Fire damage – Dealing With Structural Damage and Repair

Fire devastates tens of thousands of buildings and properties every year in America, and dealing with the aftermath can be a stressful and taxing time. Even small fires, in the wrong places, can cause massive amounts of damage, especially if structural supports have been compromised by the heat of a fire. There are a few steps you should always take when it comes to dealing with fire damage, and they should be started immediately after the fire has been put out (or even before the fire has been put out) to ensure a quick repair time for your building, whether it be residential or commercial. At the core of your response to fire damage should be the services of a fire damage restoration contractor to ensure everything is done well, safely, and to code and regulations.

First Step of Dealing with Fire Damage

Before you ever wait for the fire department to be complete with putting out the fire on your property, you should be in contact with your insurance company. An insurance adjuster needs to be notified of the damage immediately so that they can come and inspect—and thus open up the chance for you to make a claim on your policy for the damage that has been done—in order to pay for the repair costs of the property. Insurance adjusters will often be one of the first people to enter a building after a fire once it has been deemed safe by the fire marshal. The next set of people that should be inspecting the damaged site are fire damage restoration contractors.

Second Step – Contact Fire Damage Restoration Contractor

In order to facilitate a speedy and safe repair process for your building you should be reaching out to local fire damage restoration contractors immediately so they can come out and inspect the site. Your insurance company may have recommended repair contractors, but most of the time you should be able to go with your own chosen one. Having a trained and experienced restoration contractor on site will give you the peace of mind that they will be able to quickly assess the situation and determine the amount of structural damage that has been done to the damage because structural damage can make the building unsafe for even cleaning crews; they will need to be shored up immediately before any repairs can begin. Enough structural damage though and it may be recommended that the building is a total loss, and it be demolished due to now being considered condemned.

Before any cleaning and repairs are done, you should be able to get a decently accurate repair quote from the restoration contractor. Always remember, issues can arise that increase the overall cleaning and repair costs after fire damage, however, with the right insurance policy, it should be mostly covered.

Third Step – Cleaning Begins

After inspections by both the insurance adjuster, and the fire damage restoration contractor, the cleaning process will begin. First, any unsafe locations will be cordoned off until they can be made safe with proper temporary structural fixes, and everywhere else debris, soot, water, and unsanitary debris will be removed safely. Any removed objects from the building may be cleaned by the fire damage restoration company if they can be, everything else will be safely disposed of. The cleaning process can be extensive, as soot can get everywhere, including within walls, and the HVAC and duct systems, so requires special equipment to ensure everything is cleaned up so that it is safe for repair personnel.

Fourth Step – Repairing Structural Damage Permanently

Once the building has been returned to a relatively clean state, then repairs can be completed on the structural damage. Structural damage has to be completed before any other repairs, as they are done at the core of the building, and any other repairs could get in the way. Once your structural damages have been repaired, then full renovations can begin, restoring the building to its former glory (with some time to make much needed upgrades likely.)

Throughout the whole fire damage restoration process, a fire damage restoration contractor is going to be a valuable resource, being able to help from inspection, to cleaning, to structural repair. Their access to experienced, trained professionals, and the latest cleaning and restoration technologies will make the restoration process faster, safer, and far less expensive than it might be if you tried to do it on your own.