Smoke Damage Types and the Professional Products Used to Restore Fire Damage Near You

10/26/2021 (Permalink)

When Fire Damage Takes Control of your Life in Dane County, Madison, WI, We Help you Take it Back

The first 48 hours after fire damage can differentiate between restoring versus replacing your property and personal belongings. SERVPRO of Dane County West Professionals provides timely response with mitigation services ranging from fire, smoke, and soot removal to contents claims inventory and document restoration. These services help ensure your property, belongings, and memories are restored to the preloss condition when possible. 

Fires bring various types of smoke damage that require specialized products and training to mitigate the soot residue cleanup.

The different types of smoke damage include:

• Wet Smoke Damage. (Plastic and Rubber) Low heat, smoldering, pungent odor, sticky, and smeary often accompanied with smoke webs. 
• Dry Smoke Damage. (Paper and Wood) Fast-burning, high temperatures; heat rises, therefore smoke rises.
• Protein Fire Residue. (Produced by evaporation of material rather than from a fire) Virtually invisible, discolors paints and varnishes, extreme pungent odor. The most common protein fires are from burnt food.
• Fuel Oil Soot Damage. (Furnace puff backs) While “puff backs” can create havoc for homeowners, SERVPRO of Dane County West professionals can, in most cases, restore the contents and structure quickly.
• Other Types. (Tear gas, fingerprint powder, and fire extinguisher residue) Special loss situations require special care.

Before restoration begins, SERVPRO of Dane County West Professionals will survey the loss to determine the extent of impact from fire, smoke, heat, and moisture on the building materials and their contents. The soot will then be tested to determine which type of smoke damage occurred. Pretesting determines the proper cleaning method and allows SERVPRO of Dane County West professionals to focus on saving your precious items.

SERVPRO of Dane County West professionals knows smoke can penetrate various cavities within the structure, causing hidden damage and odor. As an IICRC Certified firm, SERVPRO of Dane County West has the training and specialized equipment and products to restore all types of fire damage. 

There are many products utilized in fire restoration, but the ones listed below are some of the most common SERVPRO of Dane County West utilizes.

• Dry Soot Chemical Sponge - natural rubber sponges designed to remove soot from fires in a dry state. The tiny porous cells of the sponge lift soot from surfaces quickly without smearing.
• Dry Ice Blasting - Dry ice blasting uses compressed air to accelerate solid carbon dioxide (CO2) dry ice pellets to clean a variety of surfaces including those from fire damage. Dry ice cleaning is a "green" process that uses small pellets of recycled carbon dioxide to clean a surface. The pellets sublimate (turn from solid directly to gas) during the cleaning process. That rapid change in state from solid to gas causes microscopic shock waves which assist in removing the contaminant. Dry ice blasting for fire damage restoration is non-abrasive, non-conductive, and nonflammable. Dry ice blasting generates no additional waste or secondary contamination unlike media and water blasting.
• Ultra Sonic Cleaning Machines - Ultrasonic sound waves produce millions of microscopic bubbles that form and collapse, creating a gentle implosion and vacuum called cavitation to clean and restore items. 
• Ultra-Low Volume (ULV) Foggers will atomize liquid deodorizing agents, producing a fine mist that easily penetrates sites where odor-causing residues accumulate. The device can also be used to apply fungicides and disinfectants.
• Thermal Foggers dispense solvent-based products in large volume, dense fogs suitable for confined areas. The fog consists of tiny particles of deodorant solution that pair with and neutralize odor-causing particles. 
• Hydroxyl Generators - Hydroxyls work primarily by abstracting hydrogen atoms, thereby dismantling the molecular structure of odors and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Powerful hydroxyl generators using the same broad range of UV radiation as the sun are now used to naturally clean and deodorize indoor environments
• Ozone Machine - Used to oxidize organic odors such as smoke, pet odors, mildew, organic pollutants, and more without chemicals.
• Air Scrubbers and Negative Air Machines - Air Scrubbers are used for cleaning and controlling air quality and creating negative pressure in a work area. How It Works: Air enters the unit and passes through three-stage filtration capturing smoke, fumes, mold spores, dust, and particulate. Clean air is returned to the environment.
• Professional Grade Smoke Cleaning/Deodorizer Products –SERVPRO Industries, LLC has a chemical division dedicated to developing products specifically designed to clean fire-damaged contents. From floors to ceilings, SERVPRO has a product for that. 

You Have So Much Invested In Your Property; Trust Professionals to Protect Your Most Valuable Asset! SERVPRO of Dane County West understands that using professional equipment makes a measurable difference in reducing claims loss expense. The right tool for the right job is vital to timely mitigation and restoration. 

Our goal is to help minimize the interruption to your life and quickly make it "Like it never even happened." 

• 24-Hour Emergency Service
• General Contractor License #: 1317784
• IICRC Certified Firm
• For a stress-free claims process, SERVPRO works with your insurance to manage the insurance process and paperwork.

Have Questions About Fire, Smoke, or Soot Damage? Call SERVPRO of Dane County West Today – (608) 497-3331

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