Don't Let a Fire Ruin Your Holiday Season

11/4/2024 (Permalink)

Don't Let a Fire Ruin Your Holiday Season: Follow these steps to prepare your home for Winter and prevent fires 

Preparing your home for winter is key to maintaining a safe, warm, and efficient environment all season long. Here’s a quick guide to ensure you’re covered:

1. Inspect Heating Systems

• Furnace: Schedule a professional inspection and cleaning to remove any debris and ensure your furnace is in top shape.
• Fireplaces: Creosote buildup can lead to chimney fires, so have your chimney cleaned and inspected.
• Space Heaters: Keep them at least 3 feet away from anything flammable, and always turn them off when unattended.

2. Check Your Water Heater

• With use, water heaters can develop wear in their heating element and thermostat, which increases fire risks. Regular inspections can help you avoid these hazards.

3. Test Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Detectors

• These devices save lives, so replace batteries if needed and test them regularly.

4. Clean Dryer Ducts

• Lint buildup is a major fire hazard, so clear dryer ducts to prevent blockages and reduce risks.

5. Check Fire Extinguishers

• Make sure they are up-to-date, easily accessible, and in working condition.

6. Only Burn Dry Firewood

• Avoid painted or treated wood, which can release harmful chemicals, and use only dry wood to minimize sparks, steam, and smoke.

7. Holiday Decorations

• Keep trees and decorations away from heat sources, and always unplug lights when unattended. Never leave candles burning unattended, and keep them clear of anything flammable.

Fire Restoration Services

If the unexpected occurs, SERVPRO of Monroe/West Monroe offers 24/7 emergency fire and smoke damage restoration. From water removal after firefighting efforts to soot and odor cleanup, their trained team is equipped to help restore your home or business.

By following these steps, you’ll help ensure a cozy, safe winter season for you and your loved ones.

Fire Restoration Assistance for Shreveport Homes 

5/23/2023 (Permalink)

Call SERVPRO of South Shreveport when your home has soot and fire damage. We’re Faster To Any Size Disaster.

Fire Damage at Your Shreveport Home Is Not the End

You may have your life organized in an apple pie order, but a fire at your home can ruin everything. Apart from messing with your daily schedules, it can limit your home's utility until the fire restoration is complete. SERVPRO can help fast-track restoration tasks such as cleaning, repairing, and deodorizing your Shreveport property.

Life has to go on as the professional team tackles fire restoration at your Shreveport home. However, your home may not be in shape to host many of your regular activities, whether preparing your meals, personal grooming, or entertainment. However, if you are open to venturing out, there are unlimited offers within Shreveport to serve you. 

As the SERVPRO team removes soot and tears down burnt drywall, you can give yourself a makeover at any of the local spas and beauty parlors dotting Shreveport, including:

• Spa Concepts Salon & Spa on Ashley Ridge Boulevard offers haircuts, massages, facials, and more
• Nails Palace on Jewella Avenue specializes in nail grooming through acrylic nails, manicures, and pedicures
• Planet Beach on Youree Drive offers facials, spray tanning, and teeth whitening
• The Woodhouse Day Spa on Line Avenue provides body treatments, massage therapy, and facials. 

In the same way, your house requires work from the inside and outside; you may want to revamp the body from the inside. You can try different eateries and entertainment joints within Shreveport to enjoy memorable meals or other activities.

Eateries and Entertainment Facilities

• Superior's Steakhouse on Pierremont Road is a fine dining restaurant where you can enjoy seafood or steak.
• Ki' Mexico on Gilbert Drive is a casual restaurant where you can enjoy authentic Mexican dishes.
• If you appreciate independent, foreign, and classic films, you can try The Robinson Film Center on Texas Street.
• Shreveport Aquarium on Clyde Fant Parkway features marine life exhibits and interactive experiences that you can try.

SERVPRO of South Shreveport handles all fire restoration-related issues - call (318) 865-4655 for assistance.  

Trusted Fire Damage Cleanup for Shreveport Homes and Businesses

3/27/2023 (Permalink)

You can depend on our SERVPRO teams to cleanup and restore your Shreveport property and personal belongings after fire damage.

SERVPRO is Fast to Help Shreveport Residents Dealing with Fire Damage

Fire tragedies strike every few minutes across the United States, so it is no wonder that many Shreveport residents worry it will happen to them. In the unfortunate event your home or business experiences a fire, you need to work on rebuilding as soon as possible. The sense of loss and confusion you may feel amplifies when you realize that the damage can worsen the longer you wait to address the charred debris, soot, and water left behind. SERVPRO wants residents and business owners in the area to know we are the team to call for all fire emergency restorations so that you can get back on your feet again!

We’re Faster to Any Size Disaster!

Regardless of the time of day, if the fire occurs during a holiday or weekend, we can have a team at your door within hours to help with fire damage in Shreveport. We consider the need for smoke remediation with the types of soot deposits and residue present. It is also imperative to go over the level of charring, the condition of contents, and the safety of all structural elements. All efforts help us to restore everything to preloss condition so that you can enjoy your daily life without lingering reminders of the emergency.

What Does Controlled Demolition Mean with House Fire Cleanup?

Something to know about SERVPRO is that we always act fast and work on a restore versus replace level whenever possible. In many situations, we can use our industrial cleaning equipment, specialized methods, and cleaning protocols to return smoke-damaged and soiled materials and items to a like-new condition once again.

With many fire events, building materials like drywall, paneling, flooring, subfloor, carpets, and other materials will call for total replacement. Controlled demolition allows us to pinpoint areas for restoration so that we can salvage as much as possible to save money overall. Using trusted contractors in the area, we ensure all areas get reconstructed and finished off to look “Like it never even happened.” Some of the steps our crew may take include:

• Sealant application and painting
• Tile, hardwood, linoleum, and marble floor repair
• Carpet cleaning or replacement
• Drywall removal and replacement
• HVAC cleaning and sealant application
• Furniture restoration and more!

We Streamline All Processes to Get You the Results You Need Fast!

Once you have a fire in your home or business, give us a call to talk with our customer care team. We go over the details of the fire and your property and gather other information to begin your project. A team gets dispatched to your door, where our crew chief assesses and inspects all areas to determine the level of charring, structural integrity, and all equipment necessary to execute fire restoration. If needed, we also have staging equipment and alternative power available should electricity be an issue after the fire.

• To protect the interior from the elements, board up, and tarping help cover windows, doors, damaged roofing, and other holes in the building.
• Our water removal services address any standing water or chemicals from fire-fighting efforts.
• Our fire and smoke restoration technicians determine the salvageability of contents and personal belongings. Everything gets separated for cleaning or disposal, with some items getting inventoried and packed up for safe storage until restoration is complete.

Contact SERVPRO of South Shreveport by dialing (318) 865-4655 or request help 24-hours a day online. We are here for emergency water and fire damage restoration to get the results you deserve!

Grease Fire Restoration in Shreveport

12/29/2022 (Permalink)

SERVPRO should handle fire damage restoration services for your home. We will be on-site within 4 hours of the initial call.

SERVPRO Can Remove Wet Smoke Damage from your Home

Grease fires are among the most common callouts that we attend each year. Cooking oils, animal fats, and gas stoves are all flammable, so even turning away for a moment can lead to a sudden outbreak. These fires are quickly contained in most cases, but the short time they burn can lead to thick, greasy soot deposits on appliances, stove hoods, and ceilings. Grease fires are generally difficult to clean because they reject most water-based household cleaning products. In fact, applying a water-based solution to a wet smoke deposit can lead to spreading the soot around without removing it at all.

