How Does Structural Fire Damage Impact Eagle Rock Home Surfaces?

4/13/2023 (Permalink)

Fires can be devastating. After ensuring your safety and the safety of your family, contact SERVPRO to inspect the property right away.

SERVPRO Fire Restoration Returns Eagle Rock Homes to a Clean, Safe Condition for Occupants

In the United States, a home fire occurs approximately every 93 seconds. This figure includes fires that leave behind only a small amount of damage. However, Eagle Rock homeowners can benefit significantly from quickly removing even small-scale fire damage from their properties.

Highly-trained SERVPRO restoration technicians can remedy fire and smoke damage in Eagle Rock homes with fast-responding 24/7 service. This commitment to constant availability ensures that homes can be restored as thoroughly as possible.

Common Types of Fire Damage Residues

As differing substances burn, they produce varying soot and stains that require equally varied mitigation methods for cleanup.

• Dry smoke stems from substances like unfinished wood, paper, and similar dry goods burning. These substances produce high-heat, fast-burning fires. The chalky, dusty soot left behind by these fires is much easier to clean than other types of smoke damage.
• Wet smoke, meanwhile, comes from burning rubbers and plastics. These residues are odorous, sticky, and smear when wiped off a surface.
• Protein residues typically left behind by burnt meat, poultry, or fish, pose a unique challenge compared to wet and dry smoke. Proteins require more specialized fire odor removal, and their lack of visible staining can make it easy to unintentionally spread pungent malodors throughout a home.

Eagle Rock SERVPRO Teams Perform Fire and Smoke Damage Removal

SERVPRO technicians can focus on mitigating fire damage with a combination of manual debris disposal, EPA-registered sanitation solutions, and odor control tools. Fire damage residues are removed from ceiling to floor and lightest to heaviest to ensure the process is as efficient as possible. Structural drying may be necessary if moisture from fire suppression is present.

Dry soot is typically the easiest for SERVPRO technicians to remove. Dry cleaning sponges, Crumbly Cleaner, and agitation tools can eliminate a significant portion of this type of fire damage from a property. Heavier charring on surfaces like wood cabinets is removable with the help of fire restoration tools like abrasion blasting. Gentle but effective blast media, such as soda ash or dry ice, can save structures and contents and lessen repair and replacement costs for homeowners.

Wet cleaning with OSHA-approved antimicrobial solutions or heavy-duty alkaline solutions may be necessary for heavier fire damage stains. Proteins, meanwhile, can be addressed with the help of enzyme digesters that encourage fire odor removal by eating protein residues and converting them into water-soluble byproducts. Odor Control Technicians (OCTs) can then implement dry foggers, which use solvent-based deodorizing solutions to remove smoke odors.

HVAC cleanup is another essential aspect of fire mitigation. SERVPRO trucks are outfitted with augers, brushes, and whips designed to remove odorous debris from vents and stop the spread of unpleasant smells throughout an Eagle Rock home. HEPA-filter vacuums are also instrumental for soot removal.

SERVPRO of Eagle Rock / South Glendale is ready to return homes to a “Like it never even happened.” After fire damage to your property, call (323) 255-1000.

Fire Restoration to Return Eagle Rock Homes to Pre-Loss Condition

4/11/2023 (Permalink)

Understanding what the property needs are the first step in returning life to normal for your family after a fire.

What is the Pre-Loss Condition After a Fire?

Pre-loss conditions are the objective for responding restoration professionals like our SERVPRO team after a fire. This term describes the condition of your home before the fire, but not an improvement in that state.

Inspecting the Property 

Fire restoration in Eagle Rock homes starts with a thorough inspection and structural assessment. We know how vital cataloging damage can be to property loss reporting and submitting estimates to your insurance provider. We have skilled professionals arriving quickly after the first notice of loss when first responders clear the house for entry. SERVPRO technicians are looking for:

• Structural Damage - Structural damage is often apparent, but careful evaluation is necessary to understand the extent of compromised building materials and systems.
• Compromised Contents - Contents are often destroyed by combustion and migrating fire damage. We work fast to provide on-site cleaning and relocate your belongings to our nearby warehouse for cleaning and storage when necessary.
• Water Damage - First responders use hydrants near your home to provide a steady stream of water to combat the flames. The mess this leaves behind becomes a substantial obstacle in returning your home to preloss condition. 
• Pre-Existing Conditions - Some conditions and damage to your home pre-date the fire disaster. Helping SERVPRO professionals note these circumstances during the inspection of the property streamlines later cleanup and recovery. 

