We have the right Contractors for You!
SUPER SAVERS RESTORATION, INC.
Water Restoration AZ offers Emergency Water Extraction, Water Removal, Water Damage Restoration, 24 Hour Flood cleanup, Water Removal, Drying Company, Flood Restoration, Water Extraction in AZ
Need fire damage repairs? Repairing fire damage may result in future problems if not repaired right the first time by a professional fire damage repair company. Super Savers Restoration Has the top Contractors for any size fire restoration job. Home restoration for fire damage is our company's main specialty. When you go through Super Savers there's no need to search for another fire damage repair company in Arizona. Fire restoration repairing Fire damage while making sure restoration repairs to homes and business are done correctly is our main focus. When it comes to fire restoration Super Savers surpasses all customers expectations. There's no room for error when fire restoration due to a fire is involved. Call now for the finest in home and business fire damage repair, fire restoration, and fire reconstruction anywhere in Arizona.
Basic Info to Know After a Fire in Your Home
After a fire, you will likely have several types of damage. Some collections or parts of your building will be water damaged. We don't discuss water damage here if you wish to know how you can be assisted with water damage repairs visit our water damage page. Some items will be heavily damaged by the fire — exhibiting ashing, charring, melting, or other distortion from the heat. Much of this material is likely not salvageable. The remainder may be lightly scorched, covered in soot, and have a strong odor of the fire.
The fire department will have the equipment to help pump water out of the building and vent much of the smoke outside. You should also contact fire damage and/or water damage restoration experts such as Super Savers Restoration to help assess the damage.
You should immediately contact your insurance carrier and notify them of the fire and/or smoke damage. Ask for immediate assistance from a senior adjuster, explaining the unique nature of your collections and that salvage is time sensitive. A study after the 1985 Huntington Art Gallery fire found that some soot materials became harder to remove from collections through time.
No matter how bad the fire or smoke damage, remember that life safety must always be the first concern. Fires can release a number of hazardous materials — PCBs from transformers, toxic chemicals from labs, asbestos from pipe insulation. Even after a fire electrical lines can still be energized — and deadly. The building should be carefully examined by your engineer to ensure that it is safe to enter.
If recovering yourself, which isn't recommended, it will help to prioritize collection damage. After the 1995 Contra Costa County (California) Courthouse fire, documents were classed as level 1 or 2, depending on the heaviness of the soot. Such records needed cleaning, but little else. Level 3 records were scorched, but not burned. These required cleaning, but brittleness became a major issue in handling and cleaning. Often such materials need support during handling (you can use heavy paper or cardboard, which should be in your recovery supplies). Level 4 documents were burned but had little or no information loss. After cleaning they could be trimmed to remove the burnt areas. Or they could be immediately copied. Level 5 documents had lost all or nearly all of their information content.
Keep in mind that even seemingly unaffected items may have suffered damage in a fire. For example, the high temperatures of fires can melt adhesives or plastics and distort textbooks. Films and tapes inside containers can be much more damaged than it appears from a cursory glance of the container itself.
You may also discover that much of your institution's floor is covered in a mass of charred timbers, broken materials and glass, and a soup of soot and water. Consequently, sorting through this slush so that additional damage isn't done by walking on collections is a must. Since these materials will likely already be waterlogged, rinsing them off will be easier — they too will be easier to treat if they are recognizable as collection objects. A large number of trays (disposable aluminum baking pans work well) in which you can begin the process of sorting out different materials will be useful as well.
Salvage of the Building
Using HEPA vacuums to remove the dry soot and any chemical residue left by extinguishers is highly recommended. If possible (without endangering collections) open the building and use fans to ventilate, helping to remove the smoke smell. Staff undertaking recovery will want to wear gloves. Often goggles and boots will be appropriate. Likewise, HEPA respirators may be necessary. Remember that throughout recovery, personal safety must be a major consideration. This means complying with all applicable OSHA requirements.
Because of their soft surface, dry cleaning sponges are ideal for removing loose soot and smoke from latex paint, blown ceilings, and acoustic tiles. The sponges are used dry and you should begin on the ceiling since debris will drop down. Then move to the walls, again beginning at the top and working to the bottom using straight, parallel strokes that overlap a little. When the surface of the sponge becomes clogged with soot, simply skim it off with a knife to reveal a new cleaning surface.
Made from vulcanized natural rubber, these sponges leave behind a large quantity of particles or crumbs embedded with soot. These should be vacuumed up since they are not only dirty, but the rubber will become gummy through time.
Dry cleaning sponges are not recommended for oil-based paint, acrylic paint, or vinyl wallpaper. Nor are they recommended for the greasy soot resulting from kitchen fires or the burning of meat or flesh. For these surfaces and this type of soot, your best approach is to use a regular sponge and a strong detergent capable of cutting through grease. Pine cleaners are often recommended, although there are a variety of "kitchen" detergents and you should probably try several to see which works best in your particular situation. There are also a variety of industrial products made for the removal of soot. Be sure to clean Formica and chrome fixtures in kitchens and bathrooms to prevent permanent staining (the acidic soot will etch these materials). Likewise, quickly wipe down porcelain fixtures.
It is essential, however, that all of the soot be removed — the sooner it is gone the sooner you will begin to get some control over the fire smell. If structural framing is damaged, some portions may need to be replaced. But even scorched timber should be cleaned to remove the smoke smell. This is typically accomplished by using a sealant. Another approach, however, is the use of a "soda blaster" — which uses baking soda (sodium carbonate) as the blasting media to remove the charred wood.