SERVPRO Provides

• Smoke removal
• Appliance cleaning
• Fire and odor restoration

We offer fire restoration to Shreveport residents for all types of emergencies. In the case of grease fires, our technicians can bring a full range of proprietary cleaning products specifically designed to target and remove wet smoke deposits. Oily soots can sometimes be removed by emulsifying them with detergents. At a molecular level, detergents resemble oils, grease, and fats. This similarity means that the oils in the smoke deposit can mix with water, a process we call emulsifying with a detergent that allows soil, a cleaning agent, and water to be removed altogether. 

Thick soot deposits may require cleaning agents that are more powerful than a detergent. In these situations, technicians must dissolve the soil in a solvent before removing it from the surface. A solvent removes soil by dissolving it in a solution. This process is referred to as suspension. Once the soil is suspended in a solvent, we can disperse it in a rinsing agent -usually a detergent- to remove all staining from the surface. 

Applying solvents to grease soot

• Pre-testing a discrete area is essential to ensure the procedure is effective without causing accidental damage to the surface.
• Mix the solution in the recommended dosages and allow dwell time for the soot to dissolve before applying the rinsing agent.
• Some solvents require special disposal for environmental reasons. 

To restore your home after a grease fire, contact SERVPRO of South Shreveport for fire restoration at (318) 865-4655.

Forbing's Fire Damage Specialists Discuss Soot Removal

8/22/2022 (Permalink)

SERVPRO Can Clean Up Soot in Forbing Properties After House Fires.

SERVPRO Uses Various Equipment, Products, and Methods for Fire Cleanup in the Forbing Area

Fires starting inside your Forbing home can not only be dangerous to you and your family but can also ruin the contents and building materials inside your house. The flames and heat, which come from the blaze, burn materials starting from the source and further depending on how long it goes before it gets extinguished. Smoke travels from the source to areas all over the structure, causing additional damage.

When smoke flows through a building, it leaves behind soot residues and foul odors. Cleaning and removing these residues are a significant part of restoring fire damage in Forbing. The first step to removing burnt odors is to remove their source, including soils left from the smoke. 

Soot residues contain different substances depending upon what fuels were burned in the fire. Cleaning methods vary based on many factors, including the type of soot and the surface of cleaned materials. Some blazes get put out with excessive water, which can cause the soot cleaning process to change. Water damage restoration is often follows a house fire.

Some soot films are easy to clean while others adhere to surfaces well, making removal more difficult. When extracting soils proves to be a strenuous process, our SERVPRO technicians utilize various mechanical action cleaning methods. The amount of soot present and how well it sticks to materials dictates how much agitation is needed for removal. 

Some soils can get removed with mild agitation methods if they are not dense. Mild agitation methods include feather dusters, compressed air, brushes, and vacuums. For carpets, upholstery, and drapes vacuuming dry smoke residue is always the first step in cleaning. Compressed air gets used to blow soot out off the casings of electronics.

If the soot is dense and adheres firmly to surfaces, then medium agitation methods can be implemented during the restoration process. Practices that fall into this category include dry sponges, crumbly cleaners, dust cloths, and cleaning towels. Crumbly cleaners work well when removing dry soot from flat painted surfaces. 

When soot removal is difficult, heavy agitation methods get used. Abrasive powders, sandpaper, and blast cleaning are all examples of heavy agitation cleaning. Roto pads and brushes can also agitate, buff, or polish flooring surfaces. Our SERVPRO technicians attempt to clean smoke and soot-stained surfaces without tearing them out for replacement. Often a primer can be applied before a finished coat of paint is needed.

Removing different kinds of soot can be easy in some areas while challenging in others. For help cleaning soils created by smoke, call SERVPRO of South Shreveport at (318) 865-4655 24/7.

Shreveport Homes Need Fire and Smoke Damage Technicians When Disaster Strikes

7/3/2022 (Permalink)

Regardless of the extent of the fire damage, team SERVPRO can help with effective remediation services. Our technicians are standing by for your call.

Older Shreveport Structures Damaged by Fire Need Fire Restoration Services

Shreveport owes its name to the Shreve Town Company, which connected the town with Texas in 1836. Not surprisingly, corporations have led to the city's growth throughout the centuries, and it now is the third-largest city in Louisiana behind Baton Rouge and New Orleans. When oil was discovered in the state, several companies settled their headquarters in Shreveport, where they remained until the 1980s. After a rough period where crime and unemployment rose, there is a focus on its revitalization. Its strategic location between Arkansas, Texas, and Louisiana makes its economy crucial to cities' prosperity.

At its birth, Shreveport became an epicenter for the transportation of goods such as cotton and crops via steamboats. Free blacks and slaves worked on the river, helping with the cargo and other jobs at the port. Although slavery existed, it was not as prevalent as it was in nearby New Orleans and Baton Rouge. The Red River was the primary method for moving merchandise and transporting individuals until the early 1900s, when the railroad and highways offered alternative transportation.

History has a place for Shreveport in its most pivotal moments. The Civil War and the Civil Rights Movement played out on its streets as inside family homes. Most recently, the city has become synonymous with the gaming industry in Louisiana and has transitioned into a service economy, even though the natural gas industry continues to grow at a slower than anticipated pace. Lately, the film industry has also made its way into the state and Shreveport in particular. Tax incentives and the proliferation of film industry-related businesses have seen a growing presence of movie projects in the area.

Fire Damage Restoration in Shreveport

It is not uncommon for the local news to report on a home fire and its consequences. Fire departments remind us to check smoke detectors and to address any fire hazards in the home. Many homeowners do not realize how easily a fire can erupt in a Shreveport home, whether it comes from a space heater too close to a bed or an electric malfunction. Even when the event does not result in a loss of life, the damage can be devastating in other aspects.

House Fire Cleanup Services

SERVPRO is ready to clean and deodorize your fire damaged home as soon as you reach us at our 24/7 hotline. In the course of the project, our team focuses on removing soot from each surface and discarding items posing a danger. What many clients fail to understand is that we also take care of the acrid smell of smoke a fire leaves behind, and we do that by applying industry best practices such as:

• Wet fogging- used to dispense water and solvent-based deodorizers.
• Dry fogging- the solvent-based deodorizer is spread like a vapor that protects furniture from excessive moisture.
• Air scrubbers- these devices help us clean the air and remove the offending odor particles

SERVPRO of South Shreveport is ready to tackle fire damage of all sizes. Call us at (318) 865-4655 and place your trust in our expert team.

Types of Surface Fire Damage in Shreveport Homes

3/22/2022 (Permalink)

Count on SERVPRO's FSRT fire and smoke damage restoration technicians to make your Shreveport fire-damaged home, "Like it never even happened."

Fire Damage to Structural Elements and Contents Can Vary in Shreveport Properties.

Regardless of the type of fire damage that occurs in your home, destructive results must be overcome. As leading fire restoration professionals in Shreveport, we can quickly identify the type of surface fire damage that has occurred and the ideal solutions for restoring and cleaning these impacted areas.

Soot Damage and Staining

Among the more recognizable instances of fire damage in Shreveport, homes are the presence of soot and smoke residues. Aerosolized smoke solids find their way onto the vertical and horizontal surfaces to create a challenging residue for restorers to remove. These are among the most direct surface damages faced by building materials and contents. Restoration options for these include:

• Surface cleaning
• Abrasive media blasting
• Demolition

Blistering and Charring

After situations like kitchen fires, materials and fixtures like the cabinets can be damaged by the spreading fire within the room. Blistering can occur even when direct fire damage has not happened, as these instances often feature high heat circumstances. When these damages occur, it is often necessary to refinish or replace the cabinets.