Effective Cleanup and Restoration Services 

Understanding what the property needs are the first step in returning life to normal for your family. We work tirelessly to overcome smoke and fire damage, including odors, soot soils, and debris. We have end-to-end services customized to the specific obstacles of restoring and recovering your house after a fire disaster.

Fires destroy homes and businesses daily, and our fast response to these emergencies is meant to return things to how they were before. Call SERVPRO of Eagle Rock / South Glendale to help you clean up after fire and smoke damage. We are available 24/7 at (323) 255-1000.

Eliminating Odor after Fire Damage in Eagle Rock

11/16/2022 (Permalink)

Fire damage often encompasses both remediation and odor control. Call SERVPRO 24/7 as our team handles all aspects of the situation at hand.

SERVPRO Fire Damage Restoration Incorporates Odor Control

Housefires require extensive cleanup. Most of the home needs to be carefully sorted into salvageable and non-salvageable materials. Charred materials relating to structure or belongings are thrown away in large dumpsters, while replacement materials must be sourced and installed. These processes can be difficult to manage alongside work and other commitments, which is why most homeowners rely on a professional service to help with:

• Fire debris removal
• Fire Restoration
• Fire damage restoration

One ever-present challenge of fire damage restoration in Eagle Rock is odor control. The rule of thumb when it comes to odor control is to eliminate all odor-causing materials. These can include porous parts of the building assembly or the removal of smoke soils from appliances and furniture. General deodorization steps can help curtail odors, but in some situations, the smell remains after completing these tasks. 

Step-by-step odor removal

• Removing non-salvageable charred materials from the home and preventing the spread of ash by sealing items in polyethelyne bags.
• Saturating remaining charred materials with water-based deodorants using direct spray application.
• Cleaning parts of the home that are most heavily contaminated with soot and smoke residues before drying the structure and surfaces.

Sometimes odors can remain after completing removal steps. These situations often result from odor particles reaching confined areas. The solution to stubborn malodors in confined spaces is to provide assisted ventilation using venting fans or air movers. If that fails, deploying an activated oxygen unit or fumigating the entire structure can eliminate smoke odors for good. 

Odors come from various sources, making it difficult to pinpoint a single method solution. SERVPRO technicians rely on multiple restoration methods to control odors and often repeat the same process several times to ensure that odors are managed appropriately. 

Fighting odor requires expertise and equipment. Contact SERVPRO of Eagle Rock / South Glendale for fire damage restoration at (323) 255-1000.

Factors That Affect Fire Damage Cleaning in Eagle Rock Homes

6/17/2022 (Permalink)

When fire and smoke pervade your home, professional mitigation services are essential. Call SERVPRO right away to assess and remediate the damage.

Overcoming Challenges for Fast Fire Damage Cleanup

No two fire loss incidents are the same, as many variables influence the ease of cleaning after exposures. We have a vast inventory of powerful solvents, detergents, and restoration equipment to circumvent the challenges of post-fire cleanup.

The Heat of the Fire

While hotter fires can often relate to dry smoke fire damage in Eagle Rock homes, heat also increases the size of pores in the surfaces impacted by soot and smoke solids. Residues and odors can become trapped within the material, making them permanently damaged or considerably more challenging to clean.

The Age of Affected Materials

Older materials are almost always going to be harder to clean. The longer that material is exposed to the wear of daily life, the surface increases in porosity and becomes weaker against direct damage that fires can do. No matter the surface between contents, carpets, or wall assemblies, age can be a considerable obstacle to the salvageability of materials.

Wet Surfaces After a Fire

Environmental moisture can become a significant factor in efficient cleaning, as well. The more moisture present, the more likely surfaces are to become stained. Moist residues are thick and formidable, which is common when water gets used to extinguish the blaze through the sprinkler system or firefighting efforts.

Type of Surface Impacted

The type of surface impacted by the fire damage will also have an impact on how difficult it is to clean. Porous materials are notorious for being a greater challenge, so paper wall coverings and natural fibers become the greatest challenge for surface cleaning. Some of the easier materials to clean that are damaged by smoke include:

• Synthetics
• Vinyl coatings
• Concrete
• Tile

Many look to our SERVPRO of Eagle Rock / South Glendale team for our fast response in emergencies to get mitigation and restoration work started as soon as possible. Call today at (323) 255-1000.

