Understanding the Aftermath: Soot and Smoke Damage in Fires

3/29/2024 (Permalink)

When a fire strikes, the immediate damage from flames is evident and often devastating. However, what many homeowners and business owners may not realize is that the aftermath of a fire extends far beyond just the visible destruction.

Soot and smoke damage can wreak havoc on properties, causing lingering odors, discoloration, and corrosion if not addressed promptly and effectively.Soot and smoke damage occur when the byproducts of combustion, including soot, ash, and smoke particles, settle on surfaces throughout the affected area. Even areas untouched by flames can suffer from sit and smoke damage, leading to further deterioration over time if left untreated. Here's a closer look at the potential consequences of sit and smoke damage:

Lingering Odors: Smoke odors can permeate walls, furniture, fabrics, and even HVAC systems, creating an unpleasant and persistent smell that lingers long after the fire has been extinguished. These odors can be challenging to eliminate without professional intervention.

Discoloration and Staining: Soot and smoke residue can leave behind unsightly stains and discoloration on walls, ceilings, and surfaces throughout the property. Over time, this can diminish the aesthetic appeal of the space and necessitate extensive cleaning and restoration efforts.

Corrosion and Deterioration: The acidic nature of smoke residue can lead to corrosion and deterioration of various materials, including metals, plastics, and electronics. Without prompt remediation, this corrosion can cause irreversible damage and compromise the structural integrity of the property.At SERVPRO, we understand the complexities of sit and smoke damage and the importance of swift and thorough remediation. With our expertise, experience, and state-of-the-art equipment, we're equipped to tackle even the most challenging fire damage scenarios. Here's how we can help you get back to "Like it never even happened":

Rapid Response: Our team is available 24/7 to respond to fire damage emergencies promptly. We'll assess the extent of the damage and develop a customized remediation plan tailored to your specific needs.Comprehensive Cleaning: Using advanced cleaning techniques and specialized equipment, we'll thoroughly clean and sanitize affected surfaces to remove soot, smoke residue, and odors. Our goal is to restore your property to its pre-fire condition while minimizing disruption to your life or business operations.

Odor Removal: We employ industry-leading deodorization methods to neutralize smoke odors at their source, leaving your property smelling fresh and clean. Our techniques target odor molecules embedded in porous materials, ensuring long-lasting results.

Restoration and Reconstruction: In addition to cleaning and deodorizing, we offer comprehensive restoration and reconstruction services to repair any structural damage caused by the fire. From minor repairs to full-scale renovations, we'll work diligently to restore your property to its preloss condition.

Don't let sit and smoke damage prolong the recovery process after a fire. Trust the experts at SERVPRO to provide prompt, professional, and thorough fire damage restoration services. With our proven track record of excellence and commitment to customer satisfaction, we're here to help you navigate the restoration process with confidence. Contact us today to learn more about our fire damage restoration services and how we can assist you in getting back to "Like it never even happened."

Why Speed And Professional Help Is Crucial For Daytona Fire Damage

3/27/2023 (Permalink)

SERVPRO Is the Solution Provider for Fire and Smoke Damage and Odor Cleanup in Daytona

SERVPRO Explains the Need for Professional Grade Odor Removal After a House Fire

Residents of Daytona count themselves fortunate if they never need to react to a fire in their home. Because this type of disaster is not a common occurrence homeowners may not know how important it is to respond promptly even to what seems like minor fire damage. We stand by you ready to help day or night.
 
Many fire damage scenarios in Daytona begin in the kitchen. A pot boils dry or oil spills and ignites. If the cook is nearby and the home is equipped with a charged fire extinguisher, the crisis seems averted. With an application of a little elbow grease all traces of the fire are gone, or so it seems. Days or weeks later the homeowner may notice what we know is progressive smoke and soot damage. Odors linger. Fabrics and paint yellow. Metals tarnish, and glass etches.
 
Unfortunately for a committed do-it-yourselfer, fire damage restoration can become very tricky. If you use forced air heat or cooling and a vent was open during the fire, smoke and soot migrate far from the kitchen into bedrooms, living and dining areas, and other spaces in your home. The residue from fire damage is acidic and begins to attack items and surfaces within minutes. When it is not cleaned away properly, soot continues to destroy materials. SERVPRO technicians possess the knowledge and skills to stop the damage fire residues, and the sooner we are on the scene working to halt the harm the better.
 
SERVPRO fire damage remediation work crews evaluate every space in your home for evidence of soot and smoke infiltration. Healthy IAQ indoor air quality is crucial. We match the type of residue to tools and products that clear the residues permanently. Loose coatings vacuum or dry sponge away. Protein-based soot may need solvents as they form a lacquer-like coating. Slow burns create dark, sticky deposits that can require agitation or abrasive cleaners or equipment. Intricate objects like chandeliers might need immersion cleaning or even an ultrasonic treatment.
 
Fire damage is the precursor to tenacious smoky odors. Because they were launched into the air during combustion, the odiferous particles are tiny and often extremely unpleasant. Smells from charred wood and melted plastic stick around even after the damaged structures and objects are discarded. No effective household solution exists that rids your indoor atmosphere of the particles. Sprays and solid deodorizers are ineffective. SERVPRO employs cutting-edge technologies like thermal foggers and hydroxyl generators to seek out and neutralize the molecules causing the odor. Whether in the air or buried deeply into furnishings when they are found and disarmed by innovative odor removal devices the smell is gone forever.
 
Give SERVPRO of South Daytona Beach/Port Orange, a call at (386) 788-0358 after any fire event in your home. Our experienced fire damage technicians bring years of fire damage remediation success and new but proven solutions to your home, making it, "Like it never even happened".

Cleaning and Eliminating Fire Damage To Daytona Beach Homes

5/9/2022 (Permalink)

Smoke Cleanup from Ceilings in Daytona Beach Requires Professional Help--Call SERVPRO

SERVPRO Advises that an Assessment of Damage After a Fire Is Crucial to a Professional Cleanup and Restoration

Brush fire season for Daytona Beach, and the rest of Florida started in December. Now, we are at the peak time for what can be the source of a very bad day for homeowners.

Much of the fire damage to Daytona Beach homes comes from those materials consumed by the flames either completely or partially. Further damage is the result of the smoke generated by the heat of the burning structural and personal property. Still, more damage results from first responders trying to put out the fire. SERVPRO response teams are trained and have extensive experience in dealing with all of it.

Most of the fire damage comes from smoke, however. Specifically, the smoke residues left on surfaces after extinguishing the fire. We inspect every home to determine the level of residue damage, so we know which methods, tools, and cleaning agents to use in each home.

Minor Damage - Smoke residues do not affect the entire home at this level, just a couple of rooms and any connecting hallways. We consider this amount of damage to be light-to-moderate. Our primary method of cleaning is Dry, which means that we can remove most residues from ceilings, floors, and personal property with dry sponges or cloths.

Our SERVPRO IICRC certified techs prefer the Dry method whenever possible, to prevent applying more liquid to surfaces that may already have some moisture-related damage. If we need to use Wet methods, we apply cleaning agents sparingly with cloths and sponges, wiping down surfaces carefully. We can eliminate most minor smoke odors with these basic cleaning methods, and while a minor amount of repainting may be necessary, little property other than papers and books needs replacing.

Medium Damage - Here, the residue levels begin at moderate and cover a larger number of rooms, but not the whole house. Most surfaces require Wet cleaning, and a significant amount of property may require disposal and replacement. Odors are stronger at this level, but SERVPRO technicians can remove them with specialized deodorization chemicals. More structural property needs repainting, and wooden surfaces such as cabinets and floors may need to be stripped and refinished.

Major Damage - The heat is so intense at this level, any residues left are on damage framing and other structural property that has to be removed and replaced, so attempting to clean them is a waste of time and effort. Smoke odors here are so strong that we need to use ozone generators to help eliminate them from home. Also, hydroxyl generators and thermal fogging mitigate and reduce to near zero any odorous remnants within the structure. We can restore personal property not damaged by heat or flames, but it may be necessary to clean it at our offices and not at home.

Cleaning and restoring your home after any disaster is not a fast procedure, but it needs to begin as quickly as possible. If you have any smoke or another type of fire damage, call SERVPRO of South Daytona Beach / Port Orange at (386) 788-0358 today. We are here for you.

Water Damage After a Fire in Your Daytona Home

3/21/2022 (Permalink)

Regardless of whether you have fire, water or mold damage, contact SERVPRO for remediation efforts right after an event occurs.

Team SERVPRO Fully Knows That Remediating Fire Damage Always Involves Simultaneously Dealing with Water Damage

Your Daytona home might seem humid and damp many times throughout the year, but it can also be an easy target for fires under the right conditions. With so many homes throughout the area being so close to one another, a substantial blaze in one house can quickly affect the others nearby with just a moderate breeze. Firefighting teams throughout the region know all too well about fighting multiple structure fires on the same block on account of this phenomenon.
 
