How Do You Clean Soot and Oily Residues from Wall and Ceiling Surfaces in Onondaga Hill?

6/14/2020 (Permalink)

With efficient products and equipment, our SERVPRO of SW Onondaga County team can clean up your home to make fire losses “Like it never even happened.

Fire Damage In Your Onondaga Hill Home

Soot and residues are ordinary after structure fires in Onondaga Hill homes, but our SERVPRO team can help with effective removal and cleaning strategies.

When fires rage in an Onondaga Hill home, the combustion of specific materials can leave deposits of soot, ash, and other substances on the surface of exposed areas. As is the case with many of the hazardous conditions that exist after a fire gets extinguished, our experienced SERVPRO professionals must work to remove these threats before you can safely return to your property.

Removing soot and smoke residue is only part of the process of recovering fire damage in Onondaga Hill properties. From deodorization to debris removal, we have to meet the restoration needs in your house with the most efficient and productive practices. In many ways, this means investigating the details about the conditions after the fire and scoping the work to get done.

How Do Soot and Oily Residues Happen?

There are many different residues that can exist on surfaces after a fire. Soot is one of the most challenging, as this is not only a dangerous situation, but also a burden to clean without the proper training, equipment, and products. Additionally, the type of fire can have varying effects on residue left behind on exposed surfaces. High-heat fires produce a powdery residue that is less challenging to clean than lower-heat smoldering fires. Wet smoke in cooler fires produces a thick residue that can smear and stain surfaces. The most commonly exposed materials include:

    •    Personal Belongings
    •    Ceilings
    •    Upper Portions of Wall Surfaces
    •    Ceiling Fixtures

Is Soot Dangerous?

Soot is one of the residues or microscopic particles that can float through the environment that gets produced by incomplete combustion. Fuels like wood can be the base of these carcinogenic particles, and between their damaging presence on surfaces and contents to their challenge for air quality, can be among the most significant challenges professional restorers face. Among the many possible hazards that exist with a post-fire recovery in a home, our technicians must be mindful of soot particle threats because they are:

Microscopic – The size of soot particulates is a considerable concern for technicians and others around because, when inhaled, soot can embed deep into the lungs of the person exposed.

Acidic – Because soot is acidic, its presence on wood and finished surfaces can be destructive. Prolonged exposure can cause irreparable damage. Our team must work to remove residues as soon as possible to protect exposed finished materials.

Carcinogenic – Perhaps one of the most considerable hazards of the presence of soot circulating in the house or stick to surfaces is its carcinogenic nature. These particles have gotten linked to substantial health effects, so cleaning and removal should occur by trained professionals donning the appropriate personal protective equipment.

What Strategies Are Used to Remove Residues?

There is no singular way to address soot or other harmful residues from the house. The best approaches vary depending on the exposed materials, the location of the damage, and how thick or severe the residue has become. Clearing surfaces as soon as possible is a focal point of effective mitigation for our SERVPRO team as we can reduce the need for excessive controlled demolition and build back with the appropriate response to address the currently exposed materials. Some of the effective strategies that we can use for residues include:

    •    Water-Based Chemical Solvents
    •    Abrasive Cleaning
    •    Soda/Media Blasting
    •    Controlled Demolition

Does SERVPRO Do Build Back?

Full scale build back, and reconstruction is often a necessity after fire loss incidents, so many homeowners are already considering the securing of this contractor before they even communicate with restoration companies. One of the distinct advantages of choosing SERVPRO for fire restoration and recovery is our division of licensed residential contractors that we have in-house. These talented professionals have years of hands-on experience in the building trades. They can help with efforts ranging from controlled demolition in the mitigation stages through the full-scale build back of compromised areas of your structure. We can also offer new construction and remodeling when fire losses become a devastating disaster.

Fire losses can be destructive and widespread, leaving residues and soot on many surfaces and contents. With efficient products and equipment, our SERVPRO of SW Onondaga County team can clean up your home to make fire losses “Like it never even happened.” Give us a call anytime that you need us at (315) 488-3900.