Differences Between Smoke & Fire Damage

Smoke and fire damage differ in their impacts on the property. Fire is when something burns. Smoke is what smells really bad as items are burned and after a fire is over. During a fire, things will feel hot for a short amount of time. When the fire is gone, it leaves soot and smoke damage behind that can be hard to clean up.

Smoke Damage

This means the removal process for smoke damage can vary. The structure of where the fire occurred has an impact on how bad the damage will be. It may include removing painted walls, ceiling tiles, carpeting, paneling, and many other items. These items must be properly removed by using approved methods to not make it worse and to stop smoke from spreading around your property.

There are four different types of smoke damage (dry smoke, protein residue, fuel/oil residue, and wet smoke) that are caused by different circumstances like the fire’s temperature and what is fueling it. The process for cleaning up the fire varies a little bit for each type of damage. A professional will know how to do it if you want your home or business back to its original state.

Even after you clean up a fire, there can still be smoke odors lingering in the air. The strong smell can last for days to weeks after smoke and fire damage are done to the property.

Fire Damage

However, fire damage is different from smoke damage. Fire damages the physical structure of a building, but is easier to clean up than smoke damage. This occurs when smoke travels down into the structure of a building and leaves behind fire damage as black or brown residue that smells bad.

Fire damage leaves black burn marks on the wood. If you turn over charred wood, and the color is black, then it was probably a result of fire damage.

If you want to remove the soot and smoke smell from your home, it is important to make sure there is no fire damage first. One of our fire damage restoration technicians can assess the property for fire damage. Our technicians are trained in properly cleaning up any damage inflicted by fire. However, if you don’t clean up fire damage properly, it can cause further destruction to the property.

Smoke and Fire Damage Restoration

While smoke and fire damage originates from the same source, they must be treated separately. The difference between smoke and fire damage is that smoke needs to be sucked out of the material, while fire needs to be scrubbed off.

After smoke and fire damage, you need a professional to fix that. United Water Restoration Group of Melbourne has the professionals for this kind of situation. Give us a call at (321) 348-4639 to have a restoration technician come out to your property and assess the damages.