What this means for you, is that even if you are incredibly diligent in fire prevention methods and protocols, your home could still suffer fire damages in Daytona. Typically, when this secondary blaze to your home would occur, firefighting efforts are well underway, and officials are acutely aware of the apparent spread of the flames to neighboring properties. Ultimately, the damage that your home would sustain in a situation like this would be minor in comparison to the fire your damage derived from, but would still require professional restoration efforts nonetheless.
 
Our SERVPRO restoration specialists, can assess the full extent of the damage to the affected area of your home and walk you through the process of how the mess is officially cleaned up. With small affected areas, which is often the case for neighboring properties, some of the most significant lingering concerns fall with the water damage resulting from the extinguishing of the fire.
 
Depending on the severity of this water damage, our SERVPRO professionals have a range of equipment and broad expertise to extract the water and get a better look at any lasting damages that might have resulted from it. The restoration of water damage begins by fully extracting all of the water from the affected area with pumps and wet-vacs, and setting up dehumidification equipment and air movers to dry it all up.
 
A full assessment of any other conditions directs our experienced team to any other services to provide to bring your home back to pre loss conditions. If you are dealing with any manner of fire damage to your home, do not hesitate to call the experienced staff we have at SERVPRO of South Daytona Beach/ Port Orange. You can reach our emergency response team anytime at (386) 788-0358.

Daytona Beach Smoke and Soot Cleanup

2/1/2022 (Permalink)

Don't worry, we can make this, "Like it never even happened."

Smoke and soot is very invasive and can penetrate various cavities within your home, causing hidden damage and odor. Our smoke damage expertise and experience allows us to inspect and accurately assess the extent of the damage to develop a comprehensive plan of action.  

Smoke and soot facts:

• Hot smoke migrates to cooler areas and upper levels of a structure.
• Smoke flows around plumbing systems, seeping through the holes used by pipes to go from floor to floor.
• The type of smoke may greatly affect the restoration process.

Different Types of Smoke

There are two different types of smoke–wet and dry. As a result, there are different types of soot residue after a fire. Before restoration begins, SERVPRO of South Daytona Beach/Port Orange will test the soot to determine which type of smoke damage occurred. The cleaning procedures will then be based on the information identified during pretesting. Here is some additional information:

Wet Smoke – Plastic and Rubber

• Low heat, smoldering, pungent odor, sticky, smeary. Smoke webs are more difficult to clean.

Dry Smoke – Paper and Wood

• Fast burning, high temperatures, heat rises therefore smoke rises.

Protein Fire Residue – Produced by evaporation of material rather than from a fire

• Virtually invisible, discolors paints and varnishes, extreme pungent odor. 

Our Fire Damage Restoration Services

Since each smoke and fire damage situation is a little different, each one requires a unique solution tailored for the specific conditions.  We have the equipment, expertise, and experience to restore your fire and smoke damage.  We will also treat your family with empathy and respect and your property with care.

Have Questions about Fire, Smoke, or Soot Damage?
Call Us Today – 386-255-6243

Restoring House Contents from Fire Damage in Daytona Beach Properties

1/3/2022 (Permalink)

Kitchen Fires in Daytona Beach Lead to Much Smoke Damage & Odors--Call SERVPRO

The Degree of Damage Dictates the Steps for Cleanup After Fires

Cooking is one of the most satisfying activities in the world. It is also one of the best ways to bring people together. Unfortunately, studies have shown that cooking accounts for almost 50 percent of all house fires, with cooking equipment boasting 19 percent of home fire deaths. Indeed, an unattended skillet or pan on a stove burner can lead to a fire strong enough to bring the house down within hours, if not minutes.
 
To be safe, you need to have a restoration company at hand. SERVPRO of South Daytona Beach/Port Orange, has highly skilled technicians who can restore house contents from fire damage in your property anytime. Our emergency response is swift and efficient, and we use effective tools and techniques that are up to par with IICRC recommendations.

SERVPRO technicians consider many things during the fire damage restoration process. When cleaning cabinets, for instance, wood finish around the drawer handles often contains the pre-existing damage. We must check this area before cleaning begins.
 
The intensity of the smoke damage determines the technique we use. Cleanup on light fixtures is done when restoring the ceiling. The electrical power should be turned off before dealing with any electrical fixture. Chandeliers are relatively harder to clean, especially if they come with decorative trim that requires detailed cleaning. With many years of experience, our technicians can gauge the concentration of smoke residue and choose the most efficient cleaning technique.
 
Insulation is usually more costly to clean up than to replace. Smoke damage can change its appearance, albeit without compromising its insulating capabilities. If applicable, we can deal with the fire damage by replacing the top 3-4 inches of insulation. However, smoke deodorization is necessary before adding a new layer of insulation, to get rid of toxic odors. If water affected the insulation, in most cases tossing and starting with new material is the correct choice to make.

We use two main deodorization methods: thermal fogging and ozone deodorization. Both are designed to neutralize bad odors resulting from the fire damage. The most common challenge is determining the source of each odor, as different odors originate from different materials. Some odor particles are so tiny that they can penetrate virtually any surface. That is where thermal fogging products enter the areas of these particulates, mimicking the trail of the heated smoke, and chemically alter the smelly specs. However, SERVPRO restorers deal with all sorts of odors and therefore have a special procedure for identifying and eliminating them.
 
In some cases, it may be necessary to initiate a pack-out during the fire damage restoration. A pack-out involves moving your contents to a separate, safe location. It is very labor intensive and only necessary under special circumstances – for instance when there is a need to speed up the restoration process, or the structure has sustained too much damage to accommodate the items.

A fire disaster in your home can lead to considerable loss of property. Fortunately, you can count on SERVPRO of South Daytona Beach/Port Orange, a locally owned company, to minimize the fire damage. Call us today at 386-788-0358.

How A Fire Damage Restoration Company Can Help Restore Your Home

12/13/2021 (Permalink)

Don't let a small electronic device destroy your home!

How SERVPRO Can Restore Your Home After Fire Damage

Once a fire has affected your property, it's very important that you obtain assistance with the water removal, cleanup, repair, and restoration processes.  A fire damage restoration company like SERVPRO can help you with each of these processes, and their assistance can help limit your stress and expedite the restoration procedures. Learn more about how this fire damage company can assist you with the restoration of your home by reviewing this quick reference guide:

Before You Hire A Fire Damage Company

Prior to hiring a team of fire damage specialists, you need to contact your insurance company. If the fire damage necessitates that you and your family must vacate the premises then also call and the local disaster relief service. Your insurance agent must grant you permission to begin the cleanup process, and the disaster relief service can provide you with assistance for immediate needs like temporary housing, clothing, and food.

Removing Water and Smoke Odors

Following the above contacts, it's time to call a team of fire damage specialists. These technicians from SERVPRO of South Daytona Beach/Port Orange, will begin to extract standing water, as a result of the firefighting efforts, from your home. This is always the first step to limiting the fire damage to the structure and personal belongings. Upon completing the clean up process, the second step in the restoration process, these technicians will remove smoke odors from your property. They will use several tools to accomplish this objective, including ozone machines. Smoke and soot also require highly skilled personnel and equipment for successful removal.

Mold And Mildew Prevention

In addition to removing smoke odors from your property, fire damage experts from SERVPRO assist with mold and mildew prevention. Mold and mildew are problematic for many reasons, one of which is that they can damage the structural integrity of your property. Additionally, mold and mildew can cause health effects. For addressing and stifling these risks, fire damage technicians will use moisture meters and hygrometers to seek out hidden pockets of moisture. Powerful air-movers and dehumidifiers will then be activated to dry out your house thoroughly.

Because of their extensive experience and education, fire damage specialists from SERVPRO of South Daytona Beach/Port Orange, are effective in expediting and optimizing the cleanup and restoration processes for your property. Consider this local franchise from a strong national brand for personalizing its commitment to getting you back into your home as quickly as possible.

Locally Owned Company with National Resources

SERVPRO of South Daytona Beach/Port Orange, is locally owned and operated and we are proud to be part of this Viera community.

We use specialized equipment and techniques to remove smoke and soot from ceilings, walls, and other surfaces. Call us. (931) 953-8600

Fire Damage Risk Greatest for Daytona Homes During the Holiday Season

12/6/2021 (Permalink)

SERVPRO Says Holiday Fire Damage in Daytona Is Common--Be Careful

Smoke Smells in Daytona Are Not Wanted--Call SERVPRO

During the holiday months of November and December, homes in Daytona experience an increased risk of fire damage. Many homeowners use decorations during this time to beautify their homes. Electric lights, candles, and other items come together to create stunning displays.

When these items in a Daytona home malfunction, fire damage can result. A fire might remain isolated in one area, but the smoke can spread widely throughout your home. As it floats through your home, it adheres to anything it touches. On absorbent materials, the particles in the soot begin to penetrate.

