Why Does Fire Damage Restoration Seem So Complex in The Bronx?

7/27/2020 (Permalink)

One quick call to (347) 590-9902 gets you back on track no matter how severe the damage.

SERVPRO Places a Premium on Clear Communication with Our Bronx Commercial Customers -- We Share Your Vision of Getting Back to Business Fast After Fire Damage Restoration

Stressed does not even begin to describe how you feel when the Bronx business you built up over the years suffers a significant fire loss. You are used to being in charge and responsible for your company's well-being and the expectations of your customers and employees. Fire damage places you on uncertain footing. The conversations you have with fire fighting authorities and restorations companies can be confusing, perhaps making the actions needed to mitigate and remediate the damage seem more complicated than necessary.

What Is My Best Source for Questions About Fire Damage Restoration?

When seeking commercial fire damage restoration in the Bronx, a firm with the Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC)-trained and certified managers and technicians is crucial for successful results. Our well-prepared workforce has completed the course, many returning after the basic classes to earn advanced certifications better to implement the fire damage restoration industry's best practices. Open communication with our team is an excellent way to inform yourself about the true extent of the damage and the phases, steps, and tasks needed to return your property and even more your operations to preloss conditions.

Why Is Valuable Fire Damage Restoration Time Spent on Testing?

SERVPRO knows the clock is ticking for your business after a water loss. Research indicates that nearly half of the companies that close even temporarily in response to a disaster risk permanent failure. When you call on us to get your business back on track, we must get our interventions right the first time if your operations are to get running again. To avoid choosing the wrong cleaning agents, techniques, or tools, we use our training and testing our conclusions in inconspicuous spots to ensure a good result.

How Do Professionals Sort Out the Types of Fire Damage?

The residues from a fire group into three main types -- dry, wet, and protein-based. Each type is dependent on the materials that fueled the fire. It is important to note that the residues can vary within the space, so we must be vigilant to evaluate them as they change.

Dry soot -- light and ashy, typically from a hot and fast paper or wood-fueled fire, usually removed by mechanical means:
    •    Brushing
    •    Dry sponging
    •    Vacuuming

Wet soot -- thick and sticky, resulting from plastics, rubbers, or damp textiles smoldering, removed with a cleaner and a technique matched and tested to the soot's characteristics.

Protein-based soot -- nearly transparent and attached to surfaces like lacquer, occurs after food and grease dehydrates in the flames and heat of a kitchen fire, removed with solvents and abrasives.

What Are the Factors to Consider When Choosing a Cleaning Product?

Once the soot is identified, we need to select the most advantageous approach to restore the surfaces in your business. An eternal principle in fire damage restoration is that like dissolves like, so our first question always is the soiling water or oil-based? Once we make an initial analysis, we use our experience and training to select the most likely product. We carry a full inventory of proprietary water and oil-based cleaning solutions, as well as detergents that can bridge the gap on surfaces where both water and oil-based soot settled.

What Other Ways Do Professionals Adapt the Cleaning Process?

As we complete the cleaning of surfaces in your commercial building after identifying the type of residues, we use our knowledge of the elements of cleaning to remove the soot and staining. We adjust each element as necessary to achieve the desired result. The elements are:

    •    Temperature -- higher temperatures speed the chemical reaction of cleaning products, but can shrink textiles and cause colors to run
    •    Agitation -- loosening residues through the movement of the surface or objects to be cleaned, movement of the solution used to clean, or both (brushing, scrubbing, air or water pressure are examples)
    •    Chemical action -- the right cleaning solution permits the soiling to suspend or emulsify in the oil or water matched to use to sweep away soot or other residues
    •    Time -- also referred to as dwell time, this represents the period a solution lies on a surface, or an object soaks in a basin before agitation or rinsing

Care must be taken to ensure the objects or surfaces are durable enough to withstand the products and methods.

SERVPRO of South Bronx always takes the time to listen to customers and explain the commercial fire damage restoration process every step of the way. One quick call to (347) 590-9902 gets you back on track no matter how severe the damage.