Fire and smoke can inflict damage to both your property and health. While property damages can be immediately diagnosed and attended to, something like smoke inhalation can take its time to trigger health-related concerns in inhabitants. This being said, inhalation of untreated smoke from a house or office fires can infect your lungs, make it swollen or fill it with fluid.

This blog post features the top 5 harmful effects of untreated smoke that any property owner must be aware of.

Cost to restore

When your property suffers fire damage, restoring it via professional assistance should be your priority. Bear in mind that trying to restore any fire damage without proper tools and equipment can lead to untreated smoke lingering in the atmosphere which can slowly but steadily have a deteriorating effect in your health.

Additionally, if the condition is left unsupervised for too long, the smoke odor can be too pungent and difficult to neutralize. This has a direct impact on the treatment processes, equipments and time required, which in turn will escalate the cost.

Asset damage

Fire and smoke can cause both permanent and extensive damage to your assets. A mixture of smoke, water, and ash can contribute towards a corrosive element. This conglomerate can eat away walls, floors, and ceilings.

If not attended to immediately, untreated smoke can start decolorizing your walls and other surfaces. A common scenario is the walls turning yellow and corrosion of metal surfaces.

Some visible damages by surfaces are as follows:

Curtains and upholstery can accommodate soot and trying to vacuum or beat this off can result in pushing the soot deeper, which in turn can make it too difficult to remove.

Clothes and bedding can house chemicals from unburned substances. These are usually invisible and should be treated with proper chemicals to alleviate any odor concerns.

Hard flooring can always suffer the risk of water and sooth damage. It can also develop stains and other marks as a result of firefighting techniques. On most of the occasions, you need to deodorize, refinish or replace the flooring.

Soot deposits

Soot deposit is another concern from untreated smoke that can wreak havoc. Most people are unaware of the fact that soot if left untreated for long, can find it ways through other rooms within the house that was not affected by fire or smoke in the first place.

This results in staining of walls, carpets, clothing, and other household items.

Thinking ahead and acting quickly is the only ideal solution when you have encountered fire damage, which usually leads to untreated smoke, odor, and unfavorable living conditions. Note that as per the IIRC (Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification), the following timelines are standard when it comes to asset damage.

Porous materials and synthetics within your fire-affected property can get discolored within minutes.
Walls, flooring, and furniture can start getting stains within hours to days.

A couple of weeks can help the soot to deposit deep into the material structures which in turn can escalate the cost of restoration and the likelihood of asset replacements.

Containing or preventing fire damage can be a challenge for property owners. Irrespective of the property type, overlooking even the minor fire hazards can turn out to be costly.

Severe or mild, a property fire incident will leave some residue behind. The effort and planning needed to clean this residue depends on several factors ranging from the severity of the fire damage to the type of substance that was subjected to fire.

This post highlights 3 types of fire smoke residue left behind after a fire incident.

Dry and wet fire residue

Fire damage to your house or any property type produces two types of residue: wet and dry. Even when it is easy to understand the type from the name, there is a big difference and complexity in understanding the effort needed to alleviate the respective concerns.

A dry fire residue is produced when the fire is classified fast burning and occurs with abundant oxygen supply. A wet fire residue, on the other hand, is a byproduct of substances burning slowly under a limited supply of oxygen. The wet fire residue can be the hardest to clean.

Synthetic residue

Burning of oil-based materials like plastics and fabrics produces synthetic residue. The items in your house that can leave synthetic residue upon subjected for fire are window shades, furniture upholstery, carpets, and electronics. These items in question burn with a cloud of hazardous black smoke and leave a smeary residue.
Synthetic residue needs to be cleaned up professionally as it involves the burning of different types of chemicals.

Protein

Protein dominant substances like meat products and beans can leave a yellowish-brown residue. The residue after such instances can be sticky and requires professional gear and chemicals to clean up.

Kitchen fires are the prominent fire type that can leave this type of residue behind. The resultant odor can be a bit strong or unbearable. This makes deodorization an inevitable process in cleaning up such fire residue.

Fuel oil residue

Furnaces can often produce soot deposits due to incomplete burning of fuel oil. The incomplete burning scenario also creates thick smoke in addition to leaving greasy deposits behind.

It is easier to prevent fire damage than containing or restoring the damage post occurrence. Always think ahead and take the necessary steps to prevent fire at any cost. If your property has suffered fire damage, think smart and consult a fire damage restoration professional to ensure that the resultant residue is identified and treated in the best possible manner.