SERVPRO technicians know that even surfaces that look clean on the outside can hide soot on the inside. Our Odor Control Technician (OCT) works with our Fire and Smoke Restoration Technicians (FSRT) to ensure that we eliminate fire damage at every level and stage affecting your home. Smelling ongoing smoke odors can seriously undermine having a home with no visible traces of the fire. Both aspects require mitigation and skilled professionals who have the experience to work with you until you become satisfied with the results.

At SERVPRO, we take it very seriously when a home suffers fire damage. We know that hidden problems often exist, and know that these can surface later when you least expect them. We can help eliminate these before they become problematic for your family. One such problem is that with increased humidity and warmth, such as in the summer, areas that seemed free of odors once again begin to produce odors after a mid-winter fire. This is because the remaining particles become more active in heat and elevated humidity. We can help ensure that these areas receive additional care, so they revert to a non-odorous state again.

SERVPRO of South Daytona Beach/Port Orange wants to help the area's families enjoy their homes year-round. Because of this, our number, (386) 788-0358, is always answered, day or night, every day of the year. Emergencies never follow a schedule and can happen at any time. Call us for all your smoke and fire damage needs, and we can begin mitigation quickly, so your home looks “Like it never even happened.”

Home Electrical Fires

4/12/2021 (Permalink)

When a fire in a home happens we always blame it on a item we forgot to turn off. Did you know most of the time that is not the case. Here are some facts about home electrical fires.

Electrical Fire Facts

In 2014-2018, electrical distribution or lighting equipment, such as wiring, lighting, cords, and plugs, was involved in an estimated average of roughly 34,000 (10%) reported home structure fires per year. These incidents caused an average of 470 (18%) civilian deaths, 1,100 civilian injuries (10%), and $1.4 billion (19%) in direct property damage annually.
Electrical distribution or lighting equipment ranked first in direct property damage, and third among the major fire causes in the number of home fires, fourth in home fire deaths, and tied for third in home fire injuries.
Wiring and related equipment accounted for 7 percent of all home fires and nine percent of all home fire deaths.
Cords or plugs were involved in only one percent of home fires but seven percent of the deaths. Extension cords dominated the cord or plug category.

Source: NFPA's Applied Research Department
NFPA - Fire Prevention

If you had a home electrical fire call SERVPRO of South Daytona Beach / Port Orange.

Our professional teams can help you feel "Like it never even happened."

#SERVPROSouthDaytonaPortOrange #electricalfirefacts #nfpa #firecleanupandrestoration

Escaping a Fire

3/9/2021 (Permalink)

Causing more than 2,500 deaths and 12,600 injuries each year in the United States, house fires are extremely dangerous for those that are unprepared for the event. But they are preventable.

To be prepared should a fire occur in your home, it’s important to know what to do:

• Before a fire
• During a fire
• After a fire

To ensure that your family remains safe throughout the ordeal.

It takes just two minutes for a fire to become life-threatening and just five minutes for a residence to become consumed by a fire. While the flames are what most people fear, that’s not what’s most dangerous as the heat and smoke do most of the damage. This is because the inhalation of extremely hot air can sear the lungs. A fire also has the ability to produce poisonous gases that can make you disoriented and drowsy making them all the more dangerous. In fact, the leading cause of fire deaths is asphyxiation which exceeds burns by a three to one ratio.

Preparing for a Fire

To make sure you’re prepared in the event of a fire, there are certain precautionary measures that must be taken to ensure your safety. The most important step is to create an evacuation plan for your family. Every second counts when a home is filling up with smoke so you need to know the fastest way out. Creating a plan and going over it with each member of your family will ensure that everyone can get out safely.

When developing your evacuation plan, make sure that you have two routes to escape each room in case one is blocked. Once your plan is formed, you should practice the plan at least twice a year. Being prepared for a potential fire means making sure that windows aren’t locked, screens can be taken out quickly, and that security bars can be opened. You should also have your family practice feeling around in the dark with their eyes closed replicating the environment they’ll be in if there’s a fire and teach the children not to hide from firefighters who are there to help.

The most important device to making sure you can safety escape a fire is a smoke alarm. Having working smoke alarms will significantly increase your chances of surviving the fire. To make sure that your smoke alarm will alert you of a fire in the home, test the batteries monthly, replace the batteries at least once a year, and replace the smoke alarm every eight to 10 years.

How to Escape a Fire

If a fire does occur in your home, you should escape the building as quickly as possible. However, there are some things you need to remember to safety evacuate. The first step is to get to the floor and crawl to the exit as heavy, toxic smoke and poisonous gases gather initially at the ceiling. When you get to a door, feel the doorknob and door before opening it. If either the doorknob or door is hot, you should leave it closed and go to your alternate way out. You should also leave the door closed if smoke is coming from around it. If you are able to open the door, do so slowly and be ready to shut it quickly should heavy smoke or fire be on the other side.

But what happens if you can’t get out? If the event occurs where you’re trapped in a room, cover the vents and cracks around any doors with cloth or tape to keep any smoke out. Then call the fire department and tell them where you are. You can use a light colored cloth or flashlight to get the attention of the firefighters. If you catch on fire yourself, simply stop, drop, and roll with your hands over your face to put yourself out.

What to Do After a Fire

If you’ve suffered a fire in your home rendering it uninhabitable and you have nowhere to go, contact your local disaster relief service like The Red Cross. If you have fire insurance, call the insurance company for details on protecting your property. You also should contact the professionals at SERVPRO of South Daytona Beach / Port Orange to remediate the situation as soon as possible. The sooner they begin the restoration process, the more of your home and possessions will be salvaged.

A house fire is a devastating event that can lead to serious injury or death if you’re not properly prepared. These tips will ensure that you’re prepared for a fire and that you and your family can escape safely.

What Does Fire Cleanup Involve?

10/8/2020 (Permalink)

SERVPRO's advanced equipment like this ozone machine help eliminate smoke odors from South Daytona house fires

Fire Restoration by SERVPRO Includes State of the Art Tools and Methods to Bring Your South Daytona Property Back to Pre-Fire Condition

Due to the nature of fire cleanup, this is rarely a type of project to handle on your own. Flames from the blazing heat and melt plastics, while burnt materials leave corrosive soot and smoke residue behind. Damage from a fire brings tremendous loss, big or small, which can be a significant task to handle alone. Contacting reliable restoration technicians at SERVPRO ensures your South Daytona home gets the individualized attention that it deserves.

Restoration to Pre-Loss Condition

Once called, our team works quickly to facilitate fire restoration in South Daytona. The faster we can get in to start working, the better our chances of cutting back on the secondary damage to save both time and money. We have all of the experience, skills, and tools necessary to handle the job. Alone with our expertise, the equipment and tools at our disposal make the cleanup and restoration go even faster.

How Does Restoration Work?

To fully restore your interior and all of your belongings, it calls for proven methods and detailed planning. We tailor our cleanup and restoration to your unique situation to get the job done quickly. A simplified outline of our process includes:

• Tarping and Board Up Services – We respond to your property within as little as a few hours after your call. We can board up any of the broken windows or doors and help to limit access while preventing exposure to the elements and vandalism.
• Inspection and Assessment – We carefully inspect your home to determine each area of fire damage. We then put together an estimate and timeline for the restoration.
• Cleanup – Once we start the cleanup process, we take care of debris and charred structural materials, followed by smoke and soot removal.
• Deodorization – Our skilled team uses specialized ozone treatments in extreme cases, cleaning agents, and various products to battle odorous particles and help deodorize your interior.
• Controlled Demolition and Restoration – Personal items get cleaned and inventoried or packed-out as needed. Any areas where building materials got removed will get addressed, and all-new materials installed. Everything gets done to ensure your South Daytona property is “Like it never even happened."

How Do You Handle Air Quality?

Throughout the fire restoration process, our crew utilizes a wide variety of tools, many of which deal with indoor air quality (IAQ). The air throughout your home can be in rough shape after a fire, so when we begin the damage cleanup, we bring in various commercial-grade equipment to work on drying and odor removal, such as:

• Air movers
• Air scrubbers
• Dehumidifiers

In certain situations, we may use what is known as an ultra-low volume (ULV) fogger. This equipment deodorizes your interior thoroughly after a fire. It works by taking solvent-based deodorizers and vaporizing them. This vapor can reach into smaller cracks and crevices where odorous particles might be lurking.

What If There Is Water Damage Too?

Whenever your interior gets flooded with water during a fire, either from a burst pipe or hoses from firefighter’s extinguishing the blaze, water removal is necessary. Our skilled IICRC-certified technicians also use pumps and extraction tools to pull up all standing water and moisture from your property.

What About All the Soot?

Fires produce a tremendous amount of soot, so our technicians use an assortment of tools and equipment to remove soot and smoke residue from all surfaces. We also have a range of cleaning actions that we use depending on the type of soiling and the materials in question. This works on the idea that ‘like dissolves like,’ which includes:

• Mechanical Action: We often use agitation as a way to dislodge soils from whatever surfaces in question safely.
• Lubrication: By making something slippery with lubricant, our technicians can break the bond between the soils and the surfaces.
• Chemical Action: This gets used to help in situations where a substance is altered or changed by another substance. We can apply cleaning products to surfaces to help alter the residue for easier cleaning.
• Suspension and Dispersion: SERVPRO uses this method often for helping to loosen soils followed by suspending and dispersing while using a cleaning product.