Should I Apply Water to Smoke Deposits, Soils, and Residues in Glendale?

4/12/2022 (Permalink)

Deciding on the most effective restoration method requires careful assessment and planning of the types of damage sustained in the property.

Introducing Water to Smoke Residues Can Cause Further Damage. SERVPRO Fire Damage Restoration Services in Glendale Can Mitigate and Restore your Home Professionally.

Is It Wrong to Apply Water to Smoke-Damaged Surfaces?

We have extensive experience working with residents in Glendale to help them overcome the aftermath of a fire. While water can be an effective measure to clean surfaces of smoke residues, the introduction of water is usually reserved for a later restoration stage- once other options are exhausted. Dry soots, for example, often respond better to mechanical action than water. The mechanical movement focuses on producing friction, which can dislodge soots from surfaces. It can be a useful measure, especially on textures or materials that may respond negatively to the introduction of chemicals or water-based cleaning methods. SERVPRO recommends that you perform light vacuuming over smoke residues before introducing liquids, a low-risk method of dislodging soot particles from surfaces.

What Tools Do Professionals Use for Dislodging Soot and Smoke Residues?

When performing fire damage restoration for Glendale residents, SERVPRO technicians have several tools at their disposal. Dry soots may be tough to remove with household vacuum cleaners in large quantities. These dry soot deposits may need massive agitation to dislodge them from surfaces. We use roto pads and brushes, which rotate rapidly and can be effective at buffering or polishing solid surfaces like wooden floors or metal surfaces. Blast cleaning is an even more aggressive strategy that fires tiny particles of sand, dry ice, CO2, or baking soda against the surface to wear away exterior layers of dry soots and smoke. Blast cleaning can hurt porous surfaces, so our technicians carefully assess the area before using heavy agitation equipment.

What Household Items are Helpful for Dislodging Dry Soots?

- Dry cleaning sponges are useful on dry soots but spread oily deposits

- Feather dusters and dusting clothes with a light mineral oil

- Crumbly cleaner, which is useful on fragile surfaces like photos or artwork

Deciding on the most effective restoration method requires careful assessment and planning of the types of damage sustained on the property. Contact SERVPRO of Eagle Rock / South Glendale at (323) 255-1000.

How Restoration Experts Deal with Fire Damage in Eagle Rock

2/10/2022 (Permalink)

Regardless of the magnitude of fire damage, Call SERVPRO. “We’re Faster To Any Size Disaster.”

Eagle Rock Fire Damage Ranges from Minor to Severe

Once the immediate emotional and physical responses to a house fire have been soothed, there are all kinds of practical considerations to consider. This is particularly true if the damage is extensive. There may be severely degraded walls, soot-blackened furnishings, and the presence of residual smoke. All of these things require special attention if a homeowner wishes to move back into the property at some point.

If your home has been hit by fire damage in Eagle Rock, you’re probably feeling a little overwhelmed. It is essential that you start the repair and restoration process as soon as possible. The chance of saving your furniture and possessions is much greater if you respond quickly. Fortunately, the experts at SERVPRO are committed to carrying out repairs in a way that is sensitive, simple, and efficient.

This guide to the three main types of fire damage will help you determine the extent of the problem and get the help you need.

Minor Fire Damage

This category of fire damage is usually used to describe incidents that have been spotted and neutralized quickly. So, for example, a pan may have caught on fire in your kitchen but been extinguished before it could do any permanent damage. This is the most common type of fire damage, and our technicians handle it all the time. There is only a light coating of smoke residue on the walls and ceilings. There may be slightly degraded patches on door frames and walls, but only a small amount of repainting is needed. The majority of the damage can be removed with dry and wet cleaning tools. It is unlikely that furniture or other items will need to be replaced.

Medium Fire Damage

The smoke residue is more significant if the fire damage is moderate. A more extensive restoration process is required to remove the effects. There is likely to be a distinct and lingering odor, which requires special attention from the technicians. SERVPRO deals with smoke smell via highly effective ozone machines and deodorization equipment, including thermal foggers.

Dry cleaning is unlikely to be suitable for this task, so wet cleaning tools can be brought onsite to eradicate soot and smoke. There may be multiple spots on the walls and ceilings that require repainting. In some cases, cabinets, drywall, and floors need urgent repairs. The likelihood is that some items and belongings close to the fire have to be replaced.

