What Few People Know About Fire Damage Remediation Strategies in Chicago

10/13/2021 (Permalink)

SERVPRO can clean the soot from a fire-damaged Pinocchio in your Chicago home--no lie!! "Like it never even happened."

Various Strategies Used to Deal with Fire Damage in Chicago Homes

After a fire in your residence, the best chance of recovering your property and possessions is to call SERVPRO franchise professionals. It is daunting to deal with fire damage, and it is not a job that anyone can complete. A fire emits soot and various chemicals that create challenges for cleaning and decontamination.

The fire damage in your Chicago property requires a prompt response. It is essential to treat the affected areas promptly and effectively with specialized equipment and skills. We have the resources needed to restore your home to its original condition. We face various challenges when restoring homes, but we overcome them by using multiple strategies.

Treating Different Materials

After a fire, we can salvage some materials in your home. Different materials require different cleaning procedures. Our technicians can determine if the various materials in your home are salvageable and clean them properly.

• Drywall – When cleaning up drywall, our technicians determine if smoke residues have seeped behind it. In that case, it may be necessary to replace the drywall.
• Tile Counters – We can clean tile counters. Tiled surfaces comprise the tile itself and the grouting. Tile varies in porosity based on how it was constructed, while grouting varies in porosity based on how well it is sealed. If the tile grouting is not well sealed, it can absorb smoke residues. We can use a strong acid cleaner, like one containing muriatic acid, phosphoric acid, or a stabilized acid, to clean grouting stains.
• Granite and Solid Formica counters – If counters remain exposed to smoke for lengthy periods, permanent discoloration can occur. We can use general surface cleaners to clean your countertops.
• Carpets – If your carpets have light smoke, we can clean and restore them to their pre-damaged state by using the right cleaning solutions and equipment.
• Laminate Flooring – There is a layer of absorbent foam under laminate floors. If the smoke seeped beneath the floor, removing it is necessary to allow for the replacement of the porous foam.
• Salvageable surfaces – Our technicians can seal smoke-damaged surfaces that need not be removed so that smoke odors do not escape.

Removing Chemical Residues

Our SERVPRO crew removes not only smoke particulate materials like char, ash, and soot from affected surfaces. We also remove chemical components like semi-volatile and volatile organic compounds that can cause long-term contamination. Our restores inspect the affected areas, searching for particulates and chemical residues. The inspection also enables us to know which materials burned during the fire so that we can identify the smoke residues present. We then use the most effective cleaning techniques to eliminate the particulates and chemical residues.

Some challenges are involved when restoring fire-damaged houses. Fortunately, the technicians at SERVPRO of West Loop / Bucktown / Greektown have the experience and sophisticated equipment required to restore your property effectively. Contact us 24/7 at (773) 434-9100 for immediate help.