In fire restoration situations where there is a lot of dry particles present, our technicians may be able to remove them by using dry brushes and vacuums. We always try to vacuum up dry soiling whenever possible before attempting any wet cleaning products. Applying wet products and introducing moisture could cause the soiling to become further embedded, making it more difficult for removal.

While the process of fire restoration may be time-consuming and complex, you can always trust SERVPRO of South Daytona Beach/Port Orange to get the job done right the first time. Call (386) 788-0358 to have a crew dispatched to your property. We're Faster to Any Size Disaster!

Things are Getting Complicated -- Who Can Help with Unexpected Issues During Fire Damage Restoration in Daytona Beach?

8/9/2020 (Permalink)

Fire damage can leave hazards material left over in your home. Contact SERVPRO for fire damage restoration and remediation to get rid of the material.

SERVPRO Is a Full-Service Fire Restoration Company, Ready to Help with Routine and Advanced Mitigation and Remediation Issues for Dayton Beach Residents

Disasters can reveal some secrets within the structure of your that require special handling. When a fire damages your Daytona Beach house hazardous materials you might have been unaware were inside your dwelling can become an issue. When you are already dealing with an unsafe and chaotic situation, discovering additional serious problems can be overwhelming. Some biohazards like lead, asbestos, and mold might require specialized and licensed technicians to remove them. If the fire damage company you hire has advanced certifications, you avoid seeking out and hiring additional contractors.

I Was Not Prepared for the Vast Quantity of Water After Fire Damage -- Who Helps with This?

When you hire SERVPRO to help with fire damage restoration in your Daytona Beach home, you also gain access to our highly-qualified water removal and structural drying team. Our managers and technicians train with the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC), the restoration industry-standard developers. Many of our Fire and Smoke Restoration Technicians (FSRT) also hold a Water Damage Restoration Technician (WRT) certification. Our technical resources allow us to safely manage the contaminated firefighting water before moving on to clean up of fire residues and deodorization.

You Mentioned Biohazards -- How Does the Team Handle These Concerns?

If we discover dangerous materials during scoping of the job or as we begin to complete tasks, our specialized crews arrive to take charge of these significant roadblocks to the overall project. The risks associated with mold damage, asbestos, and lead-based paint must resolve swiftly. Exposure can cause immediate as well as long term health issues. Both federal and state regulatory agencies have specific directives for abating the risks. Typically the remediation of a biohazard includes:

• Locating all of the hazardous material
• Containing the materials pursuant to best practices and applicable regulations
• Disposing of the materials and any contaminated structural components and contents according to hazardous waste protocols

Are "Normal" Fire Debris Also Hazardous?

When the flames and the fire's heat moved through your Daytona Beach home, the fuel was everyday building components and contents. When these materials combust, a broad range of toxic gasses and particulates result as the structure and items undergo chemical transformations. The soot covering every surface and the chunks of charred materials are hazardous, containing known carcinogens and irritants. Our crews move through your home, collecting and bagging the debris and cleaning the residue-covered surfaces with propriety cleaning products and tools matched to each type of residue and surface.

How Do Restoration Companies Protect and Improve Air Quality?

During a residential fire in your Daytona Beach home smoke billows, a combination of volatile gasses, water vapor, and soot, which is the incompletely combusted remains of the materials burned. The fine but abrasive particles can remain airborne for quite a while before settling. Capturing the soot in the air is a proactive way to not only reduce the residue that coats surfaces but also to get ahead on odor control. It is common for us to use these chambers during biohazard containment as well. We use the following strategies to attempt to clear the air:

• We wrap the affected areas in 1.6 mil polypropylene -- conduit is used to support the heavy-duty plastic creating the smaller areas
• We employ negative pressure air scrubbers inside the chambers to seal the perimeter of the "room" and force the contaminated air through HEPA filters before exhausting the filtered air to the outdoors

What Is the Process for Restoration of Residue-Encrusted Surfaces?

Building materials affected by soot undergo an evaluation that considers the type of soot and the durability of the surface. Our technicians then choose an appropriate cleaning product (oil or water-based) and a method to loosen the residues, so they suspend in a solution for rinsing or wiping away. We take care to adjust the agitation and abrasion level to ensure the cleaning process does not damage the surface. Other adjustments include the temperature of the cleaning product and the dwell time. If the soot-covered item is loose or can be detached, we consider the use of immersion or ultrasonic cleaning in tanks at our production facility.

Have confidence in the comprehensive training, experience, and customer service SERVPRO of South Daytona Beach / Port Orange brings to every fire damage restoration project, including yours. Call (386) 788-0358 with a timeline for when the firefighters will be leaving the scene so we can be ready.

Contractor Licenses:

Mold Remediation: MRSR515 Florida License

Biohazard: 64-64-1785570

Flames Engulfed My Property and I Have to Handle the Fire Damage. Where Should I Seek Help?

7/14/2020 (Permalink)

Call our experts after you experience a fire disaster, we have training in fire & smoke restoration, odor control, upholstery & fabric cleaning.

Seek Professional Help from SERVPRO to Deal With the Fire Damage in Your Port Orange Residence

The sad thing about a fire is that even firefighters extinguish it, damage can continue occurring in your Port Orange residence. Mold may grow in 24 to 48 hours because of the water used to fight the blaze, odors may persist, and smoke and soot residues can discolor various surfaces. Thankfully, SERVPRO technicians can prevent these damages from taking place if you contact us on time.

Why should I choose SERVPRO?  

Not every fire restoration company can handle the fire damage in your Port Orange home quickly and efficiently. We have a licensed and certified team of technicians who have the expertise required to handle fire loss incidents of any magnitude. With decades of experience, training, advanced equipment, and products, we can restore your property to its pre-emergency state. We follow the standards of the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning, and Restoration Certification (IICRC) during the restoration process. Our restoration process involves:

Soot and smoke residue removal

Water damage restoration

Cleaning

Deodorization

We understand that fire damage is an emergency that requires prompt attention. Our 24-hour response team responds quickly when we receive an emergency call. We perform a thorough assessment to ensure a property is safe to enter before we start the restoration process.

How can you clean the affected surfaces?

Before we clean the structures of a home, we perform tests to determine which cleaning method is appropriate. This means the technique that can eliminate residues from the surfaces or materials without ruining them. Our SERVPRO team categorizes materials as washable or non-washable. We clean washable materials using water-based cleaners. We use dry-cleaning methods to clean non-washable surfaces and materials.

We can use liquid crème cleaners such as stain scrub to remove debris on high-gloss surfaces. The product contains a mild abrasive, which cannot damage the surface. For high-gloss surfaces, we can use a damp sponge. We can rub the surfaces gently to avoid scratching them.   

What about my flooring?

Due to extreme temperatures during the fire, plastic materials can melt and stick on your flooring and walls. Removing the melted plastic is difficult without proper equipment and tools. Our technicians can use roto pads and brushes to remove the debris on a wide range of surfaces. Depending on the debris, we can attach various types of pads to the roto’s drive block. The rotating pads and brushes buff, agitate, or polish flooring surfaces.

If you are dealing with a fire loss, contact SERVPRO of South Daytona Beach / Port Orange at (386) 788-0358 to restore your property and valuables. After our restoration process, the fire loss can seem, “Like it never even happened.”

See more about Port Orange.

How Soon Can the Cleanup After a Fire in Port Orange Begin?

6/7/2020 (Permalink)

It’s normal to feel overwhelmed after a fire in your home. Contact SERVPRO for effective fire damage remediation efforts.

SERVPRO Arrives at Your Port Orange Home to Start Fire Damage Restoration as Soon as Your Property is Cleared for Entry

It is heartbreaking and stressful to deal with a fire loss. Still, you may also be anxious to begin the cleanup process—prompt cleanup and mitigation help to cut back on secondary damage and minimize loss. Waiting too long to begin cleanup after the fire is out can leave tough, stubborn odors from smoke and soot. SERVPRO has crews in your area of Port Orange that arrive fast when called so that we can begin restoration as soon as first responders deem your property safe for entry.

The Fire is Put Out, Now What?

We are available to you 7 days a week, 24 hours a day to help with your fire damage in Port Orange. Our emergency restoration service includes a cleanup of all of the debris within your home. We take the time to address airborne threats and use specialized equipment to help us locate any lingering moisture from the water used to extinguish the flames. Once we arrive on the job site, our crew chief does a walkthrough assessment to record all conditions so that we can formulate the best steps to proceed. All of our trucks come outfitted with advanced equipment and tools that help remove soot and smoke residue so that your interior is “Like it never even happened.” The earlier that mitigation begins, the easier it is to cut back on the level of damage and the potential for hazardous, long-lasting effects.

Why Should I Use Your Team for Fire Restoration Services?

