Fire Damage Cleanup Tips

Having to deal with a house fire, even a small one, is something that no homeowner ever wants to have to do, but unfortunately, these are often cruel facts of life. If you are like the majority of the rest of us, you probably do not have enough money to hire a professional to take care of the cleanup process for you, so educating yourself about how to go about it before this event takes place is a good idea. The cosmetic damage to your home can mostly be done by you, but the structural damage will probably need to be handled by a professional.

Depending on the size of the fire, there is probably some standing water in the home from the fire hose spilling gallons upon gallons of water into it to put out the fire. Electricity to the part of the home affected by the fire and water should be cut off so that you can clean up the standing water without fearing electrocution. Remove the standing water as quickly as you can, since this will cause water damage to your floor and walls in addition to the fire damage that is already there.

Pets should not be allowed back into the home until the initial cleanup is finished.

Any plants that you have need to have the soot and ash cleaned off of their leaves. Leaving this on the leaves will kill them.

If there is food in your kitchen that was open at the time of the fire, it should be thrown away, since it could be contaminated due to the excess heat and soot.

The smoke damage to your ceiling and walls can often not be removed by washing. The most that you can do to this is paint over it with a primer made for this purpose and then paint over that with the color of your ceiling.

Things like marble, stainless steel, chrome, and formica should be cleaned as soon as possible with the proper cleansers, since soot and ash can etch these items if you leave it on there too long. This etching cannot be repaired.

Furniture that is upholstered should not be sat on until it has been vacuumed thoroughly with a hose that has no brushes on it, since a brush attachment will only work the soot further into the fabric. This is also true for carpets. Once these have been vacuumed, put plastic over them so you do not track soot and ash in from other areas of the house.


Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
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