Water Damage

Fire suppression can also ultimately damage exposed surfaces and contents throughout the property. A large volume of water is often required to extinguish active blazes, leaving pooling and saturated porous materials throughout the house. Overcoming these damages requires fast actions to dry and clean the impacted elements.

Destroyed Materials

There are also multiple situations in which the impacted materials and contents through the damaged areas of your home after a fire are too greatly compromised to preserve. An item-by-item inspection shows where some building materials and personal belongings should be discarded rather than salvaged.

Several types of surface damage are possible after a fire disaster occurs in your home. Our SERVPRO of South Shreveport team is a trusted name to help make it “Like it never even happened.” Call today at (318) 865-4655.

When Is Demolition Necessary for Fire Damage Restoration?

2/27/2022 (Permalink)

Regardless of the severity of the fire damage, team SERVPRO can offer a custom remediation plan. Call our technicians day or night to help you.

Controlled Demolition By SERVPRO Technicians in Shreveport Can Be the Quickest Way to a Full Restoration

Demolition is a scary word. However, it can often be part of the process we take to help homeowners get their properties back "Like it never even happened," after a house fire. Fires that affect multiple rooms in a property are usually considered to cause moderate damage. Moderate damage affects the outer layers of a building's assembly but may not reach the building's framework nor put the structure itself in jeopardy. While limited fire damages may feel like a disaster, the effects can often be fully-restored within a period of four to five weeks. It is vital to wait for the approval of a fire marshall before entering a burnt building, and we recommend arranging for an immediate inspection of damages from a qualified restoration professional. Our team help with:

• Fire damage restoration
• Fire demolition
• Home restoration

One essential part of fire damage restoration for your Shreveport home is to remove any unsalvageable materials. Parts of a home, like drywall, can be permanently damaged if exposed to fire and can interfere, or slow down, the restoration process. SERVPRO technicians can strip an affected room using a combination of claw hammers and razor cutters. We then quickly removed the fire debris leaving just the framework exposed. From this point onwards, we can rebuild the room, adding layers of insulation, drywall, and paint to return the property to its preloss condition. 

• Fumigation using ULV foggers is common in homes where drywall or other building assembly materials are removed for disposal. 
• If affected areas are not essential, such as washrooms or kitchens, homeowners can often remain in the house during restoration.
• Odor sealing primer paint can be applied to the framework of a home if there is evidence of persistent or chronic odors. 

We are experts at putting the pieces back together following a fire. Contact SERVPRO of South Shreveport for fire damage restoration at (318) 865-4655.

How Can Homeowners Handle Smoke and Fire Damage in Shreveport?

1/25/2022 (Permalink)

SERVPRO suggests installing smoke detectors to help mitigate smoke and fire damage in a Shreveport home

SERVPRO Can Help Homeowners to Recover from Shreveport Smoke and Fire

It is distressing to have fire damage on your property. Fire and smoke damage can be direct or secondary, varying in severity from the superficial to the pervasive. When different materials get burnt, they create distinct kinds of smoke deposits that can penetrate the non-sealed areas of your home. SERVPRO understands that it is essential to repair and restore your home as soon as possible.

We have an exceptional understanding of the unique challenges linked with handling smoke and fire damage in Shreveport homes. Our industry know-how enables us to protect, clean, and restore affected structures and contents. For instance, removing micro-particulate soot calls for specialized chemicals. Odor removal also requires advanced equipment. SERVPRO’s fire and smoke damage management range include:

• Specifically designed products that address post-fire damage to various surfaces, including woodwork, plasterwork, glass, laminate, and metals.
• Finishing solutions designed to restore fabrics, plastics, and stainless steel to their former condition.
• Products for cleaning and protecting surfaces, ensuring their longevity and usability.
• Products and equipment designed to remove lingering odors.
• Help prevent smoke damage by installing smoke detectors

The contaminants involved in a fire depend on several variables like household materials, building construction methods, and the timeframe that the smoke or fire damage was left untreated. Apart from fire damage like burnt materials and heat devastation, there is a need to detect leaks from the damaged kitchen or bathroom equipment. Our SERVPRO team can use thermal imaging cameras to inspect and monitor the moisture in building materials. They enable us to see how water traveled throughout a structure.

Our SERVPRO technicians can use ventilation equipment to remove smoke, dust, and soot from your home. Different kinds of air movers generate an airflow of great velocity, from 1,000 to 3,000 cubic feet of air per minute (CFM). Restoration experts use such air movement for general ventilation to eliminate fumes, odors, and vapors from a structure. Negative air pressure is utilized to port unclean ambient air to the exterior of the structure using flexible ducts.

SERVPRO of South Shreveport is ready to help you restore your home to its preloss state after fire damage. Call us any time at (318) 865-4655.

Our Specialists Balance Cleaning Elements for Efficient Fire Restoration in Shreveport

11/9/2021 (Permalink)

SERVPRO devises a custom cleaning and restoration strategy to make the fire "Like it never even happened."

Post-Fire Recovery of Shreveport Homes Requires Careful Handling and Cleaning of Structural Elements and Contents 

After a fire loss, homes can be overwhelmed with several dire circumstances like soot, smoke, and hazardous airborne particles. While our professionals provide a fast mitigation solution for these situations, we also must devise a custom cleaning and restoration strategy to make these disasters "Like it never even happened." 

The Primary Cleaning Factors That Must Be Balanced

Fire damage restoration for Shreveport homes and businesses hinges on a balance of specific cleaning principles. With the overwhelming presence of soot and smoke residues affixed to horizontal surfaces and blasted against vertical walls, the cleaning methods balance several factors that influence restoration strategies' effectiveness. These can include: 

• Temperature - As you might expect in post-fire situations, the structure's temperature plays a role in the ability to clean products and processes. Products used to remove soot and soils all have ideal operating and use temperatures, meaning that environmental conditions might require manipulation to achieve the best results. 
  

• Agitation - Agitation describes the movement of the cleaning solution or the affected surface to break a bond between the soil and the surface. There are multiple approaches to introduce this agitation to the cleaning process, including pressurized water and air. We also have mechanical actions like scrubbing that can be effective. 

• Chemical Action - Chemical reactions are vital to decreasing the cleaning time for affected surfaces. Our SERVPRO team knows that like dissolves like, so we utilize water-based products for water-based soils, and oil-based for oil-based residues, and so on. 

• Time - Cleaning takes time, but specifically 'dwell time,' which indicates the amount of time it takes a product to chemically react in the desired manner with the soil present on the surface.  

Balancing these cleaning principles changes for each area of the house and the type of residue. We pretest and monitor cleaning processes to provide the most efficient solutions. Give our SERVPRO of South Shreveport team a call today at (318) 865-4655.

Capture and Discard Residues in Shreveport Homes After a Fire

10/26/2021 (Permalink)

SERVPRO has specific strategies to identify the damage, capture the soot, and remove the residues impacting the residence.

Cleaning After a Fire Loss Requires Direct Action by Technicians in Your Shreveport Home

Soils and soot particles are a common predicament after a fire loss incident. We have specific and trusted strategies to learn the damage, capture soot, and remove the residues impacting the residence.  

Finding and Identifying the Damage 

A thorough inspection of the property can help identify needs for fire damage restoration in Shreveport homes and the most efficient solutions for removing these residues permanently. The estimator can often knowledgeably predict the damage level, though pretesting cleaning methods can also be efficient.

