Why You Shouldn’t Clean Up After a Fire Yourself

5/29/2018 (Permalink)

When a fire destroyed much of this Lenoir home, our team was quickly dispatched and began the cleanup process.

There’s no doubt that home fires are devastating and bring a lot of negative emotions. So it’s no surprise that many homeowners want to clean up their home as quickly as possible so they can get back to their lives. And especially when your home is your personal space, it’s completely understandable that you don’t want somebody else inside.

But since homeowners often aren’t aware of all the necessary processes that go into fire damage cleanup, they create further damage, skip over important elements, and increase their overall costs.

Creating Additional Damage

Before you take a rag to your soot-covered walls or a vacuum to your carpet, consider this: you’re about to cause even more damage. Soot particles are difficult to remove, and when you try to remove it with the proper tools and chemicals, you’ll only further embed the soot particles. Especially with carpet and upholsteries, it can be extremely difficult to remove these stains, even with professional help.

Skipping Important Cleaning Elements

It might seem obvious to cleanup soot-covered walls, but what about the soot and debris hiding in the ducts? Professional restoration companies go beyond cleaning the damage you can see—they also restore your home in other ways. They offer odor removal, content cleaning, and much more!

Increasing Costs

Considering the likely amount of damage, it makes sense that most home fires incur heavy costs. But unless you have the technology, chemicals, and the skills, you’ll likely have to dispose of many different belongings that could otherwise be cleaned. Good professional restoration companies will focus on the actual restoration rather than replacing—this keeps costs down and allows you to keep your cherished possessions.

So if you or somebody you know has a fire-damaged home that needs to be cleaned up and restored, we strongly recommend hiring professionals!