If your home has suffered from fire damage, you have many messes and many problems to solve. You need a full service restoration team for many reasons including salvaging your carpets. While every area of your home will need to be sanitized, the carpets require special attention.
For carpet (or upholstery) with smoke damage only, the cleaning process is fairly simple and straightforward. In some situations, the fibers will have been affected not only by smoke and soot, but also by water and chemicals used by firefighters. Damage from heat in most cases is irreversible.
After a fire, the first step is to get the carpet dry. The longer carpet stays saturated with water, the more damage occurs. After the carpet is completely dry, it is time to clean it. In most cases, a restoration contractor will be drying the space to ensure the entire space is dry.In other words, a basic carpet cleaner will not have the tools, technical savy or experience to get the best reults in your home.
Caring for Carpets
The prospect of replacing all the flooring at about $1000 per room is a huge motivator for trying to save them. Quickly allow fresh air to circulate. As soon as possible, open windows in each room for increased ventilation and bring in a small fan to increase the amount of air flow into the room. This will help clear the building of any residual smoke, minimize the smoke odor, and provide fresh and soot-free air for you to breathe.
Factors affecting your chances include: age, condition, amount water, length of time, and weather. A reputable carpet company will help you assess the damage; some cases the carpet can be temporarily lifted up for airflow to reduce the chance of mildew or mold on the floorboards underneath.
As soon as your floors are completely dry, an initial professional cleaning is needed to remove the soot and smoke. Since ash is very corrosive and degrades carpet fibers, they will place a drop-cloth on the floor to avoid transferring soot stains to other flooring.
Soot
Soot is difficult since it is oily and stains easily. Wait for TCM Restoration & Cleaning to arrive, try not to touch the soot. They have high-powered vacuums that are designed to remove the substance. Never wipe or rub the soot-afflicted areas, this drives the soot into the fibers of your carpet, making it impossible to clean and potentially making the stains irreversible.
Smoke Odor
During a fire, the heat expands the pores of all of your household items: drywall, carpet fibers, solid wood. Once the fire is extinguished and the areas in your home cool down, the smoke odors become trapped within these pores. As time passes and your house warms, either as the seasons change or when you turn on your heat, the pores expand again and the smoke odors are released.
This is why a professional restoration company with expertise in carpets should clean your home after a fire. They have the proper techniques and advanced cleaning solutions to properly extinguish any lingering odor risks. They will use an ozone treatment to properly remove the smoke odors.
For Professional Carpet Cleaning In Anchorage & The Mat Su Valley
Smoke damage to your carpets can continue long after the fire has been extinguished. TCM Restoration & Cleaning is an independent, Alaskan owned carpet cleaning and restoration business that has been serving the Anchorage & Mat Su Valley area since 1996.
For any emergencies involving your carpets, immediately call TCM Restoration & Cleaning. We will quickly arrive with state of the art equipment, and our hardworking, well trained, dedicated team members. Let us bring the manpower and equipment to save your home from more damage.
