What It Takes to Restore a Cocoa Home after Fire Damage

7/26/2022 (Permalink)

Fire damage cleanup and controlled demolition are cornerstones of SERVPRO. We make your Cocoa home look "Like it never even happened."

SERVPRO Provides Comprehensive Resources to Cocoa Homeowners after Fire Loss

Fire is a combination of different elements. Apart from the heat, it produces various chemical agents that spread across properties as fine particles, aerosols, and gases. These byproducts have distinct effects on materials, so restoring fire damage takes several approaches, including applying different cleaning products and procedures. Without sufficient resources, restoring your Cocoa home to its preloss state can be a mirage.

In your Cocoa home, fire damage occurs in stages. The most significant damage occurs when materials are engulfed in flames. This stage can consume many elements, reducing them to ashes. The gases, aerosols, and fine particles floating around the home during combustion, soil, stain, and leave a strong odor in fabrics, wood, and other materials. Finally, when residues like soot settle on surfaces, they can degrade them through corrosion and staining. Polished metal and stone surfaces such as backsplashes or countertops are susceptible to such damage.

Fixing fire issues requires the right:

• Knowledge
• Equipment
• Workforce
• Chemical agents

You can categorize knowledge about fires. Knowing what is affected, what can be salvaged, and what should be immediately disposed of are some of the top categories of information. Whether something is salvageable depends on factors like the level of damage, restoration cost, and the ease of replacement. SERVPRO has extensive industry experience, making it easier to categorize items as salvageable or unsalvageable. Whether canned or refrigerated, foodstuffs fall in the unsalvageable category since they are readily replaceable and become toxic from heat or chemical exposure.

Resources that Help Resolve Fire Damage

Appropriate resources are essential whether you need to clean, strip, or refinish a burnt area. These could be products or equipment to facilitate specific processes. Extra pair of hands is also helpful in facilitating simple or complex tasks. SERVPRO combines all these factors by sending a well-staffed and equipped team to your fire damaged property.

Necessary restoration equipment

• Abrasive cleaners
• Deodorization equipment
• Deep cleaners
• Drying equipment

Fire and smoke residues adhere strongly to surfaces due to bonding with the surface or deterioration of the underlying material. For example, areas with wet smoke residues are deeply soiled. Breaking the bonds requires sufficient force that only abrasive cleaning equipment can deliver. Pressure washers and rotating brushes are standard tools when a strong physical force is needed. For deep cleaning, immersion in cleaning solutions may be necessary. Ultrasonic cleaners help when cleaning small items.

In some cases, chemical breakdown of soils is better than using physical force, especially when it might damage the affected materials from poor handling. Our SERVPRO crews use specially formulated products to facilitate such cleaning. Heavy-duty cleaning detergents that are highly alkaline and contain ammonia are essential for this task. They are reliable in removing greasy fire residues and other difficult soils.

One should not forget secondary or invisible problems after dealing with the soiling and material deterioration left in a property by fire. Moisture issues and odors fall in this category since it is easy to overlook them until they interfere with your daily routines. Our SERVPRO technicians set up dehumidifiers or air movers to manage moisture, whether from cleaning processes or firefighting efforts. An air mover evacuates wet air from the house. A dehumidifier removes the humidity accumulating in the air. In both cases, the evaporation rate from wet materials increases, thus boosting drying.

SERVPRO of Central Brevard addresses all aspects of fire damage, from deteriorated materials to strange odors. Call us at (321) 638-4947. We're Faster To Any Size Disaster.