Smoke and Odor Removal

Smoke damage is hard to remove and it needs to be done by a professional. The most important thing to remove from upholstery after a fire is soot. Soot is oil-based so it needs to be removed very quickly. Proper methods need to be used to avoid driving the soot deeper into fabrics. Specialty equipment is necessary to properly remove smoke and soot damage.

Odor in your home can be both a frustrating and a perplexing situation. There are different types of odors and they all have distinct solutions and processes for removal.

Smoke Odor

Smoke from a fire gets into the pores of the materials in the home. For extreme cases, ozone shocking can be used. Ozone shocking is filling an area with a high volume of ozone for about 1-10 hours. Ozone generators produce O3, which actually oxidizes organic molecules. Ozone shocking can dangerous and has been known to irritate the throat, cause watery eyes, or aggravate asthma symptoms. Therefore, it’s important to hire a professional that experienced and knowledgeable.

DIY Tips

• Paint the walls:?Wash the walls before painting. Allow them to dry, then apply a stain-blocking primer before applying paint.
• Crumple as many sheets of newspaper as you can and put them in the room for several days. The more newspaper, the better the odor-absorbing capacity. This tip works for odors in a room other than just smoke odors.
• Set a bowl of distilled white vinegar in the room overnight. In the morning, the air will be fresher.

Pet Odor

Pets are our best friends, but they can be the cause of odor in the home. Pet urine is the worse type of odor. When a pet urinates on the carpet, the urine does not stay on the surface. It contaminates the backing of the carpet and the flooring material below the carpet. The odor can permeate from the floor (cement or wood), from the tack strip and from the framework of the house behind the walls. When pet urine dries, the liquid evaporates. However, the urine crystals become even more concentrated and pungent.

It’s important to hire a professional to find out the source and severity of the urine damage and odor. This can be determined by using a black light or penetrating moisture meter. The technician may need to pull up the carpet for further inspection if the damage is severe. Also, the carpet padding may need to be replaced. In addition, it is possible that the technician may need to restore and?deodorize the sub-floor.

DIY Tips for Pet Odor

• A simple remedy for pet urine on the carpet is baking soda. This works if you are able to clean and apply it immediately after the accident.

Cigarette Odor

Cigarette odor is a strong smell and difficult to remove.? Cigarette smoke has the ability to get into pores of materials. So, carpets, carpet pads, furniture, walls, ceilings, closets, curtains, clothes, etc. easily absorb the cigarette odor. This is why hiring a professional odor technician will save you a lot of time and grief. A professional technician has hydroxyl, ozone or biosweep machines (as well as professional chemicals) at their disposal to remove the odor.? These agents will penetrate and neutralize the odor trapped in the pores of the materials in the home..

DIY Tips

• Put cornmeal and borax over the carpet. Leave it on the carpet for an hour and then vacuuming it.

• Clean the light bulbs. The light bulbs will get a coating on them from the build up of chemical substances from the cigarettes. When you turn on the light and the bulb begins to warm up, the ‘scent? will return.

• Clean the walls and ceilings with white vinegar.

Mold Odor

To remove the mold and mildew odor, you?ll need to remove the source and cause of mold in your home. Mold remediation can be tricky and increase contamination if not performed properly. The most important thing is to use the correct methods and equipment. Mold is a serious problem and requires a restoration professional to access the severity of the mold, eliminate the mold and restore the damage.

DIY Tips

• Kill mold spores using chlorine dioxide. This is used on boats to control musty odors, and in libraries to control outbreaks of mildew.

General Odor Control Tips

Keep your home clean and your pets clean: A dirty home will produce odors. Also, dirty pets will cause your home to smell.

Check air vents and wall outlets for odor sources: A dead animal in the walls can be the cause of an odor. The smell will be most noticeable around a wall outlet even though it can smell up an entire room. Make sure and check any holes in the walls to keep little critters out.

Change the filters in any ventilation, heating, or air conditioning system: A dirty ventilation system can be a source of an odor throughout your home. Plus, your ventilation system will also work much better if you have clean filters.

Alert Disaster Restoration is a full service disaster restoration contractor for water damage, fire damage and mold contamination at properties. Give us a call at: 1 (877) 435-8117