Each year, Americans accumulate billions of dollars of property damage due to house fires across the country. It can be nearly impossible to completely protect your home from a fire or prevent the damage that can happen as a result. There are, however, a few ways you can decrease the amount of damage done if you act quickly after experiencing a fire in your home.
No matter the extent of damage done by the flames of a fire, you can avoid further loss by mitigating smoke damage. This is done through fire restoration in Springfield, Ohio. This guide to fire restoration will help you secure items that were not damaged, prevent further damage, and avoid costly repair bills in the future.
Seeking Expert Help in Fire Restoration
One of the best choices you can make after a fire is to call an expert. As our team of fire damage professionals at Reliant Restoration, an expert will be able to help you move forward in a safe and efficient manner. Most insurance companies can recommend experts in your area.
Always be sure to research a company before signing a contract. Unfortunately, there are inadequate companies out there that like to take advantage of people in desperate situations such as experiencing a house fire.
Assess The Damage
Once you have an expert team on board, they will help you assess the fire damage. How deep did the fire penetrate the structure of the home? How much smoke and soot-covered your surfaces? Do your walls, furniture and fixtures show signs of heat damage?
This should all be recorded for insurance purposes and a good fire restoration company will help you do that. Any furniture or belongings that were untouched by the fire should be removed as soon as possible. This will prevent it from getting damaged as smoke and soot settle in the home.
Securing the Home
The first priority of a restoration company will be to secure the foundation of your home. This means plugging holes or repairing weakened structures. You will likely need an inspection of repairs that have been done.
It is important to remember that fire damage and water damage often go hand in hand. Between water used to put out the fire and rainwater entering during the repair period, it must be managed accordingly.
Cleaning The Home
A house fire can leave behind an extensive amount of smoke and soot. This is nearly impossible to clean without professional tools and services. Smoke damage can usually only be removed with a deep scrub, sanding, and refinishing.
Water damage must be completely pumped, dried, and sanitized in order to prevent mold growth and rot.
Repairing The Home
Starting with the walls and ceilings, fire often creates bubbling and blistering of the paint. This must be scraped and repainted carefully.
When it comes to wood surfaces damaged by fire, soot, or smoke, the options for repair will fall into two categories. For unfinished wood, you could try to apply a sealant over it to mask or trap the odor, but there’s no guarantee that will work.
Finished wood has a much better success rate of repair and full restoration. The surface that protected the wood gets stripped, sanded, and refinished. This ensures that all of that trapped odor gets removed and none of it will linger later on.
Renovating The home
Once everything has been cleaned and repaired it is time to rebuild. While some parts of your home can be easily repaired, there may be other parts that need to be rebuilt with new materials.
Renovation after a house fire will often include new sheetrock, rebuilding foundation or other structures within the home, and new finishes. Many restoration companies also offer these renovation services with experienced contractors.
Fire Damage Restoration Services
Fire damage restoration goes much further than the places within your home the fire touched. When you experience a house fire, it is likely that every part of your home was affected and should be considered.
For your safety and to prevent further damage it is best to call fire damage restoration experts after a fire. Let the professionals help you through this hard time and move forward in a clean, repaired, and renovated home.