How to Remove Soils and Deposits

Removing soils and soot deposits requires careful consideration into the type of damage that exists, the underlying material, and the perceived effectiveness of specific restoration strategies like:

• Vacuuming – Dry particles often sit loosely on surfaces and can be mostly removed using dry vacuuming practices before wet cleaning efforts get underway to remove any lingering residues.

• Dissolving – If the particles are not loose, they must first get dissolved before being flushed away. This dissolving process loosens the bond between moist soot particles and the underlying material substrate.

• Controlled Demolition – Demolition is one of the less-favored approaches to clearing soot soils and damage from the property, but it is sometimes necessary.

Safe Discarding and Disposal of Harsh Residues 

We follow specific state and local guidelines about correctly disposing of soot/smoke particles and damaged bulk materials. We safely and completely remove these damaged materials to provide a stable foundation for restoration and any build-back services to come.

After a fire loss incident, cleaning up involves several steps and stages that rarely change from one damaged residence to another. Our SERVPRO of South Shreveport team follows specific guidelines to identify and ultimately remove residues and soils from the property to make fire damage “Like it never even happened.” Call us today at (318) 865-4655.

Restoring Your Shreveport Home Following Significant Fire Damages

8/12/2021 (Permalink)

After a fire incident takes place. You can trust that your home is in good hands with the experienced technicians at SERVPRO.

Cleanup and Restoration Are Key Components of Fire Damage Restoration

One of the most devastating disasters that can occur to your Shreveport home is a fire. With the potential of leaving multiple lingering effects, not to mention the significant structural concerns common to residential blazes, recovering from the occurrence can initially seem overwhelming. Fortunately, the damage that your home faces from a structure fire is not something that you have to face alone.

Fire damage to your Shreveport residence can present itself in several unique ways. While our SERVPRO restoration process contends with the typical effects of the blaze, such as the presence of soot and foul odors, severe structural concerns take priority. That is why when our team arrives at your home, we survey the affected areas for vulnerable points that need to get closed off, such as holes in the exterior of your house or broken windows. 

Assessment of a Fire Damaged Property

Closing off these vulnerable areas thwarts further elemental damage to your home while the restoration process gets underway. An initial assessment of the full scope of the present damage can aid in formulating the best approach to restoring your home. We can prepare a CCIS inventory list to assist you with your insurance claim. Often this process begins with removing the water from extinguishing efforts and drying out these areas to prevent weakening of structural components or compounding effects like mold growth. 

With severe structural damage to your home, beyond what restoration practices can salvage, our SERVPRO IICRC certified team prepares these areas for reconstruction by a residential contractor. This approach involves controlled demolition on the worst areas to remove these materials entirely, leaving the area ready for new construction. At the same time, our technicians set their sights on the less dramatic effects of the recent fire. Our technicians get uniquely trained to handle all degrees of fire damage, from the latest restoration techniques to the use of state-of-the-art equipment to make your disaster “Like it never even happened.”

While this is merely a small piece of the entire restoration process that your home likely needs following fire damages, you can trust that our SERVPRO of South Shreveport team of specialists can see you through every step.  You can reach our emergency response team 24/7 by calling (318) 865-4655.

Does SERVPRO Complete Fire Damage Restoration in Shreveport Residences?

5/24/2021 (Permalink)

The SERVPRO team, vehicles, equipment, and products can rescue Shreveport homes after a fire-damaging event.

SERVPRO Provides Fire and Smoke Damage Restoration in Shreveport

Smoke residues can leave a fine coating of greasy or powdery residue over your contents in Shreveport homes after a fire. The amount of residue depends on several factors, such as the temperature of the fire. Also, the material burning and air currents within the home during the fire. Some residues will be confined to the immediate area of the fire, while smoke odors can waft throughout the house.

SERVPRO provides fire damage restoration to homes and businesses in Shreveport. Our team can be onsite within four hours of your call. We immediately assess the situation and begin mitigating the impact of the fire damage and the smoke damage to your home. Upon written approval we swiftly begin the remediation.

We remove any structural elements and contents that were burned during the fire, which also helps to reduce odors. It is also critical that we use the correct methodology to remove residues. We assess whether the residue is oily or greasy and will smear when rubbed. The surface type is also important. Hard non-porous surfaces can be cleaned easily, while care must be taken with porous surfaces such as drywall and fabrics.

In addition to cleaning and removing smoke residues, SERVPRO provides:

• House fire clean up
• Water and fire damage restorations
• Smoke damage and odor removal

Call SERVPRO of South Shreveport for fire damage restoration in Shreveport and surrounding areas. We can help 24/7. Call (318) 865-4655.

Why is House Fire Cleanup Needed in Shreveport?

4/30/2021 (Permalink)

Did you know that fire damage includes not only smoke and soot, but also water damage and fire retardants?

SERVPRO Offers Shreveport Homeowners Fire and Smoke Damage Restoration

Shreveport, LA, has a population of approximately 194,000 people. The city ranks in 3rd place after Baton Rouge and New Orleans in total population. The Shreve Town Corporation established the city in 1836 to become the terminus for the Texas Trail on the banks of the Red River. The city’s history was influenced by the discovery of oil and later by a General Motors vehicle factory. After declining due to losses in jobs in the oil industry and vehicle manufacturing, the city has resurged as the commercial, educational, and cultural center for the Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas region.

There are many activities in Shreveport as well as the surrounding area for residents and visitors to enjoy. The following list includes a few of these, and more detailed descriptions are included for several of them.

• W. Norton Art Gallery
• Shreveport Water Works Museum
• Shreveport Aquarium
• Sci-Port Discovery Center
• Louisiana State Exhibit Museum
• Barksdale Global Power Museum
• Walter B Jacobs Memorial Nature Park
• Red River District
• Asian Gardens of Shreveport
• Shreveport Casinos

Shreveport Aquarium

Considered one of Shreveport’s best attractions, the Shreveport Aquarium is open seven days a week. It offers summer camps, events, and field trips. Parking is free; however, there is an admission fee. Over 3000 animals represent 300 species on the aquarium grounds. Visitors can observe everything from sharks to stingrays to turtles and gators with many fish at the aquarium.

Walter B Jacobs Memorial Nature Park

The Walter B Jacobs Memorial Nature Park offers hiking trails, nature trails, paved parking, a pavilion that can be rented, restrooms, and a visitor center. The park contains 160 acres of pine, oak, and hickory trees with over five miles of nature trails. Admission is free.

Red River District

A great spot to visit with buildings designed to look historic housing restaurants and entertainment venues. Easy access to the Shreveport Aquarium, the Sci-Port, and the two casinos – Sam’s Town and the Eldorado.

Asian Gardens of Shreveport

Stroll through beautifully landscaped gardens with many plants and flowers on several levels. The gardens and oasis represent 15 Asian countries.

Shreveport Casinos

There are casinos in Shreveport and Bossier City. Both are home to several casinos with great food and amenities. Sam’s Town Hotel & Casino and the Eldorado Resort are located on the Shreveport side of the Red River. There are classic casino games, live music, spas, and hotel accommodations available.

South Shreveport SERVPRO Offers Fire and Smoke Damage Restoration and Cleanup

After a fire, there is damage from the fire, from the fire retardants used by the firemen, and there is smoke damage which can leave soot residues on many surfaces. The task of completing a house fire cleanup can seem daunting.

SERVPRO provides Shreveport homeowners fire damage restoration, including all elements associated with the fire and the smoke residues left from the fire. These services include:

• Water & Fire Damage Restorations
• Removal of damage caused by smoke residues and odors
• Repair of fire damaged homes

Call SERVPRO of South Shreveport for fire damage services in Shreveport and surrounding areas. We can help 24/7. Call (318) 865-4655

Fire Damage Risks for Shreveport Residents

1/28/2021 (Permalink)

You can depend on our SERVPRO teams to cleanup and restore your property and personal belongings after a fire takes place.

