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Furniture in Wilmington Properties Get Cleaned of Soot and Fire Damage--Just Call SERVPRO
6/27/2019 (Permalink)
SERVPRO Keeps Your Hands Clean By Restoring Your Soot and Fire Damaged Home for You in Wilmington
Deep Cleaning and Other Techniques Resolve Smoke and Soot Damage within Wilmington Homes
Homeowners inspecting their home after a fire find that surfaces covered in dark soot often remain unaffected by the flames or the heat. Wiping these components down with a cloth shows the difficulty involved in cleaning these pieces around your home to an acceptable degree.
When a customer calls SERVPRO about their Wilmington home's soot damage, we assure them that we can handle the situation and help them reclaim their valued possessions. There is no need to throw out treasured heirlooms and refurbished items.
Our technicians pay attention to detail, often taking pictures of the items before removing knobs and handles. Taking these pieces off helps get them clean in areas where soot might have collected in denser layers because of the static charge. Having the photos helps get the bits back together with the way you remember them.
Wood furniture made a generation or two ago contained minimal, if any, pressed wood products like particle board. Older items in your home that soot covers can become stained when the soot sits too long on the surface. We remove smoke residue from these and composite wood materials using different cleaning agents and tools, typically starting with either wet or dry sponges or vacuuming excess soot that easily falls off in a powdery mess.
Our technicians use low-alkaline cleaners that strip the soot off surfaces quickly. If cleaning reveals staining on the surface, the technician then uses a thick creme paste specifically for wood that minimizes stains. Upon finishing and rinsing this off, an application of our Lemon Oil Polish leaves the piece smelling beautifully again and well-protected. Heat often strips natural wood of the oils that kept it from developing cracks and this polish can help prevent this from marring your furniture.
Newer items containing pressed wood and particle board can swell when exposed to water, as well as the steam produced, during fire-fighting maneuvers. Some of these items might require replacements, but for those that do not, we can attempt to restore them with different methods. Using a dry sponge or in some cases, a stiff wire brush, and a vacuum, the technician removes as much soot as possible. Often, this method removes the film, but for those situations where the residue remains deeply embedded in the surface, our technician uses alcohol to dissolve the soot by breaking it down into smaller particles. For the toughest soot, the technician might rely on a sander to remove the uppermost surface. Using a fine-grained sanding paper ensures that only the damaged area gets removed.
SERVPRO of New Hanover's experienced technicians help many of the residents in Wrightsville Beach, Castle Hayne, and Kure Beach reclaim their furniture from the effects of smoke damage. Call our 24-hour service line, (910) 762-8180, so we can help reduce the expenses related to your recovery after any size fire.