Everything You Don't Know About Getting Rid Of Smoke And Soot Damage
After a fire, you are left with smoke and soot damage. This can be both taxing and costly for you. Not only are you left to pick up the pieces of what once was your home, you are left to get the home clean again. Whether it is a small fire or a large fire, the damage done by it can be extremely difficult to take on. You want to make sure that you get rid of it completely to help restore your home back to where it should be. Here are some things you should keep in mind when handling the smoke and soot damage.
Acting Fast
One of the things you should always keep in mind is that time is of the essence when it comes to smoke and soot damage. The longer it sits on your furniture, ceiling, and walls, the harder it will be to clean. As soon as you are safely able to enter the home, you want to get started on the process of removing the smoke and soot damage. Not only will leaving it cause many of the stains to become permanent, but it can actually be harmful to your health. Soot particles that reside in your home can cause respiratory problems. If you or a family member already suffer from asthma, then breathing in the soot particles can flare up an attack.
Determining the Severity
Before you begin the cleaning and removal process, you must first determine how bad the damage is. Charring will require a different cleaning process than staining. If you have charring on your walls and ceilings, this will require you to prime and repaint. If you have staining from the smoke and soot, then you will only need to clean it. A mixture of trisodium phosphate and water is a great cleaning solution to help you get the marks off the surfaces. If you are struggling to get it off, you can always call professional restoration companies that are licensed to handle it.
Ventilating the Home
In order to keep the damage from spreading, you want to make sure you keep everything contained. This requires you to turn off the HVAC system so that the soot particles are not pushed around the house. By changing the air filters in the home, you can help trap many of the soot particles that remain in the home. You also want to open up any doors and windows to help get the particles to go outside the home.