The aftermath of smoke or fire damage in your home may be challenging to cope with. Paint peels and chips away, leaving an oily residue that adheres to the walls like a permanent marker, and everything seems to be coated in a film. While cleaning up a smoke-damaged home is a nightmare, particular vital steps are followed to decrease the amount of money and time spent on the task.
Smoke Damage Cleanup
Your action plan will be more successful if you are more prepared for what is to come. When dealing with smoke and fire damage, you should take the following steps.
Furniture
Start by washing the soot off any wood surfaces with a dry chemical sponge if your furniture is salvageable. Don’t scrub too hard since you don’t want the burning participles to get embedded in the wood grain. Then use a cotton towel and a 14 cup oil soap solution (or wood cleaner) in a gallon of warm water to gently wipe down any wood surfaces. To remove the tenacious soot from the wood, steel wool may be necessary. After removing all of the soot, wipe the furniture with a damp cloth and air dry it.
Walls
Wipe down the walls and ceilings to remove any easily removable surface residue. After that, dissolve one tablespoon of TSP in a gallon of warm water. Rubber gloves, a face mask, and goggles are all recommended. After that, the sponge may be used to wipe out the damaged components in small pieces.
To eliminate the residue left behind by the cleaner, re-rinse the walls with water. If you have drywall, be careful not to oversaturate it with water since this may cause it to deteriorate and encourage mold growth. If necessary, you’ll need to repair any issues such as chipped and peeling paint or bubbling wallpaper. If your walls are covered with wallpaper, you may need to remove it and start over.
Textiles
Before you can erase the smoke odor, you must first clean your linens and carpet soot. Using a vacuum, remove the stains. Brush attachments should be avoided since they tend to embed dirt and soot into the cloth’s fibers. You may deodorize the affected areas after the soot has been removed. To determine the full extent of the damage, including the impact of smoke and heat to your property, click here.
Hire Professionals
If there is a lot of soot or smoke damage after a fire, you should call a professional. Cleaning and deodorizing walls and furniture is a time-consuming and challenging task best left to professionals. It may have been more cost-effective to hire a professional after purchasing all of the required tools and trying to fix the damage yourself. The property damage restoration Murfreesboro can help you bring your peace of mind back.
Conclusion
Smoke damage may be a time-consuming and challenging task to repair. Before beginning on this expedition, make sure to investigate the situation and prepare for the assignment. If you’re still not sure, get the help of a local expert.