Call SERVPRO when you need fire restoration services.

As the city begins to open up, Shreveport residents and visitors can start enjoying local events and entertainment. While many will flock to the riverboat casinos, there are hundreds of other activities that no city does better, except maybe throwing beads. 

More people are also discovering the family-friendly places and events held throughout each year. The Sci-Port Discovery Center is a place for children to explore and learn with the parents having as much fun as the kids. Other great places for family members of all ages are the American Rose Center Gardens, the R.W. Norton Art Gallery, and the Shreveport Aquarium. For adults and older children, there is also the Red River Entertainment District and the Robinson Film Center. 

Hot Music and a Hound Dog

For music lovers, there is the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra, the longest-running professional orchestra in Louisiana. Our city is proud to be the home of the Municipal Auditorium, which initially hosted the renowned radio program “The Louisiana Hayride.” It is the site for early performances of new artists and has been for over six decades. Elvis Presley wowed the crowd there in October 1954. 

Festivals for Everyone

Music and film lovers also get to see local artists appreciated with the annual Louisiana Film Prize and the Louisiana Music Prize. More than an award show, these festivals bring in thousands of visitors from across the country. Other downtown festivals include

• The Cork Wine Festival
• The LGBTQ Film Festival
• Mudbug Madness
• The Red River Revel

On a much larger scale is the State Fair of Louisiana that draws in nearly the whole state as well as much of Arkansas and Texas.

Beer and More

Craft brewing has become much more than a niche market here in Shreveport. There are independent brewers all over, with many of them opening a pub to showcase their products. Companies like the Red River Brewpub and Great Raft Brewing are employing hundreds of people and serving up some of the finest beer, barbecue, po’boys, and seafood in the state. 

There is one regional attraction that visitors drive by each year for history and photography. The Boom or Bust Byway is north of Shreveport, on Highway 2. Travelers can get a good look at the early days of our oil industry and, in the early summer, a display of wildflowers, some native only to Louisiana, that are stunning. 

Restoring Shreveport Homes After a Fire

Unless the structure was consumed by flames, SERVPRO technicians can often restore a home to its pre-fire condition and appearance. Our technicians train to meet the industry standards of the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification and concentrate efforts on these areas:

• Removing smoke residues that cling to and damage surfaces
• Breaking down and disposing of debris that can stain otherwise undamaged property
• Eliminating odors that render even the cleanest home unlivable 
• Replace damaged structural property such as drywall and ceiling tiles
• Cleaning personal property with commercial-grade washers and cleaning agents

For a rapid response to fire damage, call SERVPRO of South Shreveport at (318) 865-4655. We are here 24/7. 

Forbing Residents Are Welcome to Enjoy Vaudeville at East Bank

1/4/2021 (Permalink)

Fire damage is no laughing matter. Call the IICRC certified technicians fo SERVPRO for the fire restoration service needed for the job.

Join Your Forbing Friends and Neighbors and Enjoy a Night of Vaudeville Entertainment

During these uncertain times, people have found it daunting to interact and have a good time. Fortunately, Company Repertory Theatre, East Bank Theater, and Bossier Arts Council present an evening full of Vaudeville entertainment. A Vaudeville is a light entertainment popular from the mid-1890s to the early 1930s, which comprised ten to fifteen individual unrelated acts featuring acrobats, trained animals, musicians, singers, and jugglers dancers.

The event organizers have taken the necessary precautions to ensure the safety of the attendees. It takes place on 23rd January 2021 at East Bank Theatre. Forbing residents can venture to the nearby Bossier City to enjoy the event that is full of various:

Acts

Antics

Songs

Scenes

All are welcome. Attendees are expected to wear masks during the event and maintain social distance at all times. Bring your friends and family and enjoy a side-splitting night.

SERVPRO of South Shreveport warmly welcomes you to the night of Vaudeville entertainment at East Bank. If you need fire damage restoration services in Forbing, we can help. Contact our restorers at (318) 865-4655 at any time of the day to make the incident seem "Like it never even happened."  

Explore Forbing in a Walking Tour

11/15/2020 (Permalink)

It will be exciting to see the community at the walking tours of St. Paul's Bottoms!

Daily Walking Tours of St. Paul's Bottoms Throughout November and December in Forbing

Enjoy an outside walking tour daily at 4 pm, beginning at the Strand Theatre. Not only will you enjoy learning about the city, but you will also get to view diverse holiday displays. These two and a half hour tours run from now until December 31 and showcase prominent buildings in Downtown Shreveport. Learn about the historic architecture throughout Ledbetter and the Red River District. Tickets range from $15 to $30.

Highlights of the tour include:

Enjoying stories about the community; stories both rooted in fact and urban legend.

Hearing about this Northern Louisiana city's unique architecture and prominent structures.

The tour ends near the Eldorado Casino, in case you want to continue your evening with more entertainment.

SERVPRO of South Shreveport services Shreveport, Bossier City, and Forbing for fire damage restoration. Contact us anytime day or night at (318) 865-4655 for home restoration assistance.

How do I Restore my Kitchen After a Fire?

8/6/2020 (Permalink)

Homeowners in Shreveport have to deal with many things which may include fire damage. Contact SERVPRO right away. We are always available to help.

When a Fire Erupts in Your Shreveport Home, Let a Reputable Fire Restoration Team Help.

Many of us spend a lot of time in the kitchen, so it is not surprising that fire in your Shreveport home would start there. A grease fire, a naughty child, or an electric malfunction can all create flames, leaving your home in need of restoration. Understanding just how much you need to do to get your home back to mint shape is essential to closing the chapter on the fire and moving on.

Assessing the extent of fire damage in your Shreveport home is a job for our SERVPRO crew. Our technicians fully understand the theory of fire and establish how it travels and the degree of damage it leaves in its wake. We are also ready to explore an array of techniques applicable to fire damage to minimize your loss. Removing soot, ash, and debris are all within our plan, eliminating the foul smell the smoke leaves behind.

What should I clean first after a fire?

Well-meaning friends will come in with abrasive cleaners and vacuum cleaners to help you clean after a fire. As thoughtful as their gesture is, it is best to rely on our SERVPRO team to ensure a comprehensive restoration plan that addresses each potential threat to your home. Evaluating your home with our specialized tools gives us an understanding of your needs based on facts and not assumptions. Generally speaking, our team focuses on three main aspects:

Restoring your belongings- whether these include photographs, furniture or decor, we target cleaning solutions depending on the material we are cleaning

Cleaning structural elements- your walls, flooring and other structural elements are cleaned and disinfected to leave them ready for paint or additional repairs necessary

Deodorizing- our SERVPRO team utilizes air scrubbers, deodorant pellets, and thermal fogging to neutralize and kill smell molecules in your home

SERVPRO of South Shreveport is your greatest ally after a fire hurts your home. Whether the damage seems widespread or not, call us at (318) 865-4655 and let us assess its scope. Together we can leave your home, "Like it never even happened." 

Find out more about Shreveport.

A Fire Has Destroyed My Home and Left Smoke Residues in Several Rooms. How Do I Clean up the Mess?

7/8/2020 (Permalink)

Do you know what you have to do to satrt the fire restoration process? Call SERVPRO in Shreveport they can do it all when it comes to restoration.

Hire SERVPRO Technicians to Conduct Fire Restoration in Your Shreveport Home

A fire can cause significant primary and secondary damage to your Shreveport home. Therefore, it is critical to begin the restoration process on time to avoid expensive repairs. You can hire SERVPRO restoration experts to help you restore your home to its normal condition.

