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After suffering the burden of having endured a traumatic and life-changing event, it is easy to feel as though no one understands the pain you’ve gone through.
Indeed, no one truly can understand your pain, unless they’ve gone through it, themselves.
Nevertheless, an honest and integrity driven fire and smoke restoration crew will work diligently on behalf of their clients to provide the very best services at appropriate pricing, while also remaining sensitive to customer needs, requests and evolving emotions.
More Than Just a “Bad Day”
Professional and trustworthy technicians know that fire events are more than just a “bad day”. It isn’t that you forgot your lunch at home or can’t find a missing sock. Fire events range from minor incidents to monstrous tragedies, and can even involve the injury or death of a child, loved one or pet.
Again, no one can possibly know the grief that those affected by fire often experience. That is why fire and smoke remediation staff are specifically trained to handle these occurrences with sensitivity and urgency, as would be expected with any other emergency service.
The Importance of Timely Restorative Work
Along with sympathy and support, skillful and well-trained restoration technicians know that time is of the essence, and will seek to address damages, quickly. Neglecting to attend to damages could lead to more losses through secondary damages, which will only hike the price of an overall claim in the end.
Rather than risk it, it is of benefit to the client, as well as the restorers, to address needs in a timely fashion. This is especially true when water is involved. Unchecked water damage can have harrowing effects on a structure including the growth of mold, weakening structures, irrevocably damaged flooring, agitated health conditions and much more.
Fire Restoration and Detective Work
In many ways, fire restoration can be likened to detective work, in that restorers must be able to ask questions and use clues to lead them to where damage might have occurred within the affected home or structure.
Some of the questions that remediation teams must ponder include:
- What was burned?
- How long did the burning go on?
- When was the fire?
- Were there any doors or windows open?
- Was the HVAC system on?
Moreover, restorers will go about a fire-affected home or structure searching for clues in a similar way that a detective wood. While they may not be dusting for fingerprints, they will be dusting for evidence of smoke and soot on various surfaces, often using a light-colored tissue or dry sponge. They’ll use their knowledge and expertise to guide them through the process, and will then follow up with the needed equipment to reach any areas they may have missed.
By completing this informative step in the restoration process, your restorer can keep pricing at appropriate levels by only utilizing the equipment, cleaning supplies and tools that are actually necessary to complete the project.
Without this analyzing process, it is possible that restorers could take to the task of cleaning and completely miss areas that have been affected, or that they may use products and machinery that aren’t equipped for the task at hand. All of this could result in a waste of energy, resources and money for the restorer, and will result in heightened costs for the customer, as well.
Pre-Existing Conditions
It should be mentioned that whenever a restorer goes about completing the inspection process mentioned above, he or she will need to document areas of the affected home or structure that were pre-existing. Doing so protects both the client and the restorer from extraneous costs.
As such, documentation will play a key role in the restoration process, as your remediation specialist seeks to return the structure and its content back to its “pre-loss” condition, whatever that may look like.
Other Services Provided
In addition to the aforementioned precautions and considerations, remediation staff will ensure that customer property and belongings are protected in the following ways:
Winterization– Depending on where you live and the season, your restorer may wish to winterize your property. If there is no power, property owners can expect for their water supply to be turned off to prevent burst pipes and other unsavory events from occurring.
Board Up– When a home, building or structure is affected by fire or some other unfortunate event, it often becomes a place of interest for thieves and other malicious characters. These structures are often left without occupying residents and may have entryways that are compromised. Because of this, clients often worry about the security of their property and belongings, and rightfully so. To deter criminal behavior, restorers will often supply additional security measures in the form of tarps, building wraps, fitted inserts and boarded windows. The type of structural protection provided by your restorer will depend on the need, but clients who have additional concerns should speak with their remediation expert directly.
Cleaning– The cleaning process is one of the most important and visibly redeeming processes of the fire and smoke restoration effort. With that said, it is important to note that the restorer, although interested in validating customer concerns, cannot promise to clean anything and everything. There will be items and surfaces that your restorer may not be able to restore, or will need to test before promising to clean it. Nevertheless, you should never be afraid to ask your restorer to rehabilitate an item that is important to you. Just bear in mind that, despite your technician’s best cleaning efforts, some items may not be able to be salvaged.
Pack Out– There are some instances in which damaged items within a fire-affected structure will need to be packed up and shipped out to a warehouse to be inspected and professionally restored. While not all restoration companies offer this option, there are some companies through whom it is required. This process is called a “pack out” and is done to lessen the chances of additional damage done to already compromised items and to clear space for other restorative work.
Water Damage– As previously mentioned, water damage and fire remediation often go hand in hand. Because many fires are suppressed by water, it is imperative that water-soiled materials and areas of a structure be remediated, immediately. This can be done in a variety of ways, and will often include techniques involving dehumidification, antimicrobial treatments, water extraction, air filtration and more.
Everyone Shares a Common Goal
All in all, the common goal for all parties involved is for the fire and smoke affected building, home or structure to be returned to its pre-loss condition, or better. In order to do this effectively, however, proper inspection and analysis must be made of affected areas before restorative efforts begin for efficient, practical and appropriately priced cleaning to take place.
Remember, a professional and well-trained restorative team cares about your predicament and will do their best to alleviate your concerns. Speak to your remedial expert concerning your needs, and he or she will do their very best to work with you.
