Orange County Fire damage tips until help arrives

9/2/2020 (Permalink)

If you’ve suffered a fire, you will want to act quickly. Your focus will be on getting your home back to normal, as if the fire never happened. Fire damage cleanup in Orange County is available but it can take time for a team of professionals to get to you. What can you do in the meantime? Here are four top tips until help arrives.

Limit the Amount of Furniture Movement You Do

Soot will collect all over the place. Once you’ve got the go-ahead to return home, you’ll want to limit the amount of movement you do yourself. Moving just one item can dislodge some trapped soot and you end up spreading it around your home. You’ll make the situation worse, and the SERVPRO fire damage cleanup crew will have more work on their hands—costing you more.

If you are in doubt, don’t move the items. The team of professionals would rather tackle it themselves rather than devastate you with new purchases to make.

Use Clean Linen and Towels for Walk Ways

Avoid spreading the soot through the house on your shoes. Wherever there is foot traffic, lay down clean rugs, towels and linens. Use old ones that you don’t mind replacing once the fire damage cleanup in Orange County is complete.

Rather than carrying the soot around your carpets (getting the soot into the fibers) will you put it all on the materials that can be thrown away. When throwing them away, make sure you wrap them carefully or let the professionals handle them.

If you don’t have materials you can use in the home, buy some plastic sheets or decorating sheets instead. They will be worth the costs when you get to keep the majority of your carpets and rugs!

Avoid Washing Walls and Carpets

SERVPRO fire damage cleanup professionals will have the right items to use for cleaning. If you try to do it yourself, you run the risk of spreading the soot. Scrubbing just puts the dark soot deeper into woodwork and fibers.

Cleaning yourself can also lead to health damage. You dislodge the soot and start to breathe it in. The professionals will have the right safety equipment to prevent damage to their lungs.

Change Your HVAC Filter

The smoke will have gotten into the filter, where soot lodges. If you just turn on your appliance, you’ll spread the soot and smoke particles around your home. The best thing to do is change your filter and clean within the HVAC unit first.

Don’t use your HVAC before getting it checked. Fire damage may have stopped it working effectively or it may have even been the cause of the fire. Have a professional team make any repairs necessary and only use it when your electricity can be turned back on.

While you want to get your home back in order after fire damage, you need to take baby steps. Fire damage cleanup in Orange County is something that needs to take time. Professional help will get rid of all remnants of fire and help you get back to a normal life. The tips above are just actions you can take until the fire cleanup help arrives.