Why should I involve professionals?

Hiring us to conduct fire restoration in your Shreveport residence is vital because we have decades of experience in dealing with smoke residues. We have the skill and high-tech equipment that allows us to offer top quality services. Our response team is always available to respond to our customers’ emergencies throughout the year. 

What are some unseen damages to expect?

No matter the severity of a fire, its effects are usually clear in a property. An insignificant fire can leave charred walls and cabinets, acrid smells of burnt plastic, and soot on your ceilings. Extensive damage can happen beneath the soot and char. The firefighting process can short electrical systems and outlets. Sprinkler systems and water used to extinguish the fire can cause water damage and potential mold growth.

What does fires damage restoration include?

•     Thorough damage assessment and documentation
•     Water damage restoration
•     Soot and smoke residue removal
•     Furniture and upholstery restoration

The assessment helps us get a clear picture of the fire damage and determine the best technique and tools to use in the restoration process. Soot and smoke residues are difficult to clean with plain water. Our SERVPRO technicians can use some of our advanced products to clean various surfaces. For instance, we can use wood crème paste to clean your kitchen cabinets and other wood surfaces. The product removes water stains, soot residues, and deodorizes the surfaces.

How do you clean upholstery?

We use special techniques to clean upholstery to minimize damage. If the excessive moisture of cleaning products may ruin upholstery, we can use the foam-cleaning technique. Our restorers use foam generated from our formulated products to minimize the dampness.

Fire damage can wreak havoc in your home. SERVPRO of South Shreveport has certifications from the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC) to provide fire damage restoration. Call us today at (318) 865-4655.

Can My Home Be Effectively Deodorized Following a Fire?

5/28/2020 (Permalink)

Fire damage leaves odors. SERVPRO has the tools to restore your home and remove the odors. Call us today!

Several Local Shreveport Cleaning and Restoration Companies, Like SERVPRO, can Deodorize Your Fire Damaged Home.

Recently, one Shreveport resident experienced a moderate house fire. The fire started in an upstairs bedroom and later spread into the attic, causing considerable fire damage on the second floor and in the loft. After the fire, black soot stains were omnipresent, and the entire house reeked of smoke. Structural elements, insulation, and the home’s contents were all affected by the fire’s effects. Not knowing what to do, the homeowner started researching local cleaning and remediation services that could return her residence to the preloss condition. Eventually, she came across SERVPRO and decided to give us a try.

What Innovative Tools Do Fire Damage Remediation Services Employ to Restore Your Shreveport Home?

There are numerous restoration companies, like SERVPRO, that handle fire damage in Shreveport. These services use several innovative tools to eliminate fire-related odors from your home. This gear includes:

• High-velocity box fans that rapidly exchange affected interior air for clean air, reduce smells, and dry areas impacted by firefighting efforts
• Air scrubbers to filter interior air, removing gases and odorous particles, and release the cleaned air back into your house
• Ozone machines that produce ozone, a gas that reacts with and neutralizes odor particles
• Vaportek units that use natural oils to impact and eliminate unwanted smells similarly
• Duct cleaning systems with agitation elements, a powerful vacuum, and an effective filtration network to clean HVAC systems thoroughly
• Pressure sprayers that deodorize charred structural elements
• Thermal foggers that vaporize deodorizers, so that their particles are as small as odor-causing molecules can effectively counteract bad smells
• Ultra-low volume (ULV) foggers to seal and deodorize ventilation systems, structural elements, and difficult-to-access areas
• Injection devices, which use a pump and needle, to treat upholstery and carpets with deodorants

Experienced technicians are often able to make your home smell like it never even experienced fire damage by using these advanced tools.

What Can SERVPRO Treat and Deodorize?

SERVPRO can treat and deodorize most structural elements and household items. We have successfully restored homes damaged by cigarette mishaps, cooking fires, forest fires, and other unfortunate occurrences in. In the case of the Shreveport resident previously described, our technicians were able to remediate effectively the: 

• Attic, including insulation and rafters
• HVAC system
• Ceilings, walls, and floors
• Home’s various fixtures
• Valuable personal property

After finishing work on her house, we had neutralized the fire-related smells and removed all of the ugly soot stains from affected surfaces.

How Does SERVPRO Eliminate Odors in Living Spaces?   

When deodorizing the fire damaged Shreveport resident’s home, our technicians employed a variety of advanced tools and techniques to remove odorous residues. Some of these novel tools and methods included:

• The use of dry cleaning sponges to remove non-grease residues
• Employing the peroxide active cleaning technique to clean heavily soiled textured ceilings
• Using duct cleaning systems to clean HVAC surfaces and ULV foggers to seal and deodorize them

These measures helped remove odor-causing substances from the home, while also preventing remaining airborne particles from circulating to other, unaffected parts of the residence. 

Are There Any Special Measures Taken to Remediate Attics?

There are two primary components of all attics, structural elements called “rafters” and the insulation. When attempting to restore these fire-damaged attic elements, there are a few unique things our technicians do. First, they ventilate the area with high-velocity box fans and air scrubbers. Workers may even leave an ozone machine in the attic overnight. Next, they might counteract odors with a ULV fogger treatment. Or, technicians may treat the attic with a thermal fogger. If needed, they place an additional insulation layer over the fire-damaged insulation to counteract any smoke damage. Workers may also seal in any persistent odors in structural elements by pressure spraying them with chemicals.

When your home suffers fire damage, it is traumatic for your entire family. Fires impact the functionality of your home and reduce the aesthetic beauty.  Additionally, structural elements may be compromised, precious personal possessions are often damaged, and you almost always face substantial repair costs. At this time, you need the help of trained and experienced professionals that might save your residence and most precious belongings. However, like most homeowners experiencing these difficulties, you are likely unsure of whom to call for help. Rest assured, though, that there are services in Shreveport that can clean and restore your home. They are often available whenever you need them.   

With all that said, if you ever need assistance handling residential fire damage, call SERVPRO of South Shreveport at (318) 865-4655.

How Can You Decide What Is Salvageable After a Shreveport House Fire?

4/24/2020 (Permalink)

Fire damage spreads quickly throughout the home. SERVPRO is a complete fire damage restoration specialists.

Enlist the Expertise of Your Local SERVPRO to Help Save Time, Expense, and Memories in Your Shreveport Home 

Nothing about dealing with the devastation of a residential fire is easy. Once you have experienced the heat, flames, and destruction, you are likely to be on an emotional roller coaster like no other. You need a rapid assessment of the damage done to your Shreveport home’s structure, followed by immediate implementation of a recovery plan by a highly-trained and qualified team of experts.  

Who Knows Which Items to Discard and Which to Save? 

Although it might seem as though our managers and technicians are focused primarily on the fire damage to your Shreveport house’s structure, we also have comprehensive training and familiarity with the evaluation and appropriate restoration of compromised household goods and furnishings. We can also assist with any question you have about personal goods and possessions. Sometimes homeowners discard items they could have saved, wasting time and expense to replace. Rely on our trained professionals for expert evaluation and guidance when you wonder and worry about contents cleaning and recovery after fire damage. 

Are Some Household and Personal Items Hazardous to Keep After a Fire? 

Some categories of household contents can pose concerns if kept for use after Shreveport fires. Items for consumption or that are likely to be in close contact with your family must be evaluated carefully and discarded if no restoration can stop their damaged condition from putting your or your family’s health at risk.  

Can You Keep Food After a Fire? 

Even if the food looks normal and seems unburned by the flames, there can be many crucial reasons why our crew members recommend that disposal of it should occur.  

