Removing Smoke Residues Caused by Fire Damage to Your South Knoxville Home

3/8/2022 (Permalink)

Smoke residue comes in different varieties, and some are easier to clean than others.

Eliminate Smoke Residues Created by Fire Damage

Smoke residue comes in different varieties, and some are easier to clean than others. Dry, wet, protein and fuel oil smoke residues are essential to know how to remove. Take the guesswork out of cleaning and restoring your fire damaged property in South Knoxville by hiring our expertly trained technicians today. We're here to help you through the situation and return your home to its pre-damage condition. Our SERVPRO technicians understand that it can produce both wet and dry smoke as the fire progresses through its stages. By using a specific cleaning approach for each item, we can completely restore your house.

The smoke residue left behind depends on the combustion rate, the amount of oxygen, and the kind of material or substance that burns throughout the entire South Knoxville fire. While we understand that if the event is fast-burning and oxygen-rich, it will produce dry smoke, while the fire is oxygen-starved, it will produce slow-burning, smoldering wet smoke. Natural materials such as wood, paper, cork, and other natural fibers create dry, small powdery residues that don't smear. However, synthetic materials like plastic and rubber often produce large easily smeared particles.

SERVPRO technicians are trained to determine the conditions of a dry versus wet smoke event and apply the proper cleaning procedures to handle each situation.

Cleaning Dry Smoke Residues - These types of residues can be easier to clean. Dry smoke only contains a few aerosols that deposit small, dry particles on surface areas and usually don't stain as deeply as wet smoke. Meaning that the residues and odors left behind by dry smoke take less aggressive cleaning tactics to remove. However, dry smoke fires tend to burn hotter and cause more heat damage than others.

Cleaning Wet Smoke Residues - This type of residue consists of a large concentration of aerosols, including varnishes, solvents, and other liquids. With these slow-burning fires, air currents aren't as high and give the wet smoke more time to creep into crevices and small enclosed areas that typically avoid damage in faster-burning fires.

We often run into situations at SERVPRO where many items exposed to wet smoke aren't restorable, even though the damage appears minimal. The aerosols penetrate surfaces and are absorbed into different materials, leaving large black particles behind and stripping stained finishes. Taking a minute to understand the possible reasons behind the causes of losing items in a fire is only one reason to hire us. We take a lot of pride in our work for you and want to assist you during this trying time. Contact SERVPRO of Rocky Hill / Sequoyah Hills / South Knoxville today for all of your restoration needs. Our staff is available 24/7- call us at (865) 328-9459.