Fire and smoke damage cleanup, room by room

The first steps after the fire department leaves

The U.S. Fire Administration's guidance for the days after a home fire starts with patience: do not go back in until the fire department says it is safe, and leave the gas, electricity and water to the utility companies rather than switching them back on yourself. Call your insurance company and ask what it wants you to do first. Before anything is thrown out, make an inventory of damaged property, with photos, because the insurer will ask for it. The American Red Cross adds that food exposed to heat, smoke or soot should be thrown away, including canned goods.

Once you are allowed back in, the house still needs to be protected. Broken windows and holes cut by firefighters let rain and intruders in. Boarding up openings and tarping the roof are temporary repairs that insurers expect a homeowner to make to stop further damage, and both are part of our first visit.

Three kinds of damage in one house

Fire jobs combine problems that each need their own method:

• Burned materials. Charred framing, drywall, cabinets and flooring come out. Whether framing can stay after cleaning and sealing, or must be replaced, depends on how deep the char goes, and structural pieces may need a look from the building department or an engineer.
• Smoke residue and soot. Even rooms far from the flames collect a film on walls, ceilings, window glass and inside cabinets. Different fires leave different residue: a fast, hot fire leaves dry powdery soot, while a smoldering fire or burning plastic leaves a sticky, smeared film that is harder to lift.
• Water. Hoses put a lot of water into a house. Wet insulation, soaked subfloor and drywall need the same measured drying as any water damage restoration job, or the fire job becomes a mold job later.

How soot is cleaned without spreading it

Soot smears. Wiping it with a wet rag or an ordinary household cleaner usually pushes it deeper into paint and grout and makes the stain permanent. Cleaning starts with dry methods: vacuuming loose soot with filtered equipment and using dry chemical sponges on walls and ceilings, which lift a surprising amount of residue before any liquid touches the surface. Wet cleaning with cleaners matched to the residue follows. Surfaces that will not come clean, or that keep releasing odor, are sealed with a primer made for smoke before paint, or replaced.

The heating and air conditioning system needs attention too. If the system ran during or after the fire, it can carry soot through every room. Ask that the ducts, the air handler and the filter be inspected before the system runs for long.

What happens to your belongings

Contents are often what people worry about most, and they are where care shows. Items that can be cleaned are listed, photographed, packed and taken out of the house for cleaning or set aside in an unaffected room. Items that cannot be saved are listed and photographed before they are discarded, so the inventory for your claim is complete. Papers and photographs damaged by water can sometimes be frozen to stop further harm until they can be dried properly; ask before you throw them away.

Smoke odor: why it lingers and what removes it

Smoke odor comes from tiny residue particles and gases that settle into porous materials: drywall paper, insulation, carpet pad, upholstery and the wood inside wall cavities. Air fresheners only cover it. Removing it means removing the source: cleaning residue from surfaces, discarding saturated porous materials, and then treating what remains, sometimes with equipment that breaks down odor molecules in the air of an empty, sealed room. Our article on the smoke smell after a house fire goes through the methods and what each one can and cannot do.

From cleanup to rebuild

1. Secure. Board up openings, tarp the roof, and photograph every room.
2. Sort contents. List and pack what can be cleaned; list and photograph what cannot.
3. Tear out. Remove burned and saturated materials down to clean, sound framing.
4. Clean and dry. Dry cleaning, then wet cleaning; measured drying of wet materials.
5. Deodorize and seal. Treat lingering odor; seal cleaned framing and surfaces before closing walls.
6. Rebuild. Permits where needed, then framing, drywall, finishes and fixtures, covered on the reconstruction after damage page.

Paperwork for the claim

A fire claim usually has three parts: the building, your belongings, and the cost of living somewhere else while the house is unlivable. The California Department of Insurance tells homeowners to keep receipts for those extra living expenses and to keep a diary of every conversation with the insurer. We document the building side for the claim, with photographs and line-item estimates, and the contents we handle are listed and photographed. Decisions about coverage belong to your insurer; our insurance claim documentation page explains what we provide.

Sources: U.S. Fire Administration, After a Fire; American Red Cross, What to do after a home fire; California Department of Insurance, Residential Property Claims Guide; Texas Department of Insurance, Home insurance guide.