Non-Perishable Food 

• Food in opened packages or on counters or tables needs discarding. Smoke, soot, and firefighting chemicals or water contaminate the food, rendering it unfit or even dangerous for consumption.  

• Food still sealed in bags, bottles, jars, and cans might seem safe, but if they had exposure to heat during the fire, the temperature change could activate bacteria inside containers. Food spoilage and poisoning can occur, demanding that you err on the side of caution and throw out any questionable food.   

• Toxic fumes and even soot can pass through the cardboard and plastic of boxed foods like crackers, cereals, and baking supplies. Particles have been found in jars, climbing the ridges on a screw top. Throw out any foodstuff in this category. 

Perishable Food 

A refrigerator or freezer can provide adequate protection for the foods kept within during a fire under certain circumstances. As long as all the following is true, the contents are likely to be safe. 

• The appliance sustained no fire or heat damage and remained sealed the entire time. 
• Power not cut or four or fewer hours passed without electrical operation. 

Regardless of a “passing grade” received by meeting the above criteria, if any of the following is accurate, do not eat frozen or chilled food: 

• A smoke smell pervades the interior of the appliance
• Soot is visible inside the appliance
• The temperature of the interior of a refrigerator exceeds 40 degrees
• Items in a freezer are softening and have no visible ice crystals
• Foods have any unusual odor or texture 

What Are the Rules About Using Medications, Cosmetics, and Other Personal Care Items After a Fire? 

If heat or flames were near over the counter or prescription drugs or treatments, chemical changes could occur. Especially if bottles, jars, tubes, or packaging shows melting or warping, discard. 

Anything used on the body, face, or hair also can undergo chemical changes through heat or burning, and soot can pass through packaging. Shampoos, lotions, creams, soaps, body washes, and other items are all of concern. Soot particles are toxic and abrasive, so even tissues, toilet paper, paper towels, napkins, and similar products like diapers, cotton balls or swabs, hair or face brushes, sponges, and more can be harmful to use on skin or hair. 

Is It Safe to Reuse Linens and Clothing? 

Restoration for textiles and fabrics is possible with proper cleaning, disinfection, and deodorization. SERVPRO technicians at our production facility can examine and review the fire damage to these items to make sure you and your family can enjoy them again safely. 

What Are the Recommendations for Furniture, Household Goods, and Personal Possessions?

We often suggest a partial pack-out of a wide range of the removal of fire damaged items in your home. We use a detailed Contents Claim Inventory Service (CCIS) to track the articles, employing traditional lists, barcoding, and digital images. Our specially trained content technicians have a wide range of resources and interventions to assess and plan for the restoration of the items. The documentation provided by CCIS helps us keep your insurance carrier apprised and can support claims for our services or replacement when necessary. 

Years of highly skilled and well-equipped responses to residential fire damage poises SERVPRO of South Shreveport to assist you and your family with taking care of all the aspects of fire loss devastation. Call us 24/7 at (318) 865-4655 for compassionate professional mitigation and remediation services for your home and its contents. 

Some Warning Signs of Shreveport Fire Damage 

3/19/2020 (Permalink)

Fires leave behind soot and foul odors - among other things. Contact SERVPRO to assess the situation and remediate the damage that remains.

The Use of Hydroxyl Machines After Fires in Shreveport Homes

The sciences that make up modern deodorization and environmental cleaning after a fire in Shreveport homes shows how advanced restoration has become. Years have gotten spent where experienced technicians relied on foggers, chemicals, and ozone machines to neutralize foul odors in a residence. Today, one of the most heavily used tools for removing smoke and other foul odors after a house fire is a hydroxyl generator.

Hydroxyl machines utilize a natural process that the planet continues to use as a means of cleaning up the atmosphere – this same technology and chemical process helps to neutralize fire damage in Shreveport houses. Hydroxyl radicals are what these machines produce, and this replicates the process where UV rays from the sun reach with water and oxygen in the Earth’s atmosphere. These radicals pull hydrogen atoms from compounds, which can destroy odor compounds, volatile organic compounds, and other similar structures.

Despite the growing popularity of hydroxyl machines, the ozone generator has not been entirely retired. Each of these units has their place and purpose in fire effect and odor removal. Advantages to choosing the hydroxyl radical approach rather than producing oxygen with an additional atom, include the safer use in smaller spaces by harnessing UV radiation and the understanding that these machines react at almost a million times faster of a rate.

When it comes to fire and smoke odor removal, hydroxyl radicals can help. By isolating and removing the hydrogen atom in odor compounds, they can get disassembled and neutralized. This reaction includes scents trapped in clothing and other soft materials throughout the house. Unlike ozone machines, our SERVPRO technicians can continue other aspects of mitigation while these machines run. With ozone, it is unsafe for humans and pets to be around the chemical process.

After a fire loss, many noxious odors can exist in your home that must get addressed by our experienced technicians and their cutting-edge equipment. If you need odor removal, you can count on our SERVPRO of South Shreveport team to show you the effectiveness of hydroxyl radicals in your home. Give us a call today at (318) 865-4655.

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House Fire in Shreveport? Professionals Talk Soot Removal

1/20/2020 (Permalink)

Smoke and soot damage is difficult to DIY. We have the cleaning agents and expertise to remove the damage and restore your home.

Get Efficient Soot Removal After Fire Damage in Your Shreveport Residence

After a fire, your home is likely to have soot damage. Fine soot particles might cling to walls, ceilings, furniture, and other items in your house.

When there is fire damage in your Shreveport home, you need to remove different types of soot residues. Some residues are more challenging to clean than others. The four different kinds of soot residues include:

• Wet smoke residues
• Dry smoke residues
• Fuel oil smoke residues
• Protein smoke residues

Fires progress through stages, and they generate both dry and wet smoke. Some fires mainly produce wet smoke, while others mainly produce dry smoke. We use different cleaning methods to eliminate various kinds of fire damage residues. At times, soot is dry in one room but oily in another, based on the materials which burned. We can deal with soot damage through:

Dry cleaning 

If you have primarily dry soot in your residence, dry cleaning methods can remove it. For instance, you can use a dry cloth to remove soot from furniture and a vacuum to remove it from carpets and upholstery. Dry cleaning ensures that powdery soot does not smear into blackened grime. However, this cleaning method is tedious and, therefore, only suitable for small areas. Remember that if the soot starts to smear after using a dry-cleaning method, you should try to wet clean it.

Wet cleaning

Wet cleaning is effective in eliminating wet or oily soot. To use this strategy, you can mix water and soap and then scrub the affected areas slightly. It is advisable to test the method in a small area to determine if it can remove the soot without ruining the underlying surface or making a mess. Wet cleaning can remove residue mixed with water or oil. However, it requires significant effort and is tedious. Furthermore, wet cleaning is only feasible on nonporous surfaces. It is unsuitable for cleaning wood or drywall.

DIY techniques can work on smaller areas of soot damage, but they are not always a great option. It can be overwhelming to clean significant soot damage on your own. There is also the risk of ruining some surfaces because of lacking the right cleaning solutions. In such cases, you can seek assistance from fire restoration experts.

SERVPRO has several products specifically designed to eliminate soot from a wide range of surfaces. Sometimes, it is impossible to remove the soot because of the nature of damaged items or the severity of the soot damage. Our technicians can discard such items.

Soot residues may contain different kinds of acids. If acidic soot residues remain on affected surfaces for a long time, they can cause corrosion or discoloration. Our SERVPRO crew has the expertise and tools required to remove soot residues from all affected materials and surfaces.