It takes a trained eye to pinpoint all areas within your home where soot and smoke particles may have settled, especially in tight cracks and crevices. Debris and all damaged materials get taken out so that our team can begin restoration and replacement steps in Port Orange. We use a unique formula to come up with a plan that allows us to use all of our resources efficiently, such as:

• Packout services allow us to carefully pack up and remove personal belongings that need special attention and cleaning off-site.
• Technicians handle all of the cleanings of walls, ceilings, and other surfaces.
• To inhibit corrosive action, our team removes soot residue from all surfaces using wet or dry cleaning methods.
• Structural components of your home get thoroughly inspected to ensure safety.
• If the wall cavities and insulation have been infiltrated by smoke, our team removes the first few inches of the insulation to replace it with brand-new materials.

Is There Any Cleaning I Can Do Myself?

Without the proper training and technology, clearing out charred debris and addressing stubborn odors is nearly impossible as a DIY project. There are many reasons to hire skilled fire damage restoration technicians, including:

•   Toxicity of debris and residue after a fire loss makes for a hazardous climate inside the home. Our team always wears personal protective equipment (PPE) for our own safety while cleaning.
•   Structural elements of your home must be inspected by professionals to determine if they are stable, including your floors, ceilings, and walls.
•   With any fire, a substantial amount of chemicals or water gets used to extinguish the flames. Our expert extraction team uses all of the latest tools and techniques to help speed up this part of the process.
•   Our crew is trained following the standards of the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC). We are equipped to handle any size fire damage project, and we have the right cleaning agents and methods to clean up all soot, charred debris, and moisture left behind.
•   Before wrapping up each fire restoration job, we use EPA-registered disinfectants and cleaning agents to deodorize and clean your interior thoroughly.

What Are the Ways You Address This Awful Soot Everywhere?

We use tried-and-true methods for ensuring all stubborn smoke residue and pesky soot particles get cleaned up. After the assessment, our technicians get instructions on the dry or wet cleaning methods required for all surfaces.

•   Dry Methods – This method is best used on surface areas that become damaged when they come into contact with moisture. We use this often on books, electronics, and antiques with the help of towels, brushes, or sponges to loosen the soot.
•   Wet Methods – This method is best used on surface areas not easily damaged when they come into contact with water. We use specialized cleaning agents combined with water to leave the surface areas refreshed and clean. In stubborn soot situations, we use ultrasonic cleaning with the power of ultrasonic waves in a cleaning solution where millions of bubbles loosen the grime.

SERVPRO of South Daytona Beach/Port Orange is ready whenever you need professional fire damage restoration. Call (386) 788-0358 to have a team deployed to your location to begin assessment in as little as four hours or less.

Fire Loss Damage in Port Orange

4/12/2020 (Permalink)

Give us a call anytime at (386) 788-0358.

Can One Company Handle All Fire Loss Damage in My Port Orange Home?

Our SERVPRO professionals offer comprehensive restoration and recovery for fire-damaged Port Orange residences.

Fire losses in Port Orange can offer a wide variety of restoration, recovery, and reconstruction needs for homes. Having a team of qualified professionals that can help to address nearly all of these needs for your damaged home can save you time and money on the recovery efforts after a housefire. Our SERVPRO professionals can offer many effective restoration solutions, including debris removal, cleaning, soot removal, deodorization, and reconstruction as necessary.

How Bad Is the Damage in Your House?

    •    Scoping the Job
    •    Pre-loss Condition
    •    Working with Your Insurance

Before we can get into the restoration needs for fire damage to Port Orange homes, we must first determine how severe the situation has become. We have experienced estimators and project managers that can look over the affected areas of your home and begin to determine which processes and personnel are necessary to return your residence to preloss condition.

But what is the preloss condition, exactly? This term is often used regularly in restoration vocabulary and rarely gets taken as literally as it should be. During the scoping of work to be done in your home with our project manager and other professionals, we can work with the customer to determine pre-existing conditions and damages that might have otherwise gone unnoticed. Both of these discoveries and factors determine the later time and money involved in the restoration and recovery of the residence.

As a preferred restoration vendor for the state and our region, we have built up strong relationships with area insurance providers to be a call that they make when restoration is necessary. With this relationship, we can often reduce the amount of time necessary in processing damage claims and getting approvals because we can provide the necessary documentation and evidence of these disasters faster by working directly with insurance adjusters.

What Happens to My Belongings After a Fire?

    •    Individual Item Assessment and Cataloging
    •    On-site Cleaning and Recovery
    •    Pack Out and Warehouse Restoration

It can be said that your belongings and possessions are what make your house a home. Protecting these items in your Port Orange residence begins as soon as you recognize a disaster taking place. While you can often do little in the event of a fire to relocate at-risk belongings, reaching out to restoration professionals quickly can have our SERVPRO team assessing their condition on an item-by-item basis when we arrive at your house. We catalog total losses and can determine the best actions for restoring recoverable belongings.

There are many of the items in your house that can get cleaned and restored on-site. Through the application of several cleaning strategies involving potent cleansing agents, we can remove surface residues and soiling to prevent a need for relocating these belongings during the mitigation and restoration phases to come.

Several of your belongings can benefit from our pack-out process, which removes at-risk contents and moves them to our nearby SERVPRO facility. In our warehouse, our management professionals can implement multiple cleaning strategies to improve the appearance and feel of affected items. Immersion cleaning tanks, deodorization chambers, and other approaches can restore your treasured possessions to their original appearance.

How Can Cleaning Help the House After a Fire?

    •    Residue Removal
    •    Cleaning Soiled Surfaces
    •    Pre and Post-Construction Cleanup

Cleaning up the house after a fire loss is often one of the most critical stages for recovering Port Orange properties. Among the chief priorities in this stage is addressing soot deposits throughout the house and its contents, and this involves several products and practices. Removing soot concentrations can help to reduce airborne hazards for occupants of the house and restoration professionals, so we can utilize soda blasting and media blasting techniques to remove surface sediment without damaging the material underneath it.

We also can address multiple surfaces that might have oily soiling, especially after situations like kitchen fires. With water-based chemical agents, we can utilize emulsion to trap oils on the surface and rinse them away with pressurized water. Cleaning surfaces can often reduce the need for controlled demolition and reconstruction.

When construction is necessary, however, our SERVPRO team can help with cleaning before and after this needed step. Pre-construction cleaning can prepare an area for reconstruction so that there is little to no delay in the installation of new materials. We can also wipe down surfaces and flooring after construction to remove dust and debris.

Should I Stay Away from My Fire Damaged House?
There are many reasons that you might not be suited to handle the damages to your residence after a fire loss. Many homeowners can become overwhelmed at the sight of their property in disarray, and it can be challenging to appreciate the volume of work necessary to return it to preloss condition. During initial firefighting efforts, especially, it is often best to stay clear of the work happening to protect your residence.

Similarly, there is little that homeowners can do to help with professional restoration and often can become additional stress for our team members or technicians on-site working to restore the house. Many hazards could exist in a fire-damaged property, and that is why our SERVPRO team utilizes a full array of personal protective equipment, including respirators, coveralls, gloves, and more.

To avoid risk and potential harm to yourself or others in your family, it is best to actively avoid the work areas until you get the green light from our technicians on-site. When you are remaining in the house while restoration continues, we can establish practical containment barriers to prevent wandering into potentially dangerous areas or allowing for cross-contamination with unaffected parts of the house.

Fire losses can be a considerable challenge for homeowners to deal with, but our SERVPRO of South Daytona Beach / Port Orange team can help. From initial scoping through cleaning and reconstruction, we have experienced personnel to help make it “Like it never even happened.” Give us a call anytime at (386) 788-0358.

For more about Port Orange click here.

How SERVPRO Reduces Soot and Smoke Damage in Port Orange

3/9/2020 (Permalink)

Did your home experience fire damage? Call SERVPRO for complete restoration.

Strategies to Reduce Soot Migration in Port Orange Homes 

Fire loss effects can be a challenging obstacle for Port Orange homeowners to have to live with, let alone the difficulty that even our experienced restoration professionals have in recovering the loss. When combustion of fuels like wood and coal occur, soot can get produced. This hazardous presence in your property requires containment, cleaning, and full removal. 

Understanding how soot and other fire damage in Port Orange homes get addressed can help you to be ready for all of the processes necessary to return your property to preloss condition. The skilled technicians of our SERVPRO team, combined with their years of experience and cutting-edge equipment, can help to both contain and control soot migration in the house. The strategies we use to reduce the severity of soot effects are: 

Fire Debris Removal  

One of the first steps that our technicians can take when we arrive at your fire-damaged home is to assess your need for debris removal. Structural damages can leave behind heaps of rubble and sediment, all of which can serve as catalysts for soot and smoke concentrations. To reduce soot particles and foul odors, it might begin with debris removal. 

Abrasive Cleaning Techniques 

Media and soda blasting are two techniques that utilize highly pressurized air or water to remove layers of soot residues and other oily soils. These cleaning techniques can also help to reduce odors in the immediate areas as well, helping abrasive cleaning to be mutually beneficial in different areas. 

