Strategies for Cleaning Fire Damage In Dallas

9/24/2019 (Permalink)

SERVPRO of Southeast Dallas County is highly-qualified to manage all aspects of a fire loss.

Strategies for Cleaning Unfinished Wood Supporting Structures after Fire Damage in Dallas

Wood and wood products are common conventional building materials in Dallas. When a fire starts and spreads throughout your home, the chances are good that structural components such as wood framing, stairs, and subfloors might show effects. Tearout and replacement of load-bearing components is a huge undertaking and expense. The disruption suffered during the demolition and rebuilding of any wood features means a long-term displacement of your family.

Safety Concerns Set the Tone
After fire damage in your Dallas home, our team arrives quickly to evaluate and plan out the project. Although we take a restoration approach to even severe damage, our project managers use their Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC) training and experience to assess the risks your fire damage circumstances pose. In scenarios where the structural integrity of your home is impossible to assure because of components weakened by the fire, we work with local officials and your insurance company, keeping you apprised, determining what demolition and rebuilding must be done for continued safety.

Strategies to Recover Unfinished Wood
Once safety concerns are addressed, SERVPRO looks carefully at the “bones” of your home after a fire. This means we inspect the framing in all areas for smoke absorption, sooty residues, and charring. Our project plan focuses on thorough cleaning of these hidden structures because of the potential for progressive deterioration due to the corrosive nature of fire residues. Also, the malodors retained by unfinished wood compromise your quiet enjoyment of your dwelling. Debris and residues allowed to remain cause the smells to linger indefinitely.

Mechanical Means Used to Remove Residues and Charring
The goal when cleaning up unfinished wood is to reach clear, uncompromised material on the eventual new surface. SERVPRO employs scraping and wire brushing to achieve that goal. On some jobs, we consider abrasive blasting to more efficiently power through heavy layers of residue and charring. The abrasives available for blasting include dry ice, sponge, soda ash, or ground corn cobs. Before we proceed with this method, consultation with a structural engineer is recommended to ensure the strategy does not unduly weaken the unfinished wood.

Sealing Is An Option
When our efforts to clean down to unblemished wood does not eliminate the smell, demolition and replacement is not the only answer. Malodor-carrying particles deep inside and invisible can be contained and rendered inoffensive through sealing of the unfinished surfaces with an appropriate professional-grade product.

SERVPRO of Southeast Dallas County is highly-qualified to manage all aspects of a fire loss. Call us at (972) 227-0800 day or night to schedule a fire recovery assessment followed by rapid implementation of a full-spectrum remediation plan.

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