Disaster Restoration Blog
If you’re the victim of a fire, then you’ve suffered a property owner’s worst nightmare. When the fire is out, it’s not unusual to find yourself lost. What happens next? Where does the cleanup even begin?
In addition to the damage left by the fire, the soot and smoke odor left behind present its own challenges. It’s easy to feel helpless when you’re fighting a two-pronged offensive to get things under control.
Thankfully, you’re not as helpless as you feel, and United Water Restoration Group of Fairfax, Virginia would like to give you a place to start to reclaim your property from the damages. Grab a pair of cleaning gloves, and let’s dive into it.
First thing’s first, you’re going to want to open all the windows on your property. This will allow proper ventilation for cleaning smoke damage by allowing lingering smoke odor and airborne soot time to clear out of the air, allowing you to breathe easier. Be sure to check air filters frequently, replacing them as needed until soot is no longer evident in them.
If the fire requires a response from your local fire department, you may also find yourself dealing with water in the aftermath. Be sure to dry things out as much as you can to prevent additional damages as well as avoid complications while cleaning smoke damage.
It’s impossible to clean everywhere at once, so it’s best to pick a place to begin and work from there. Soot is likely to be far-reaching from the smoke, and depending on the intensity and proximity to where the fire was burning, permeation is likely.
With the use of store-bought cleaning chemicals and a home vacuum cleaner, you can make quite a dent against lingering soot while cleaning smoke damage. That being said, it’s a very time-consuming task, though preferable to calling everything a loss and replacing everything.
While these steps are important in cleaning smoke damage, more often than not the clean-up process is just too extensive for those lacking proper equipment and training. After all, the smoke damage is only half of the chaos a fire has brought.
When you’re in need of professional backup when dealing with smoke and fire damage, call United Water Restoration Group of Fairfax, Virginia at (703) 775-1109. Our lines are open 24/7, and our friendly experts are standing by to help you.
