The Do’s and Dont’s of Cleaning up Fire Damage
Damages caused by fire are always devastating. It is highly recommended for property owners to approach professional damage restoration companies to carry out the cleaning up exercise to prevent any hazardous incidences from happening. Nevertheless, there are some activities that anyone without professional knowledge can undertake to prepare the groundwork for further cleaning by specialists.
Interestingly, there are some procedures that shouldn’t be attempted by homeowners because they might complicate or hinder the process of cleaning up the fire damage. Some dos and don’ts are discussed in this post.
The Dos
Conduct some quick vacuuming
Some soot and ash is left behind by fire damage. If let to sit, these could grind into your furnishings. A swift vacuum job can eliminate such eye sores. Be sure to cover any upholstered furniture while going over the soot deposits to prevent accidental blow offs.
Vacuuming is an efficient and quick way of making way for the fire damage restoration team.
Switch off all utilities
Like other property owners, you are inclined to overlook the possibility of fire triggers residing in utilities that are still connected to power. With all the chaos that arise with the urgent need to vacate areas that have been damaged by fire, you are likely to forget to disconnect the utilities. Try to check all utilities to ensure that they are no longer connected to electricity. Or better yet, switch off the whole system.
Besides electricity, put off all water and gas outlets to enable fire damage restoration experts to verify and report accurate data about the extent of damage caused by the fire.
Conduct an inspection of countertops, floors, mats and carpets
On your list of surfaces to vacuum, include all countertops, carpets and floors. If you had used a lot of water to put out the fire, and the carpets are beyond renovation, you might have to throw them out. To prevent soot from permanently staining or clinging to floor and countertop surfaces, clean them too.
The Don’ts
Do not consume uncovered food
You ought to avoid taking food that has been exposed to fire. Such food can cause serious health issues to your body because of the chemicals emitted by burning chemicals. Such food contains particles of ash, soot and agents used to put out the flames.
Avoid using electrical equipment exposed to the fire
You need to keep away from appliances that were in a room while it was engulfed by flames. Using your fan to eliminate water logging or smoke odor after fire damage seems like a good idea, but it is not.
The electrical appliances may have sustained some degree of damage which might be hard to estimate. A safer option would be to acquire a powerful fan from your local hardware work shop.
If the intensity of the damage by fire seems too hard of a task to clean up, don’t beat yourself up. Leave it to the damage restoration experts who are well equipped to handle all types of cleaning.
Google+