Historic buildings present a range of additional, and difficult, recovery situations. All architectural remains should be collected — nothing should be thrown out. Many items can be cleaned and re-installed. Others, such as plaster ornaments, may have portions still intact that can be used for molding replacements. Tiles and flooring, while perhaps not recoverable, may be sufficiently intact to guide replacement efforts. Even burned or scorched paneling or wall coverings should be retained since they may serve as models for replacements or may actually be salvageable. If a historic building has been involved, it is essential that you bring in an architectural conservator who can work with you to sort out the loss from the salvageable.
Salvage of Collections
It is almost always important to call in preservation and conservation experts to assist in the salvage of collections. The suggestions offered here are not intended to be a replacement for the advice of individuals who have the opportunity to examine the damaged or affected collections and develop treatments specifically for those items. This information, however, may be of assistance when preservation/conservation assistance is not immediately available.
Many items can be cleaned by simply vacuuming — using a HEPA filter. Also be sure that the floors of areas which are not heavily involved are protected from soot, drips, and stains — cover them with plastic (but be aware of the slip hazard) or towels. Also understand that the smoke odor, often overpowering, will be transferred with the soot and smoke damaged collections. You should inventory, photograph, and note the treatment that each object receives.
Carpets — If covered with water and other debris, carefully sweep the debris off, roll them up, and remove them to a safe spot where they can be unrolled and rinsed off with low-pressure water, such as from a garden hose. Be very careful in the transfer, since the fabric will almost certainly be weakened by the weight of the water. Most will require additional cleaning, using a product such as Triton-X, with repeated rinses. They will then likely require drying on non-rusting metal or plastic racks with about a 2-inch mesh.
Costumes — Separate costumes into two groups: those which can be safely cleaned commercially and those which cannot. Tests on modern materials reveal that a combination of liquid and dry detergents with bleach were most effective at removing smoke damage — although such harsh treatments should only be used on modern materials and not collections. A safer approach, suitable for cottons and polyesters is the use of a warm water wash with liquid detergent. Up to five washings may be necessary to remove the visible smoke and the smell. Typically dry cleaning is less effective at removing the smoke odor than detergents. Some dry cleaners use ozone to remove smoke odors and this should be avoided (see discussion below). More delicate textiles should be vacuumed, being sure to use a screen to prevent small, fragile items from being sucked into the vacuum tube.
Wood furniture — Most furniture can be cleaned using cotton swabs wetted with mineral spirits. Afterward, the wood should be buffed with diapers or other soft, lint-free cloth. You should be careful to avoid damaging loose veneer (which will require reattachment) or gilt bronze mounts (which may be cleaned with ethyl alcohol).
Bronze statues — These can be cleaned with cotton swabs using a mild soap (Orvus Wa Paste) and distilled water solution. They should be immediately buffed dry with diapers.
Paintings — Typically paintings will need to be unframed so they can be cleaned separately from the frames themselves. Be careful, however, to inspect each painting for loose or flaking paint. If stable, most paintings can be cleaned with mild solvents (such as water, Orvus Wa Paste, and water, or VMP naphtha) that will remove the soot without affecting the varnish layer. Gilt frames will most likely require cleaning with mineral spirits, but again it is essential that care is taken not to remove fragments of the gesso on the frames.
Upholstered furniture and other textiles — conservators have developed a range of techniques to clean these materials. One approach used in the Huntington Art Gallery fire was a solvent activated poultice when objects couldn't be washed with water. The treatment used a rice hull ash poultice and a type of freon as a solvent. The ingredients were mixed, spread on the textile, and covered with plastic. After about 45 minutes to an hour, the plastic would be removed, the poultice was allowed to dry, and then vacuumed off the textile.
Books and paper — Paper materials may be treated by either vacuuming (using a HEPA vacuum) or wiping down with a dry cleaning sponge. Special attention should be paid to the head cap, where soot may have settled. Be sure to keep the book closed tightly, to prevent the soot from being forced into the text block. Individual paper documents will likely require individual cleaning of both sides of the document using dry cleaning sponges. Afterward be sure to vacuum up all particles of the sponge, using if necessary a screen to prevent damage to the document.
Silver and glass objects — These may be washed in a warm water and Orvus Wa Paste solution. Silver should be thoroughly rinsed, first with water and then with ethyl alcohol. The alcohol will allow faster drying, ensuring that no moisture is trapped in crevices. For silver be certain that the piece isn't weighted with plaster — such items should never be wetted. And for glass be careful not to loosen previous repairs
* Information provided by Chicora Foundation, Inc.
We have the right Contractors for You!
SUPER SAVERS RESTORATION, INC.
(602) 256-1199 / (480) 926-2371
Water Restoration AZ offers Emergency Water Extraction, Water Removal, Water Damage Restoration, 24 Hour Flood cleanup, Water Removal, Drying Company, Flood Restoration, Water Extraction in AZ
Need fire damage repairs? Repairing fire damage may turn into future problems if not repaired right the first time by a professional fire damage repair company. Super Savers Restoration Has the top Contractors for any size fire restoration job. Home restoration for fire damage is our company's main specialty. When you go through Super Savers there's no need to search for another fire damage repair company in Arizona. Fire restoration repairing Fire damage while making sure restoration repairs to homes and business are done correctly is our main focus. When it comes to fire restoration Super Savers surpasses all customers expectations. There's no room for error when fire restoration due to a fire is involved. Call now for the finest in home and business fire damage repair, fire restoration, and fire reconstruction anywhere in Arizona.
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