of soot and other residues.

Our SERVPRO Team Can Arrive Quickly to Chicago Residences for Cleaning and Restoration Following a Fire

Cleaning up after a fire loss incident in Chicago is one of the considerable challenges to making these disasters “Like it never even happened.” Without adequate and thorough cleaning and restoration practices implemented at the right times, surfaces and contents could suffer irreparable damages. Discarding materials and reinstalling them can be an unnecessary cost when our SERVPRO professionals can get to work quickly on the recovery steps required.

Effective cleaning and restoration after fire damage to Chicago homes begin with a fast and confident response. Because our technicians stay prepared to answer the call 24/7, we can often reach damaged addresses while there is still time and opportunity to protect many of the surfaces and exposed contents. Entrusting your home to responding technicians can often make the return to preloss condition more efficient and cost-effective.

What is Debris Removal?

Among the first steps in cleaning and restoring your fire-damaged home is debris removal. This process is one of the emergency services that our professionals offer and can help our technicians to gain control of an increasingly difficult situation. Shoveling out piles of ash and charred remnants of materials can help in many ways. Some advantages of beginning debris removal or muck-out for your home include:
    •    Reduces the concentration of soot
    •    Makes odors less intense
    •    Allows our professionals to inspect the property better

Is Soot Dangerous to Be Around?

Soot can be one of the most challenging obstacles for responding technicians, as this residue can react differently with each of the materials that it becomes exposed to after a fire. Also, the presence of soot can present health concerns for those in direct contact, which requires our professionals always to wear the appropriate personal protective equipment. From Tyvek suits to gloves and respirators, we can protect our cleaning team and eliminate cross-contamination with other areas of your house. The primary concerns about soot include:

    •    Acidic Nature – Because soot has an acidic base to its composition, its presence in a layer resting on organic surfaces can have a destructive effect. When residue goes prolonged periods without getting removed, it can mar or stain surfaces underneath it.
    •    Microscopic Particles – the size of soot particles is also an alarming concern because these microscopic particulates can get easily inhaled and travel deep into the lungs.
    •    High Concentrations – Circulating soot in the environment can present hazards like unclean breathing air and more substantial concentrations of soot residues on exposed surfaces.

How Can Residues Like Soot Get Cleaned?

Removing soot and smoke residues from the house requires several approaches and potent cleaning products. The best approach and technique to remove soot damage in the house gets determined often during the initial assessment and evaluation of the property following a fire loss. Our project manager can walk through the damaged building to begin cataloging loss and noting wherever soot removal techniques are necessary. These might include:

    •    Chemical Solvents – Emulsification can be an excellent method for removing oily soils from surfaces, and many of our chemical solvents can also have a positive effect on present soot damage. Pretesting is a way to determine what potent products are the best choice for the affected material.
    •    Soda/Media Blasting – Using a high-pressure output, soda, and media blasting equipment can help to restore the surface of a damaged structural element by eliminating soot without destroying the construction material beneath it.
    •    Controlled Demolition – There are some situations where material removal might be the only suitable solution. If soot has stained or marred a surface or item, our in-house contractors can remove only the damaged portions to make build back and reconstruction as efficient as possible.

What If Contents in My House Get Soot-Damaged?

Your belongings are just as susceptible and sensitive to soot exposure and damage as the construction materials used in your home. While you might not have the time to relocate everything of value or significance, our SERVPRO professionals can work on content management beginning as soon as we arrive. From on-site cleaning and relocation efforts to more intricate cleaning practices that can happen in our nearby facility and warehouse, we can improve the look and feel of damaged items efficiently.

Fires can be highly destructive to your home, especially surfaces battling the presence of soot and other residues. Addressing these concerns can involve multiple strategies, including surface cleaning, media blasting, and controlled demolition. No matter what your home needs, you can count on our SERVPRO of Evergreen Park / South Chicago City to help by calling (773) 337-3900.