Restoring a Kitchen After a Fire

Cleanup after a fire in any room of your Dunwoody home is challenging, but kitchen fire damage restoration can be an extremely tough job. The type of soot created has unique properties, sticking tightly to and making removal from surfaces especially difficult. What causes this coating to resist ordinary cleaning?

  • Protein-based residues are the culprits, formed when foods, grease, and oils reach and maintain excessively high temperatures during a kitchen fire. 

  • Meats, vegetables, dairy, and starches dehydrate and break apart into tiny bits under high heat and fire, combined with fats vaporized into a fine spray of airborne particles.

  • The protein-based mist attaches to appliances, counters, walls, and other surfaces and dries quickly into a transparent varnish or lacquer-like substance. 

Removing Soot After a Fire

Fire damage restoration for the kitchen requires cleaning strategies developed specifically to strip the stubborn smoke and soot residues effectively without damaging the underlying materials. Technicians from AdvantaClean of Sandy Springs evaluate conditions and determine which cleaning products and tools are most appropriate. 

  • We try out our approach in an inconspicuous area before committing to cleaning everything.

  • We select an oil-based solvent as research demonstrates that the greasy, protein-heavy soils dissolve or emulsify best when treated with a similarly composed cleaner--"like dissolves like." 

Will Fire Damage Restoration Cleaning Products Destroy Surfaces?

After AdvantaClean of Sandy Springs determines the most effective cleaning product, we choose the best tools and methods to loosen and remove the fire damage residues while minimizing further harm. Protein-based soot seals surfaces. Restoration of fire damage requires some agitation to permit the cleaning solution to access the bond between the coating and fixtures or building materials. Our technicians work cautiously when increasing agitation to avoid scratching appliances or unnecessarily removing paint or wall coverings. Options available to our team include the following:

  • Adjusting the temperature as heat can increase the speed and strength of solvent chemical actions, including dissolving and emulsifying. 

  • Extending the dwell time of the cleaner gives a product a longer contact time to release the bond, but always with diligent monitoring to avoid surface damage.

  • Adding an abrasive (grit) to the cleaning product or using an abrasive-type tool (steel wool, stiff bristles, scrapers) helps break through the surface tension of the protein-based residue. Extreme care and application by trained technicians reduce the risk of gouging or scratching the affected materials. 

  • Loose objects can benefit from customized sound wave agitation and targeted dwell times when immersed in ultrasonic tubs filled with specialized cleaning solutions. 

Odor Removal After a Kitchen Fire

Protein-based residues smell incredibly unpleasant. Oils and proteins rapidly break down chemically during the fire, "spoiled" by exposure to excessive temperatures. Malodors drift throughout your home on super-heated air currents, hitchhiking on the tiny particles of dehydrated food and rancid oils. AdvantaClean of Sandy Springs inspects your entire home for this spread and relies on odor-eliminating resources employed by our certified technicians:

  • Temporary masking and distraction with pleasant-smelling sprays, granules, and blocks

  • Planning and implementation of advanced deodorization technology such as:

  • Thermal fogging (recreating fire conditions to combust deodorants and then misting throughout the home to pair with and neutralize odor-producing molecules)

  • Hydroxyl generation (creating free radicals that bond with and change the chemical composition of protein-based particles, rendering them odorless)  

Deep cleaning and debris removal are the first steps in damage restoration after a Dunwoody cooking fire. To return your dwelling to comfort and function, AdvantaClean of Sandy Springs also uses innovative advances in deodorization to eliminate the lingering stink.

Look to AdvantaClean of Sandy Springs for effective strategies to restore fire damage in your Dunwoody kitchen. Call us at (404) 474-8443 as soon as officials clear your property for an assessment so we can discuss cleanup options and expectations.

Schedule an Appointment or Call (404) 474-8443

To request a service call, please fill out the form below and we will contact you via phone, email or text as soon as possible to confirm an appointment time. You will receive an email confirming your service request. 

*All fields required. By submitting this form, you agree to receive calls, text messages, or emails at the contact information provided. Message rates may apply. Text STOP to opt out at any time. We won’t share your information. Not all locations provide the same services. View our Privacy Policy.

(404) 474-8443
Categories