5 Key Restoration Tasks After A Small Kitchen Fire
A small kitchen fire that's quickly extinguished shouldn't be a big deal, but even small fires often result in extensive damages thanks to soot and smoke. Know the key restoration tasks so you can avoid ongoing damage issues.
1. Damage Removal
Restoration begins with removing everything from the kitchen that cannot be cleaned up and reused. This may include cutting out badly damaged drywall, cabinetry, and flooring. Anything that can not be successfully cleaned of soot and smoke will be taken away, while appliances and other items that can be cleaned will be moved from the kitchen so they can be cleaned without interfering with the rest of the restoration work.
2. Soot Cleanup
Once the salvageable materials are removed, it's time to move on to the soot. Soot, particularly from kitchen fires, tends to be quite oily. It will settle on surfaces throughout the room, even if they aren't near the origin of the fire. Soot must be removed with a special cleaner that will cut through the oily residue for full removal. Kitchen linens may require special cleaning to get all of the soot from the fibers.
3. Smoke Elimination
Smoke odors can be the hardest part of fire damage to eliminate, as the odor will likely permeate the home well beyond the kitchen. Soot removal and surface cleaning will minimize smoke odors, but not eliminate them. Your fire restoration service will use a combination of deeper cleaning methods, such as cleaning carpets throughout the house, as well as using ventilation and special odor neutralizers to combat the odor.
4. Duct Cleaning
Soot and smoke particles can be quite insidious by getting into the kitchen ducts and then being spread all throughout the house each time your HVAC system runs. If not taken care of, you may be getting whiffs of smoke or finding soot dust in the house months after the fire. Your restoration service can clean out your ducts to clear them of any trapped particles.
5. Mold Prevention
An oft-overlooked side effect of a small fire is mold. If water was used to extinguish the kitchen fire, then there is likely going to be some minor water damage. If you or your restoration service act quickly to dry out walls and other damp surfaces, you may be able to avoid mold. Otherwise, the mold must also be cleaned up and surfaces disinfected so mold spores don't survive.
Contact a fire damage restoration service for more help.