How to Remove Smoke Damage from Your Walls

If your home was recently affected by fire, we offer our deepest sympathies. We understand how stressful a home fire can be, how frightening, and how much damage can be done in such a short amount of time.

Just as difficult as coping with the emotional stress of a fire is cleaning up the damage when the smoke has cleared. Depending on the size and duration of the blaze, you may have damage to furniture, clothing, and the structure of your home. However, one of the major issues that arises for families who have experienced home fires is smoke damage. The charring residue that sits on your walls can be difficult to remove, a painful memory of a stressful incident that will affect your property value and the ambiance of your home until removed.

ServiceMaster Restoration’s team is highly skilled at removing smoke damage from your walls. It’s one of the many services we are proud to provide. However, if you’re a strong-minded DIY-type, we respect that and want to advise you as best we can. Here are a few insider tips for removing smoke residue and charring from your walls, for good.

Fire Smoke Damage Removal

The first thing to understand about smoke damage is that there are differing levels of damage. Black marks and discoloration, soot residue, and charring (or areas where paint has burned) are all issues that will need to be treated specifically. If charring has gone deep on flat-painted walls, you may need to call a professional to help you complete the job. However, if the issue presents as mild charring and smoke discoloration on a satin or semi-gloss finish, your efforts have a better chance of success.

You will need:

• A large sponge
• 2 buckets
• Goggles
• Clean rags
• Warm water
• Trisodium Phosphate (TSP) cleaner
• Heavy duty rubber gloves

Be sure to protect your hands with gloves and eyes with goggles, as TSP can cause severe skin and eye irritation if contact is made.

Cleanup Time

First, fill your bucket with one gallon of warm water with a heaping tablespoon of TSP cleaner. Put on your gloves and goggles and wet a sponge in the TSP solution. Begin wiping your wall or ceiling vigorously, working on a single section at a time and applying enough pressure to scrub the area. 

Rinse the scrubbed area by dipping a rag in clean water and wiping the area down. Follow this process until the entire affected area has been cleaned.

Depending on the extent of the damage, you may need to wash and rinse a few more times. However, be sure to avoid over-saturating your walls, as doing so may cause water to leak between your walls and baseboard, or into the drywall, where mold and mildew can develop and undermine your home’s structural integrity.

Finally, once you have gone over the affected areas as many times as necessary, be sure to prime your walls and ceilings and repaint, for a completely refreshed look.

Removing smoke damage from your home is not for the faint of heart. However, with the right cleaners, tools, and a proactive attitude, you can remove all evidence of your recent home fire.

Questions? Need help? Don’t be afraid to reach out to a professional. We’re here to make your life easier. 

Call us on 316.413.5738 for Fire Smoke Damage Removal Services in Wichita or Visit us at ServiceMaster Restoration Wichita.

Is a Professional Cleaning Enough to Salvage Your Carpets During a Flood Cleanup

Flood water damage restoration of any kind in a home is not an easy task to deal with, but once it begins to affect your carpet, you may have real trouble on your hands. Immediate action must be taken as soon as you begin to notice water in areas of your home that it shouldn’t be in. Burst pipes, leaky roofs, malfunctioning appliances and severe storms can all wreak havoc on a property, leaving major destruction in their wake.

Flood cleanup is best left to the professionals, and during their assessment of the situation they can help advise you on the salvage ability of your carpet. If done right away, there are a few steps, including a thorough carpet cleaning, that may help you to restore your water damaged carpets and avoid total replacement.

Establish if Water is Sanitary or Contaminated

Water damage falls into three categories – clean, unclean or black – and one of the first steps in the flood cleanup process is to determine which one is being dealt with. Under clean conditions homeowners have the best chance of saving their carpet. It can come from circumstances such as an overflowing bathtub or leaking roof.

Once the source of the flooding is found, it will be managed and then water extraction can begin. Unclean water comes from things like toilets and appliances, which are deemed contaminated on a small scale. Black water contains sewage and is considered to be a big threat to the health of anyone who comes into contact with it without having on the proper flood cleanup attire. Carpets should be disposed of in black water situations.

Set up Drying Equipment and Eliminate All Foot Traffic

After all excess water has been removed the flood cleanup crew will set up their specialized drying equipment. Homeowners should not believe that a vacuum and a few fans are sufficient enough to completely dry out their carpet and won’t leave a chance for mold and bacteria to grow.