Severe Fire Damage

The most severe damage is from a big fire that has been allowed to burn unchecked for a time before being extinguished. However, it may be that the severest damage is limited to one room, and the rest of the house has been spared. The smoke residue can be thick, and its odors strong and deeply unpleasant. We require residents to move out of the property entirely while restoration work is carried out in most cases. The process may be short or lengthy, and supplies may be used to protect the structure from the elements (boarding up the windows, and a tarp service, for example). Your furniture and other items can be transported as a pack-out to our cleaning facility so that restorers can attempt to save as many possessions as possible.

Fire damage is a really tough thing to handle. It can turn a life upside down, so our job is to get repairs started quickly and with the minimum of fuss. We work closely with you to save as much of the property as possible. SERVPRO of Eagle Rock / South Glendale is a locally based franchise, and you can get in touch with us at any time for help. Call us 24/7 at (323) 255-1000.

How to Perform Fire Restoration in Eagle Rock

1/12/2022 (Permalink)

SERVPRO of Eagle Rock / South Glendale knows exactly what your fire damage will need. Call us today!

SERVPRO Can Help Property Owners to Perform Fire Repair in Eagle Rock

A fire has the potential to ravage a home and damage its structures and contents within a short time. People spend thousands of dollars on buying and maintaining their homes. Therefore, a fire can cause expensive losses. Fortunately, fire repair services from a reputed firm like SERVPRO can restore your home and possessions to their pre-incident state.

The process of performing fire restoration in your Eagle Rock residence can eradicate soot, smoke, and water damage. Efficient restoration helps prevent aesthetic problems like discoloration of affected surfaces and serious issues like structural damage to the house. SERVPRO begins the fire repair services with a full risk survey and property assessment. Our fire repair process involves:

• Removal of burned materials
• Removal of smoke residues
• Water damage repair 
• Odor removal

The smoke damage from a fire is often difficult to eliminate because it can sink into materials and fabrics. This can leave your home with unappealing odors. Smoke can be free-floating or driven. Driven smoke is pressurized and propelled by fire's energy, and it tends to affect vertical surfaces. After it cools down, it becomes floating smoke, which is heavier than air and tends to settle on horizontal surfaces because it is cooler. Regardless of the kind of smoke that has ruined your property, SERVPRO has the equipment and expertise to remove the smoke smells and sights.

Our SERVPRO teams can use air scrubbers to clean and deodorize the affected areas. These machines are portable filtration systems that work by removing gases, particles and chemicals from the site. They use 3-stage filtration, which includes a carbon adsorption filter, two particulate filters, and an HEPA filter. They also have powerful blowers that pull high volumes of air through dirty filters.

Call SERVPRO of Eagle Rock / South Glendale at (323) 255-1000 when you need fire restoration services. We can make your fire damage seem, “Like it never even happened.”

Where Can Eagle Rock Homeowners Turn for Fire Damage Restoration?

12/10/2021 (Permalink)

Fire damage includes smoke, soot, water, and burned and melted items. SERVPRO has the equipment and expertise to restore your property after a fire.

SERVPRO Provides Services in Eagle Rock for Fire and Smoke Damage and Restoration

Fire damage to your Eagle Rock property can affect your items as well as the home’s structure. In most cases, fire damage cleanup follows a pattern that includes the removal of soot and debris as well as eliminating the smell of smoke. Although it appears simple, fire restoration and remediation require the input of an expert group of people. Any time devoted to finding the best team for your needs is time well-spent.

In Eagle Rock, the expert fire damage team to meet your needs is SERVPRO. Our certified fire restoration technicians are ready to spring into action as soon as you reach our 24/7 hotline and inform us of your situation. Armed with the latest tools and techniques available to the industry, we arrive at your home and conduct an assessment of the damage. We develop a plan tailored to your needs and focus on minimizing your losses with the information in hand.  

Many of our SERVPRO clients worry about the effects of fire damage on their wood items, including cabinets, furniture, and floors. Removing fire and smoke residue is possible when using the correct tools such as mineral spirit and other EPA-approved cleaning solutions. We also employ agitation equipment to dislodge fire remnants and ease the cleaning process. Different methods we might use to return your home to pre-fire condition include:

• Ultrasonic cleaning
• Soda blasting
• Vacuuming 
• Thermal foggers and air scrubbers to remove odor molecules from the air

SERVPRO of Eagle Rock/ South Glendale continuously serves the community with the latest fire damage restoration. Call us at (323) 255-1000 and let our staff leave your home looking and feeling “Like it never even happened.”

