Fire Damage: Dealing With Smoke Damage After a Fire

10/21/2020 (Permalink)

When a fire happens to your commercial property, there's a lot to handle in the aftermath. One aspect that is not immediately obvious is the task of smoke cleaning. This is an important step that should not be skipped, so be sure to add it to your to-do list.

What It Harms

Smoke damage doesn't just mean seeing some dark smudges on the ceiling. Smoke and soot spread quickly and can manifest on almost everything in your building. It will affect different items and surfaces in different ways. Some common problem areas can include:

• electronics
• documents
• furniture
• fabric materials
  
  

How It's Cleaned

Depending on what needs cleaning, there can be a method for every scenario. Specific items, such as those listed above, each require their own customized type of smoke cleaning, that should be conducted by a qualified remediation specialist. Surfaces such as walls and solid furniture can handle a process of dry to wet cleaning. For upholstery and fabric that will shrink if exposed to wet cleaning, there is an option called foam cleaning. Immersive cleaning is a form of wet cleaning in which smaller objects can be totally sunk into a cleaning solution. The list goes on for many more categories.

How It's Reported

If you've hired a smoke odor and cleaning service, they most likely can help you with your insurance claim, as well. You will probably need to inventory all your content that has been damaged by fire or smoke, and gather all you can to verify each item's value. Then you can contact your insurance to determine your coverage. If you don't already have coverage, this moment would also be a good time to consider adding it.

Fire damage  is a dynamic problem that needs to be approached from multiple angles. One of these angles that shouldn't be dismissed is that of smoke cleaning. Smoke damage can hinder functionality and cause a strong odor. Give it proper attention for a complete rehabilitation of your commercial property.