Water damaged carpet needs to be eliminated of all moisture with commercial dehumidifiers, high volume air movers and other heat drying tools. Equipment is usually left running for a few days while any foot traffic in affected areas is discouraged so as not to cause more damage.

Disinfect, Get a Professional Carpet Cleaning and Deodorize

Due to health concerns related to water damage, whether it’s clean or unclean, if carpet is able to be restored, it must go through disinfection and a professional carpet cleaning followed by deodorization. Applying a disinfectant treatment to carpet fibers will aid in warding off any potential fungi, bacteria or mold growth. Steam cleaning will also help to sanitize, and then a deodorizing agent should be administered to minimize musty odors.

It’s crucial to remember that time is always one of the biggest factors in determining if a carpet is salvageable or not. Calling for flood cleanup help right away can mean the difference in a simple carpet cleaning or a whole new carpet investment.

6 Reasons to Use Green Cleaning Products for Your Home

There was a time when people wouldn’t think twice about using household cleaning products containing toxic ingredients and chemicals to wipe down toilets, kitchen counters and floors throughout their home, to do the laundry, wash dishes and more. If it made things sparkle, shine and smell lemony fresh it was effective, right? Not always.

As we’ve seen, many of those products with unfamiliar chemicals sometimes have negative effects on our health and people have started to seek out more natural cleaning products with ingredients you know like citrus oil, vinegar, beeswax, cleaning salt, coconut oil, baking soda and essential oils like lavender and rosemary.

Many of these products are not only better for your health and safe to use around kids and pets, but they’re also environmentally friendly.

So if you’re still using harmful products, now may be the time to start thinking about making a switch.

6 Reasons to Switch to Green Cleaning Products

Chemicals May be Unregulated

Every time you use a cleaning product, you could be ingesting fumes from the chemicals. Did you know that since World War II, 85,000 new chemicals have entered the mainstream through various products and oftentimes those chemicals aren’t approved by the EPA? That’s a scary amount of chemicals, but what’s even more scary is upwards of 70 percent of typical cleaning products often found in your home contain these harmful agents.

Phthalates, Sodium Hydroxide & Ammonia — Oh My!

You grew up recognizing products your mom used, so when it came time for you to clean your own home, you instinctively remained brand loyal. But have you looked at the labels of cleaning products under your sink? Oftentimes a label will warn that a product can be harmful to people or pets so that could be a sign to ditch it.

Also, experts say the average home has 62 toxic chemicals lurking about you may not even be aware of. Some potentially harmful chemicals you want to watch out for include phtalates (in fragranced products), triclosan (in liquid dishwashing detergent), 2-Butoxyethanol (in multi-purpose cleaners) and even chlorine (in laundry whiteners and toilet bowl cleaners).

Keep Kids Safe(r)

We can’t protect our kids from all the evil in the world, but we can limit their access to harmful chemicals. Using natural cleaning products will reduce the chance of an accidental poisoning. In fact, it’s shown that household cleaning products rank within the top 5 causes of childhood poisoning cases. So in addition to switching over to green cleaning products, be sure to keep the products stored in child-safe cabinets.

You May Be Poisoning the Water Supply

Various household cleaning agents can contain toxic chemicals like ammonia, phosphorus, alkyphenol ethoxylates and petroleum. So when you wash your clothes, do the dishes and even flush toilet bowl cleaner you may be sending these chemicals back into the water system and nearby rivers, lakes and streams. This could make its way back into your water, but it can also have a negative impact on wildlife and the environment.

Breathe Deep. Breathe Clean.

While they help make your clothes and rooms smell better, some fabric softeners and antibacterial spray cleaners contain quaternary ammonium compounds (a.k.a. quats), like benzalkonium chloride. These agents have been known to contribute to otherwise healthy people getting asthma. In fact, according to the Environmental Working Group’s Guide to Healthy Cleaning about 53 percent of cleaning products they tested contain ingredients that can harm the lungs while 22 percent can cause asthma.

Keep the Air Clean

Many household products, especially sprays and aerosols, can contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that can have short- and long-term health effects associated with your central nervous system, liver and kidneys. When you use a spray, the chemicals can linger in the air long after the initial mist dissipates. Time to ditch ‘em?

Call ServiceMaster Clean for Green Cleaning Service in Wichita: 316.413.5750