Controlled Demolition  

While it is always most desirable to remove soot and other residues from materials and contents without incident, this is not always possible. Instead, our SERVPRO team often must make challenging choices to remove damaged walls, ceilings, and floors to reduce soot presence in the house and to start the path of rebuilding. 

While we also have capable equipment that we can put in place like our air scrubbers to catch soot particles in the environment, these strategies are effective in slowing the severity and spread of soot threats after a fire. Give our SERVPRO of South Daytona Beach / Port Orange team a call today at (386) 788-0358. 

More about Port Orange.

We're Faster To Any Size Disaster In Daytona Beach After A Fire

12/19/2019 (Permalink)

Fire damage began on the stovetop in the kitchen of this home. We arrived right away and used our state of the equipment to begin restoration.

Fire Damage Daytona Beach – Small Fires Can Lead to Lots of Damage

Whenever there is a fire in a home, the fire department arrives on site quickly and often has the fire under control within minutes. Examples are kitchen grease fires, small appliance fires, or even heating and cooling systems that malfunction igniting a fire. A fire can be contained quickly; however, a great deal of secondary damage is made extinguishing the fire.

SERVPRO responds to many of these fire damage situations in Daytona Beach. The firemen are doing their job! Failure to extinguish the fire might lead to catastrophic damage involving the entire home and possibly spreading to other homes next door. Many homeowners are overwhelmed and don't know where to even begin.

Our trained team of SERVPRO technicians understands the concerns of homeowners. We can take control of the situation and address all of the damage independently. Once the home is designated as safe to enter by the fire department, we can remove items damaged beyond repair. We catalog everything for later insurance claims.

Our crew chief assesses the home, the fire damage, and the repairs that are needed to return your home to its original state. As the fire is extinguished, there may have been water damage or chemical damage introduced by the fire department. Depending on where the fire started, smoke may have been contained to one section of the home. Or smoke is blown throughout the house by the air conditioning system. There may also be structural damage to walls, ceilings, and floors.

Our SERVPRO team can clean and dry all surfaces, make repairs as needed to structural elements, including replacing drywall and repainting. We also can deploy smoke deodorization equipment to remove all of the odors introduced in the home by the fire. Our professional team can return your home to its original condition, "Like it never even happened." We also are licensed contractors, Mold Remediation: MRSR515 Florida License, Biohazard: 64-64-1785570.

Call SERVPRO of South Daytona Beach / Port Orange at (386) 788-0358 for 24/7 service. We proudly serve Harbor Oaks, Ponce Inlet, and surrounding areas. We're Faster To Any Size Disaster.

See more about Daytona Beach.

We Discuss Do It Yourself Restoration Tips In Daytona Beach

9/25/2019 (Permalink)

We provide fast 24/7 service, and we can help you return your house to its preloss condition “Like it never even happened.”

Fire Damage Technicians From Daytona Beach Give Do It Yourself Restoration Tips

If something ever burns inside your Daytona Beach house, it is wise to call in a professional restoration company such as SERVPRO. However, there are many things that you the homeowner can do yourself to help mitigate your fire damage. Problems can get worse over time, so the quicker you can get to mitigating issues on your own, the better off you will be. By using certain techniques, you can reduce the issues overall.

First off, it is wise to make sure that the fire is completely extinguished. The fire damage inside your Daytona Beach home can get worse if burnt items are still hot or smoldering. If you have to, use a fire extinguisher or water to suffocate smoldering items. Next, make sure smoke is not thick inside your house by opening doors and windows to ventilate. If you have a fan set it up so that it helps push any smoke outside the house.

The next step our SERVPRO experts recommend is to make sure your house is safe. Fires can create fall hazard or possibly electrical shorts. Make sure your gas and your electricity are shut off. If you notice anything that looks dangerous like drywall hanging down remove it. Try to clean a walkway through your home of any rubble that may have fallen.

If the blaze caused a water leak, it is smart to shut the water running to your house off. Moisture can add to the problems created by the fire if you do not cut it off from its source.

Next, look around for any burnt contents that may be sitting on your carpet or other building materials. Remove any burnt contents and seal them in a trash bag so that they cannot contaminate unaffected areas with soot. Once any loose burnt objects get removed, you can then start throwing away rubble or torched building materials like cabinet doors by sealing them in a trash bag.

Then, you should inspect your entire house and figure out where the smoke went. Any place that you find soot residue, you can try to clean it off using soap and water. Vacuuming and dusting off soot on some surfaces can also be effective.

However, in the case that things seem to be too much for you to handle on your own, you can always call SERVPRO of South Daytona Beach / Port Orange at (386) 788-0358. We provide fast 24/7 service, and we can help you return your house to its preloss condition “Like it never even happened.”

For more about Daytona Beach click here.

SERVPRO is Prepared to Restore Your Port Orange Home

9/4/2019 (Permalink)

Fire damage remediation can be an arduous task. Call the professionals at SERVPRO today for help.

Effective Damage Assessment After Port Orange Fires

Damage assessment is a vital, yet often overlooked, component of restoring fire-damaged Port Orange homes. Even though this phase only dictates the extent of the harm to your property, there are many reasons why choosing professional inspection and assessment can ultimately save you time and money on the restoration to come. Our SERVPRO estimators and management team can mobilize as quickly as our mitigation specialists to ensure there are no delays in the work that your property needs amid a crisis.

As destructive as fire damage in Port Orange homes can be, it is crucial for our professionals to get a thorough assessment completed immediately for multiple reasons. This inspection details critical elements of the restoration work we set to begin with our arrival and can dictate the needed tools, personnel, and products to recover the house. While many areas require this comprehensive assessment, we have trained professionals capable of cataloging the full scope of the damage and developing a customized plan of restoration to suit budgetary confinements and the needs of the property.

One of the vital elements of walking through the damaged property is earmarking the contents of your home for relocation or complete removal to our nearby facility. Content management is an essential phase of the mitigation work we offer. This approach protects your belongings from the devastating effects of soot and smoke residues, odors, and other lingering effects after a fire gets extinguished.

A skilled damage assessment can also detail the work that needs done and provide a base estimation of restoration costs. Considering that many homes have insurance plans that can cover unexpected fire loss, it is crucial to get your insurance provider the information they need as promptly as possible. This documentation and photographic evidence comprised during our damage inspection can help to expedite a claim process to get the work started in your house as fast as it can. 

Any homeowner wants to get fire recovery started and finished as soon as possible once a disaster strikes their property, and choosing the right restoration team can help with that. Our SERVPRO of South Daytona Beach / Port Orange team can show you that We’re Faster to Any Size Disaster when you call (386) 788-0358.

Click here to learn more about Port Orange. 

How Curling Irons can Singe Your Port Orange Home

7/17/2019 (Permalink)

Did you know these appliances can be fire hazards? Make sure they are turned off after each use.

Forgetting to Turn Off Small Appliances Leaves Smoky Odors in Your Port Orange Apartment 

Residents in Port Orange lead busy lives, and preparing for different activities means getting clothing and yourself ready. Curling irons to clothes irons and many other electrical items get hot enough to scorch hair and fabric. They can also start a fire, even with cords and other components posing no other risks.

Leaving appliances on when leaving your home increases risks of smoke and fire damage in Port Orange to the area, and possibly your entire house. SERVPRO's technicians can get things back in order again, and help get you past such disasters. We also help in every way possible so you can include documentation of the work needed with any claims you file with your insurance adjuster.

The particles in the smoke and soot begin breaking down as they cool off and continue to do so, sending odors into the air. The presence of such odors persists as long as soot remains inside the home. We can help eliminate the scent, as well as the visible signs of a fire.

When the building services crew from SERVPRO replaces the walls and ceiling of a charred bathroom or other space, it leaves the area with a reduced number of particles. Opening up walls and ceilings to replace them can also reveal hidden soot. We brush this out and vacuum it up with HEPA-filtered vacs. In some situations, we also seal the surfaces to prevent odors from leaking into the air.

Our goal is to keep odor-causing soot particles from getting into the air you breathe. Another problem that soot can cause for you is a constant dustiness on surfaces within your home. When smoke gets into your HVAC system, the settling of dust can significantly increase all through your dwelling. Cleaning the ventilation system to remove soot is another one of our building services that our customers depend.  Ventilation cleaning helps control odors, as well as the amount of visible dust.

Carpeting, even when not singed or otherwise harmed by a fire, often holds the majority of the soot. We thoroughly clean the carpets and then apply much more pleasing scents via injectable liquids directly into the carpet's padding.

We wipe down freshly cleaned finished wood with lemon oil-based polish, which helps keep new particles of soot from embedding themselves into the pores of the wood. Other surfaces that, even with cleaning, might still contain smoke residue, we seal with appropriate sealants that do not mar the appearance. Personal belongings with a layer of soot often fare well with specialized cleaning techniques, including washable items that we can place in an ultrasonic water bath.

