Building materials that have sustained fire damage can be identified easily, but in general most of the restoration and clean up work is related to soot and smoke. Officials of fire safety and building code have spent significant resources over several decades to understand the effects of soot and smoke on residential and commercial buildings.

Numerous controlled experiments highlighted the effects of smoke and how quickly it spreads through tiny openings and crevices in the home. It only takes a few seconds before all windows, light fixtures, cabinets, ceilings, walls, and furniture is coated with soot and smoke. In just a few minutes, all flat surfaces will be covered with a heavy layer of soot, and thick smoke will enter and coat delicate circuit boards, appliances and electronics, wall cavities, switches, and inside outlets.

This clearly shows that even if you do manage to put out the fire quickly, the smoke and soot will penetrate your house and absorb into window coverings, bedding, carpeting, and clothing. Your home and personal belongings can sustain damage, even from a small fire, and there will be lingering odors in the home if it hasn’t been professionally cleaned.

It is quite common that your home takes on water damage after a fire, but that isn’t a problem for us since we are experienced in structural drying and water restoration. We work diligently to ensure your home doesn’t have any mold issues or water damage after the fire has been put out.

Yes, we can help restore your home back to its original condition. Resicom is a licensed general contractor and we can take care of any trade including flooring, electrical, HVAC, plumbing, painting, framing, drywall, plaster, etc.

No! Every fire is different, because the fuel and source of fire needs to be considered before any restoration project is put into practice. Every residential or commercial property contains multiple materials that can catch fire and come with their own unique restoration and cleaning challenges. We have listed categories of smoke and fire damage below:

• Natural substance smoke residue
  • Natural burning items are wood, paper, and other items that contain them. The smoke residue is going to be gray or black in color, and requires a dry chemical sponge, appropriate chemicals and a special vacuum to be cleaned. Most smoke particles are .004 microns in size, which is so small it can go in any wall cavity. The smoke particles may not bother you in wall cavities, but they will cause smoke odor. These particles will need to be removed to resolve smoke odor in the house, which can be done through ozone, thermal fogging, and other processes.
• Protein substance smoke residue
  • Proteins, like beef and chicken make a greasy mess when burned. The smoke residue from protein substance must be cleaned by trained professionals with experience in properly cleaning protein residue.
• Synthetic substance smoke residue
  • Any derivative of plastic or type of plastic will leave a smeary or chalky reside, which is extremely complex to clean, and must be done through proper techniques, training, and equipment.
• Oil burner malfunction residue
  • Oil burner misfiring can result in a puff-back residue, which is essentially partially burned oil emitted in the HVAC system, which can result in the residue being distributed all over the home.

Yes. At Resicom Building and Restoration, we use cutting-edge structural cleaning and deodorization equipment. This allows our fire restoration crew to work safely and effectively to eliminate all odors and remove smoke residue from the house.

The length of time it takes for the restoration and cleanup process depends on the scope of damage your property has sustained. It can range from 10 to 20 days for small fires and may even go to 4 to 6 months if there has been a large fire.