Protecting property and tenants from a fire breakout should be the number one priority of any commercial property owner.

Ensuring property fire safety compliance can be an overwhelming task. Foreseeing fire safety concerns and being proactive can help you avoid major losses and costly repairs.

Here are the five tips to consider when it comes to ensuring fire safety for your commercial property.

Fire safety measures

All the commercial properties, to abide by the local building codes, are required to install smoke detectors and fire extinguishers.

Contact your local fire marshal to learn more about any specific criteria your building needs to meet in terms of locality or any other aspects in regards to fire safety.

Installing automatic sprinklers is a smart means to ensure that any fire-related issue is attended at the very instant it arises. Investing in advanced fire safety technologies like water mist systems and wireless detectors can help you efficiently and effectively manage fire-related concerns.

No smoking policy

Enforcing a strict no smoking policy within your commercial property is inevitable for fire safety. Irrespective of what the property is used for, it is an absolute necessity to prevent smoking within the areas of the building.

Use no smoking signs on all areas of the buildings including the emergency/fire stairs and car parking. Ensure that all the new tenants and employees are made aware of the strict no-smoking policies within the premises.

It is not a bad idea to have smoking zones away from the building. Remember to tag these areas with fireproof waste containers.

Educate employees

Irrespective of the size of the building or the businesses that operate within the property, it is important to assign someone to be the fire safety operator.

The fire safety operator or warden, with proper guidance, can easily educate employees regarding the emergency procedures and escape routes and meeting places.

Additionally, it is important to ensure that the emergency evacuation building plans and diagrams are properly displayed on all levels in the building. Consider these aspects to planning a fire safety evacuation.

• Plan an evacuation procedure for employees that needs special care
• Choose a meeting point and inform the employees
• Ensure fire escape stairs are well lighted and not used as a storage

Keep an eye on storage

Storing unnecessary combustible materials can turn out to be deadly when it comes to fire safety. Keep the flammables away from your building. It is not ideal to store all the paper and cloth waste within the building, scheduling a weekly cleanup for these items is ideal.

Regular maintenance

Regular maintenance and frequent fire safety equipment tests/checks are mandatory. When doing the fire safety equipment inspection, it is ideal to follow these strategies:

• Replace any items that are warm or hot to touch
• Replace worn or old power cords and consider using cord protectors for these
• Ensure that the fire doors are operational and not blocked with furniture or boxes
• Ensure that chemical and equipment storage rooms are properly ventilated
• Test all the smoke detectors to ensure that they are operational

Fire safety compliance is critical for any commercial property. Even with all the safety measures in place, a fire breakout can still occur. This is where you need to look into a faster and efficient means to rebuild and restore. Contacting a certified fire restoration company should be your priority to achieve this without throwing your money down the drain.

When a fire affects your Boca Raton home, you might not always know what the next steps to choose are. While most assuredly reach out to their insurance companies to bring in the appropriate restoration team to take care of the pressing concerns, there are often repairs and reconstruction efforts that have to get accomplished before a homeowner can move on from this traumatic occurrence. Fortunately, Titan Restoration Construction is here to help.

From the moment that our team arrives at your fire damaged Boca Raton residence, we get to work in inspecting the damage and assessing the work that needs to be completed. We keep an open line of communication with you the homeowner to address the most pressing of concerns that threaten your ability to remain in your home after the fire.

Often fires leave materials and structural components within your home severely damaged. To bring your home back to its original conditions, these materials have to be removed and ultimately replaced. This process begins with controlled demolition in the affected areas where the damage was too severe to get salvaged or restored. This concentrated effort ensures that only the affected areas get removed, which makes replacement more efficient and helps to keep claims and out of pocket expenses to a minimum.

Replacement and reconstruction are at the heart of what our local Titan Restoration Construction team does. Once the demolition gets completed, we prepare the area for the reconstruction or repairs, which involve cleaning up the area thoroughly, preparing edges for a seamless finish, or preparing materials for more efficient and natural repair.

While no homeowner wants to have to contend with fire damages and their often severe effects to the structural integrity of their homes, you always have the professionals at Titan Restoration to help make the process go more smoothly. Our experienced Fire Damage team members have helped residents and business owners in Boca Raton, Deerfield Beach and your neighborhood. Give us a call at 561-345-3751 for fast and professional service.

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