SERVPRO of South Daytona Beach / Port Orange is always ready to handle any amount of smoke or fire damage, including odors, in your home in the Daytona Beach area, Harbor Oaks, or Ponce Inlet. Call us at (386) 788-0358, so we can show you how our restoration work makes everything "Like it never even happened."

More about Port Orange.

Stop Suffering Through Fire Damage Remediation in Your South Daytona Residence

5/30/2019 (Permalink)

Fires can occur at anytime in your South Daytona home. Contact SERVPRO today for all fire damage remediation needs.

Improving Odors and Air After a South Daytona Structure Fire

Indoor air quality is often a considerable concern after fire loss incidents occur in South Daytona properties. Without the appropriate measures taken immediately after a fire gets extinguished, damaging effects can spread throughout the entire property. Not only does this leave widespread effects like soot and smoke residues to combat, but it also can allow smoke and other harsh odors to move through the property via ductile systems to affect multiple rooms of the house.

With these potentially hazardous effects after fire damage in your South Daytona home, it is important to get the right personnel and restoration specialists working to improve conditions and indoor air quality within your property after the incident. Our SERVPRO professionals have an extensive inventory of recovery and mitigation equipment, including many units designed to combat air quality threats and odors after many types of disaster.

Odors are a common effect that threatens comfortable living for families even when the other damages from a fire did not force relocation. Not only can these noxious odors spread through multiple floors, materials, and rooms, they can also require specialized equipment and focused efforts to overcome. The technicians that we dispatch to your property arrive with many units capable of addressing odors from thermal and UV foggers to our ozone machines.

Our professionals also commonly utilize hydroxyl generators on account of their filtering ability to improve indoor air quality combined with their function of reducing harsh odors present around the unit. With a higher concentration of particulates, debris, soot, and smoke residue particles moving through the affected environment, equipment like the hydroxyl generator can work to begin filtering out hazardous content from the house while also preparing for the deodorization efforts to follow.

We strive to provide every customer with a comprehensive recovery experience that begins with a full assessment of their property and continues through restorative efforts like air quality purification and deodorization of affected areas, materials, and contents of a home. Our SERVPRO of South Daytona Beach / Port Orange professionals are available 24/7 by calling (386) 788-0358.

Click here for more information about the city of Daytona.

Professional Fire Damage Remediation is Critical to Reduce Restoration Time and Costs

4/24/2019 (Permalink)

SERVPRO of South Daytona Beach / Port Orange can restore your fire damaged home to its preloss condition.

Protecting Your South Daytona Condo After a Fire 

When it comes to the many damaging effects of a fire that can spread throughout your South Daytona condo after the disaster, protecting unaffected or lightly affected areas of your property is critical to reducing restoration times and costs. Our team can respond immediately to fire loss incidents with the tools and personnel to help, setting up vital containment strategies to keep damaging effects from moving farther throughout your unit. 

With the often expensive and premium materials used to construct areas like the kitchen of your South Daytona condo, fire damage can become costlier and costlier to overcome without reducing the spread of these harmful effects through the property. Physical containment barriers with thick plastic sheeting and the use of our SERVPRO filtration equipment like ozone machines or hydroxyl generators can help to reduce the presence of smoke and soot particulates and other indoor air quality concerns from the environment. 

Our focus is always to preserve and restore installed materials on-site when possible to reduce or eliminate the need for demolition and reconstruction. While we do have a full-service construction team capable of renovating the entire unit, including reinstalling drywall, electrical components, and painting, it is important to us to keep the costs low and the time as short as possible when restoring and recovering fire damaged properties throughout our service area. 

Another way that our fast response can help to protect your property when a fire has occurred is through our thorough inspections of the condo as soon as our SERVPRO team arrives. Areas like the HVAC system, which can often benefit from cleaning after a widespread fire takes place, can get addressed by our same group of cleaning technicians dispatched to handle the other pressing concerns of the fire in the property.

We understand the investment that owners have made in the premium construction and building materials of their condos throughout the Daytona coastline. Our SERVPRO of South Daytona Beach / Port Orange rapid response team can help to protect your property and make these effects “Like it never even happened.” Give us a call today at (386) 788-0358.

Read about South Daytona here.

How an Unattended Stove Can Cause Fire Damage in Daytona Beach

2/25/2019 (Permalink)

Leaving food unattended while cooking can cause fires.

Leaving Your Stove Unattended Can Cause Fire Damage in Your Daytona Beach Home

Some recipes require that the food cook for an extended length of time; however, leaving your stove unattended could lead to fire damage happening inside of your kitchen. You should never leave your home, work in the yard, or occupy another floor of your home while something is cooking inside of your kitchen. While leaving food for a few minutes most likely won't lead to any problems, leaving it alone for hours leaves entirely too much space for an accident to happen while you are not around to address it.  

While it is always best to try and prevent accidents from happening, they can occur despite your best efforts, such as the fire damage inside of your Daytona Beach kitchen. It is essential to call for help as soon as possible after extinguishing the kitchen fire. Getting professionals inside of your home can ensure remediation of the damage left behind. The longer that you wait to address fire damage, the more difficult it becomes to remediate it smoothly.  

When you get in touch with SERVPRO, our technicians can rush to your home within hours of your initial call. The fire broke out from your stovetop and foodstuffs has been burned onto the surface of your countertops and the stove itself. While the fire in your kitchen was not significant, and you managed to put it out swiftly, it still left behind a foul smell and stains on your countertops. However, SERVPRO has the necessary tools to address these problems.  

Our technicians can use a chemical cleaning solution to break up the grime and soot that attached itself to your stove and your countertops. Sometimes, abrasive scrubbing methods must be used to remove soot left behind by a fire, but SERVPRO always tries the gentlest method first.  

When it comes to the foul odor in the air, SERVPRO can set up a couple of different devices in your home, depending on the severity of the fire and if your family relocated to a temporary location. Because the fire in your home was small, as most are, our techs can use a thermal fogger or an air scrubber to remove the malodor from the air.  

When a fire occurs inside of your home, always get help as soon as possible. Get in contact with SERVPRO of South Daytona Beach / Port Orange by calling (386) 788-0358. Day or night, we're open to helping you.

Read about Daytona Beach here.

The Steps Our Skilled Technicians Take To Restore Your Fire Damaged Home In Daytona Beach

11/12/2018 (Permalink)

We work hard to help you clean and restore your property regardless of the size of the problem you may face.

The Proper Steps To Take For Restoring Fire Damage In Your Daytona Beach Home

We understand how having a fire damage event occur in your Daytona Beach home can be traumatic. If you're facing this type of problem and found this page out of necessity, we're glad you chose to partner with us. SERVPRO has a variety of services available that help protect your home and always takes the time to fully explain which steps might be best to fit your particular situation.

As a way of protecting your Daytona Beach area home, it helps to understand the fire damage restoration process. At the very least, it can make the entire experience more bearable and limit the number of surprises you might face. When you know a little about the services involved in returning your home to a quality pre-fire damage condition, you can cope with things better.

The first thing you need to do after a fire occurs on your property is to contact your insurance agent and a restoration company, like SERVPRO. Our IICRC-certified technicians are available 24/7, 365-days a year to provide you with quality restoration services and piece of mind. The longer you take to call for help, the more time fire and smoke have to damage the contents of your home. We inspect the entire area and present a full-restoration guideline so that you understand what is suppose to happen when.

SERVPRO technicians can help with protecting what’s left of your home and minimize any losses you might experience. Our entire team goes to work immediately, removing damaged materials, scorched contents, furniture, and other household goods. Unfortunately, when facing fire damage, water is also involved. Luckily, our technicians understand how to remove excess water, smoke, and fire damage that provides you with accurate results.

Technicians from SERVPRO of South Daytona Beach / Port Orange are proud to provide members of our local community with restoration services they can trust. We work hard to help you clean and restore your property regardless of the size of the problem you may face. Call us at (386) 788-0358.

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Modern Conveniences can Create Modern Nightmares in Your Daytona Beach Home

10/15/2018 (Permalink)

Even a seemingly small kitchen fire can cause damage throughout the house. SERVPRO technicians can restore your house to its preloss condition.

Simple Incidents Can Lead to Extensive Fire Damage in Daytona Beach

The utilities that you rely on every day for comfort in your home can leave you grappling with unexpected fire damages. Since fire can ruin your Daytona Beach property in a wide range of ways, it does not take a big blaze to leave you with a considerable restoration bill. We offer professional restoration services that can help you manage the situation.  

Furnaces can cause fire damage in Daytona Beach when puff-backs occur. Such an outcome can happen if an oil burner ignites jarring loose soot due to a malfunction. If there is a crack in the heat exchanger or venting is not done correctly, puff backs are more likely to occur. Soot from the puff back introduces a mixture of dust from the ductwork and any remnants of unburned oil to the areas it affects. Most of these residues are easy to clean, however, when the furnace emits smoke for an extended period, it bonds to the walls requiring additional efforts when cleaning to avoid damaging wall paint.  

