Fire and Heat...how they affect a structure.

10/30/2020 (Permalink)

Fire Damage alone is always difficult to remediate. But when you mix fire damage with extreme heat it can be impossible to bring the structure back to preloss condition. The hotter a structure gets, the more that will need replacement during the restoration process.

When heat reaches intense levels, it can permeate walls and surfaces rather than leaving a smoke/soot dusting on the surface. When heat causes soot and smoke to enter materials and bind with them…the materials become non-restorable.

So when a fire is small, but gives off a ton of smoke that affects the whole house, it will be easier to restore that house because the smaller the fire the less heat and adhesion.

When a fire gets large, heat starts to penetrate objects and materials, heat also can melt electrical and siding of homes as well as cause light fixtures, appliances, and engineered trim to distort and melt. Sometimes large fires don’t give off as much smoke, but due to the extremes of the heat they are just as detrimental to the integrity of the home.

Also, the source of the fire can cause how restorable the house may or may not be. For instance, a small fire that occurs due to a candle catching a newspaper is much less time consuming than a fire from cooking in the kitchen. Protein fires in the kitchen, while often confined to the stove, are extremely difficult to bring back to preloss condition. This is due to the oils that are often what started the fire. The residue that comes off of these fires is oily and difficult to remove from surfaces that it has affected.

So no matter the source of fire, or the size of fire, you can trust SERVPRO of Salem West to return your home to the sanctuary it once was again. With our knowledge and approach of restoring a fire affected home, you can expect the great results our customers have received for the past 20 years.