Can High Heat Fires Present Extra Challenges for Glendale Fire Restoration?

11/17/2021 (Permalink)

SERVPRO is equipped to handle all types of smoke and soot damage. Call us today!

SERVPRO Techs Can Cleanup Any Size House Fire Damage in a Glendale Property

Fire damage in Glendale properties does not happen equally. Different materials burn at different heat levels and cause different types of residues. SERVPRO technicians have the training to recognize through the smoke damage left behind whether or not they are dealing with cleanup from high heat or lower heat blaze. 

Glendale home fire restoration after a high heat fire can deal with multiple issues during the cleanup process, such as: 

• Holes in floors from the fire burning through floor joists
• Temperatures can reach 1100 degrees Fahrenheit that bakes soot onto surfaces
• Roofing can be badly damaged when the fire occurs in the attic

The technicians make temporary repairs as needed, like tarping over holes in a roof or placing heavy boards over holes in the floor to make the worksite safe. Once the structure is safe to work within, the techs get to work on the home's contents and the building materials to restore as much as possible. 

When an article in the home gets covered in smoke damage, it is not necessarily headed for disposal with no hope of restoration. SERVPRO technicians have specific applications for the removal of baked-on soot residues. One of the most common tactics that the technicians use involves dry ice. This type of ice is made from cooled CO2 formed into pellets that are around minus 109 degrees Fahrenheit. The techs have the equipment to blast these pellets onto surfaces and work much like sand or soda blasting, but dry ice is gentler on surfaces. When the ice hits the soot-covered surface, it reverts to a gaseous state and evaporates, meaning no cleanup from the media used to remove the residues. 

SERVPRO of Eagle Rock / South Glendale at (323) 255-1000 handles fire restoration for Glendale properties. The trained, certified technicians bring years of experience and advanced technicians to make a post-fire property look "Like it never even happened."

Fire Damage In Glendale Often Requires Cleaning Appliances

8/20/2021 (Permalink)

You need a team you can trust after a fire strikes in your home. Call SERVPRO right away.

A Kitchen Fire Can Take Over, Let us Help You Get Back to Your Glendale Kitchen.

The majority of fires, even those that start in the Glendale region, are caused due to accidents while cooking. For example, leaving items on the stove unattended is a major cause of residential fire damage in the United States. When items you are cooking get too hot, they can create problems with smoke or cause an inferno to ignite.

If an item you are cooking burns in your kitchen, the smoke alone can cause several major issues. During fire damage losses in Glendale, smoke residue cleanup can be a significant part of the restoration process. Whenever a professional mitigation company such as SERVPRO arrives at your property, we first start assessing the problems that were created near the source. If the blaze was large, we could test your building materials like your cabinets for charring to see if we can refinish and clean them or if they have to be removed and replaced. During minor burns, we test clean affected surfaces to figure out how much soot residue cleanup is required.

What Happens to My Glendale Appliances After Fire Damage? 

During blazes in the kitchen, one item that gets affected by either charring from heat or excessive residues are your appliances. Especially since appliances like your refrigerator and freezer have cooler surfaces, smoke residues can often stick to these items first. Whenever working towards cleaning your kitchen appliances, our SERVPRO technicians use specialized products and techniques to restore these particular contents.

Most appliances are constructed out of hard non-porous materials such as metal, plastic, and glass. Usually, when cleaning these surfaces, we use water-based detergents like a wall and all-surface or a glass cleaner. In cases where soot is thick and has adhered well to the affected surfaces, we can add to the strength of the detergent by adding alkalinity to the cleaning solution. We can accomplish this by adding an industrial cleaner or Fire Star to the wall and all-surface water-based detergent.

In some situations, the electrical components could have also been affected by soot residues. When this occurs, we unplug the device and clean all of the electrical plugs and wires. Before we plug the appliances back in, we get them inspected by a certified appliance technician.

If you ever suffer from even light smoke damage inside your home after something burns, it is wise to call in the professionals. Call SERVPRO of Eagle Rock / South Glendale at (323) 255-1000 because We're Faster To Any Size Disaster.