Stoves and grills can also cause fire damages easily by depositing protein filled smoke residue on walls and other surfaces. Just being inattentive for a few seconds is all it takes for whatever you are grilling to burst into flames, filling the entire area with odorous smoke and sticky residue on surfaces. The odor is the major issue in such an incident, so our SERVPRO technicians use different approaches to deal with it. After cleaning all residues left on walls and other surfaces, we can fog the affected areas because it helps to break down any malodor particles present in the area.  

Whenever these incidents occur, quick mitigation is essential primarily because the longer you wait before removing burnt residue, the harder it becomes to get rid of effects such as odor or staining. After inspection, our SERVPRO technicians start restoration immediately preventing those additional problems.  

The effects of damage caused by simple fire incidents should not take too long to fix. Call SERVPRO of South Daytona Beach/Port Orange at (386) 788-0358. We're Faster To Any Size Disaster.

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Saving Important Items During Restoration Of Fire Damage In Daytona Beach

9/4/2018 (Permalink)

When a fire breaks out, it is likely to damage everything within range.

Saving Important Items During Restoration

When a fire breaks out, it is likely to damage everything within range. Most of the damage is likely to be concentrated to the upholstery or wooden items in the affected part of your Daytona Beach property. Different types of damage might occur, so restoration efforts differ. For example, wooden fixtures caked with soot require different restoration efforts compared to those scorched by the flames. Working with a professional restorer helps ensure the correct method is used.

Restoration of small fire damage in Daytona Beach might only involve soot removal. Although this might seem simple, the microscopic particles that form soot penetrate deep into the affected wood or upholstery materials making the cleanup process harder. Our SERVPRO technicians first vacuum the affected area. This helps pull the tiny particles out instead of pushing them deep into the affected material. We then finish the process by cleaning the area using a brush, sponge, cloth material soaked in water, or other cleaning solutions based on what materials the fire burnt.

Sometimes the damage done might not be visible. For example, the smoke that penetrates deep into your upholstery items may leave no visible signs. However, the odor is not pleasant, and if you wait for it to dissipate naturally, it can take a long while to clear. Our SERVPRO team uses different equipment to deodorize your home restoring it to its preloss conditions. We can use hydroxyl generators, which chemically alter the odor particles eliminating any smells in the affected environment.

Wood burns easily, and fire is likely to start in areas close to wooden surfaces such as cabinets. So, even when there is minimal damage from the fire, some of these surfaces end up charred or discolored by the flames. Our SERVPRO technicians can help restore such areas by cleaning the wood. We sand away the charred surfaces. We also use professional grade cleaning agents to clean any discolored surfaces. Finally, we dry off any excess moisture from the cleaning process to ensure problems like warping or rotting do not occur.

Restoring damaged areas after a fire can be a tiring experience. Call SERVPRO of South Daytona Beach / Port Orange at (386) 788-0358 for assistance and advice.

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5 Tips To Prepare For a Commercial Fire

7/2/2018 (Permalink)

Fires can easily do extensive damage to a buildings electrical work.

If your commercial building is ever affected by fire or smoke, you'll be happy you took the time to prepare.

While you would not expect your Port Orange building to be affected by fire or smoke, it is a good idea to be prepared for the potential disaster. Fire/smoke preparation can help you know what to do when a fire breaks out on your property. Here are some tips to help you be prepared.

1. Employee training: One of the biggest concerns during a fire should be the safety of the people inside of your building. Make sure your employees or tenants know how to get out of the building safely by holding regular fire evacuation drills. You should post evacuation plans around the property and ensure everyone knows the best way out.
2. Restoration: Part of being prepared has to be centered on the potential fire damage your building may sustain. How are you going to take care of possible roof damage, or other structural damage (windows and doors may need to be boarded up or the cleaning and restoration of your contents that have been effected by heat and soot. Finding a quality fire restoration specialist prior to a fire loss can make your recovery process much simpler when an emergency strikes.
3. Contingency: Depending on what type of business you have and what it does, a fire could potentially shut down your company for an extended period of time. Part of your emergency recovery plan may be how you deal with a potential halt of work. You can get insurance to help cover financial losses or rent a temporary workspace to reduce the downtime.
4. Inventory: Your fire emergency recovery plan should also include a list and pictures of all the equipment, records and property you have in your commercial building. Knowing what's there before a disaster strikes can make creating a lost inventory list for your claim easier. Take pictures of your building in and out, figure out the cost of replacing your equipment annually and record your inventory.
5. Safety Equipment: install Smoke alarms, fire sprinklers and other safety equipment that can help mitigate the damage done by a fire. Installing these tools before a disaster is often a good idea.

Fire preparation might be the last thing on your mind. However, if your commercial building is ever affected by flames, you'll be happy you took the time to prepare. For more visit us at

www.SERVPROsouthdaytonabeachportorange.com

Cleaning Fire Damage In Daytona Homes

6/25/2018 (Permalink)

Daytona house fires usually burn slowly and for only a short amount of time.

Cleaning Fire Damage

Daytona house fires usually burn slowly and for only a short amount of time. That limits the amount of damage from flames and heat but increases the amount of cleaning and restoration needed to eliminate or reduce the effects of odors.

Odors left by Daytona fire damage are not one single type caused by a single residue source. SERVPRO restoration teams know that every item which burns leaves behind a different type of residue and therefore, odor. Eliminating these odors is as important in returning home to a livable condition as removing burned property such as ceiling tiles or furniture.

For these multiple odors, we use multiple cleaning methods. Depending on the seriousness of the fire, it may not be possible to determine the exact source of every odor. Our teams have a deep inventory of tools, cleaning agents, and deodorizers, and they use them in three phases to eliminate odors.

Phase One is containment of the odors. The task here is to prevent more odor molecules from evaporating into the air. Our teams spray a chemical deodorizer with a pump-up sprayer on every affected surface that forms a barrier which slows down, and on some materials, stops evaporation. In a few cases, SERVPRO technicians spray burned or charred items to eliminate extremely pungent odors so other team members can demolish and remove the property without choking on the odors.

Phase Two is controlling existing vapors. Our restoration teams use counteragents to eliminate odor particles already in the air. They distribute containers of Instant Odor Counteractant Pellets designed to overcome the odors without becoming an overpowering nuisance themselves. Homeowners can even choose between cinnamon- or fruity-smelling agent.

Phase Three uses thermal fogging to eliminate odors. Our teams use this final phase on odors that have deeply penetrated furniture and structural property. In these cases, a spray cannot reach all of the odor particles, so technicians disperse deodorants through the heating element of a thermal fogger. The action breaks down the agent into particles the same size as the odor particle. In this state, the agent binds with and eliminates every odor particle it comes into contact with, regardless of the type of property.

If you have already cleaned up after fire damage, but have lingering odors, contact SERVPRO of South Daytona Beach / Port Orange at (386) 788-0358 today. We can help you finish the task and completely return your home to its original, odor-free condition.

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Food And Fabric Safety After Fire Damage In Daytona

5/15/2018 (Permalink)

A fire in your Daytona home presents many cleanups, restoration, and odor issues affecting the structure and fixtures.

Food And Fabric Safety After A Fire

A fire in your Daytona home presents many cleanups, restoration, and odor issues affecting the structure and fixtures. Other possessions and items inside the spaces affected by the heat, smoke, and soot need attention after the disaster to ensure ongoing safety for you and your family. We have the training and experience to help you sort out these issues as we work toward returning your home to preloss condition.

Clothing, floor and window coverings and linens all can suffer after fire damage in your Daytona house. Sometimes clothing and decor respond well to cleaning and continue to function as you intended when acquired. We employ a broad range of cleaning and deodorizing techniques matched to the materials and the specific damage, often restoring items you believed ruined.

Other times charring, smoke, and soot affect fabrics severely, causing permanent damage and the continuous emission of harmful substances impossible to contain. SERVPRO crews then recommend disposal as the only responsible course. Our familiarity with the process and the skills of our production teams assure your confidence in our advice during a confusing and stressful time.

SERVPRO technicians also help evaluate the contents of your cupboards, pantry, refrigerators, and freezers after fire damage. If the fire occurred in or near the kitchen, the heat could compromise food safety even if cans and bottles remain sealed. Microbial activity can occur inside after exposure of the containers and contents to elevated temperatures. Smoke and soot infiltrate porous containers such as boxes and plastic bags. The particles in smoke can be tiny enough to penetrate past the rims of bottles and jars, contaminating the food and beverages inside.

The food inside a refrigerator or freezer can remain safe if the seal is secure. Additional considerations are whether the power was cut and for how long. More than four hours in our warm climate can elevate the temperature inside even a closed refrigerator above safe levels. SERVPRO technicians train to industry standards concerning these matters and assist homeowners in determining whether food is safe or needs to be thrown out after the fire.

A full-service restoration firm like SERVPRO of South Daytona Beach / Port Orange offers help with every aspect of fire damage recovery in your home including food and fabrics. Call us at (386) 788-0358 as soon as the firefighters release your property back to you.

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