When dealing with soot damage, you can trust SERVPRO of South Shreveport to eliminate it efficiently and make it seem “Like it never even happened.” Call us today at (318) 865-4655.

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Why Seek Expert Assistance After a Fire Damages Your Shreveport Home

10/14/2019 (Permalink)

SERVPRO knows their place and how to help when it comes to your Shreveport fire damage.

We know what needs to be done to kick that soot from your Shreveport fire damage out of your home.

Cooking is one of the most common causes of fire damage in homes. Flammable substances around the oven or unattended stove tops can cause a fire. When cooking, it is essential to stay close to the oven or stove and watch it at all times. Fires that occur during harsh weather are worse because the flames may burn a hole in your roof, exposing your home to water damage. 

You can stay in your Shreveport home after fire damage only if the destruction is small enough. Remember that heavy soot and odors can cause unlivable conditions for you and your family. The excessive heat of a fire can also compromise the structural integrity of your home. Therefore, you should let professionals inspect your property before re-entry. 

Once you get to know the extent of the fire damage, start the cleanup process immediately. Get masks, gloves, and protective clothing to stay safe. You can cover your furniture with clean tarpaulin sheets to ensure that no more soot particles settle on it. 

If your home has dry soot, you can use dry cleaning methods to remove it. For instance, you can use a dry cloth to remove the residue from furniture and a vacuum cleaner to remove it from flooring, carpeting, and upholstery. To remove wet soot, you can use wet cleaning methods. Combine soap with water and scrub the affected areas lightly. However, it is not advisable to use water to clean wood, drywall, and electronics. Removing soot from the walls and ceilings is daunting. Our SERVPRO technicians can use dry cleaning sponges, peroxide active cleaning, and wet cleaning to clean the walls and ceilings. 

A fire may also cause pungent smells that can last in your house for many months or even years. We can control and remove unpleasant smells from your home and belongings by doing the following things:

• Removing the source of the odor
• Cleaning odor-causing residues from surfaces
• Re-creating the condition of odor penetration
• Sealing surfaces as required

If the odors remain, we can use other techniques to deal with it. For instance, our SERVPRO team can use advanced equipment like hydroxyl generators and Ultra Low Volume (ULV) foggers to remove odors from your home and belongings. 

After a fire loss in your home, SERVPRO of South Shreveport can help you in restoring it to preloss condition. Call us 24/7 at (318) 865-4655 for quick remediation in Forbing and the neighboring areas. 

To learn more about Shreveport, click here.

Shreveport Home Have Serious Post Fire Odors? Call the Professionals from SERVPRO for Improved IAQ Indoor Air Quality

8/28/2019 (Permalink)

When the SERVPRO Box Truck Arrives at this Shreveport Home, The Smoke Odors Will Soon Be Gone

Thermal Fogging for Smoke Odors in Shreveport Homes

Deodorization is one of the most substantial obstacles most Shreveport homeowners face after a fire. While many opt for the experience and professionalism of accredited restoration firms to handle soot and structural damage, odors can spread far beyond the ignition point to threaten every type of material present on your property. Finding the appropriate solution to this problem is often a challenge for residents who do not have the deep pool of resources and recovery tools available to our SERVPRO team.

Professional Grade and Preparation Needed
Thermal fogging machines are one of the best lines of defense against fire damage odor in Shreveport properties. With multiple solutions available to suit any situation, our trained fire restoration professionals can tailor our response and actions to the severity of odor concerns in the house and what materials have become affected by the conditions. Understanding how thermal fogging works can help you to appreciate how ideal these machines are for most fire odor removal needs.
 
Can Reduce Pack-Outs for Cleaning and Deodorizing
The use of thermal foggers after a fire is commonplace for our SERVPRO team under certain conditions, as this deodorization process replicates how materials became smoke-damaged in the first place. Through the use of both heat and pressure, porous materials can open more and become exposed to the chemical fog that can neutralize these harsh odors on contact. By the use of this system, we can often reduce the need for material removal when other structural damages do not exist.

There Are Advantages and Some Disadvantages to Thermal Fogging
Another advantage of choosing thermal fogging is the portability of these machines. Unlike the units our professionals also use like ozone machines and hydroxyl generators, thermal fogging devices can often get carried throughout the home to expose a greater area to the neutralizing agents. These tools are also ideal for use with softer materials found throughout the property as well, including carpeting, upholstery, and clothing. However, some fogging products require removal of plants, pets, and people for a period of time.
 
While our professionals have multiple tools and approaches to eliminate smoke odors after a fire, thermal fogging can be a smart choice. Our SERVPRO of South Shreveport team arrives with the full measure of our fire recovery equipment and our experienced personnel to quickly make loss incidents “Like it never even happened.” Contact us for any assistance you need recovering from a fire at (318) 865-4655.

Did a Kitchen Fire Leave a Foul Odor in Your Shreveport Home?

7/30/2019 (Permalink)

Kitchen fires often occur when pots are unwatched. Keep an active eye on your stove when cooking.

Odor After Kitchen Fire Not Going Away? SERVPRO Can Help!

A small mistake can have significant consequences for your Shreveport home. Even something as small as forgetting to turn off your stove when leaving your house can result in you returning to flames in your kitchen. After extinguishing the fires, you may find that smoke and soot residue has permeated into kitchen surfaces. Without professional assistance, residues from fire smoke can be tough to remove. 

SERVPRO Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC) certified technicians have experience in fire damage mitigation and can assist you in cleaning your Shreveport home. Once we arrive, our techs can begin removing any damaged structural components and debris. Fires leave soot and smoke residue that can fill your house with pungent, unpleasant odors. We use vacuums to suck up any loose odor particles in your home; however, odor particles often penetrate deep into surfaces, forcing us to use deodorizers. We can apply deodorizers in all affected areas of your home to remove smells caused by any remaining particles. Our techs can carefully spray deodorizers in a pattern resembling how odors initially spread through your home, ensuring that the deodorizers penetrate areas containing the remaining odor particles. 

Fires often leave a smelly oily residue which can resist cleaning. SERVPRO fire and smoke damage technicians can spray down cooking surfaces with cleaning agents that weaken the bond between the residue and the kitchen surface, allowing us to wash it off. More permeable surfaces such as table cloths and curtains can absorb more residue and can be more resistant to cleaning, requiring more careful and focused cleaning. 

Fires are difficult to recover from, and can often have long-lasting odors that cannot be mitigated with every day cleaning products. Residues can bond too tightly to surfaces, and odors can penetrate deep inside your home. For professional and effective fire damage mitigation, call SERVPRO of South Shreveport at (318) 865-4655. We are available 24/7 and can make you feel "Like it never even happened."

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How Professionals Remove Smoke Odor From Fire Damaged Shreveport Homes

7/25/2019 (Permalink)

The fire was localized to a small part of the house, but smoke traveled throughout the property. Call SERVPRO to eliminate the smoke odors.

Do Ozone Machines Work for Fire Damage Odor in Shreveport Homes? 

Fire loss incidents can become substantially damaging situations for individual Shreveport homes and properties. Even with an immediate response to the disaster with competent and certified restoration specialists, it can be an uphill battle to overcome current effects like smoke and soot residues and lingering odors. While there are multiple tools and devices that professionals can use to address harsh scents in the property after a fire, among the most powerful of these is the ozone machine.

Understanding more about how these machines can aid in the elimination of fire damage odor in Shreveport properties can help homeowners to appreciate their need for professional restoration service like SERVPRO when conditions get out of control. Conventional cleaning efforts do little to address foul odors in the property, and worse still, these scents can become trapped in materials, contents, and structural elements and prove even more challenging to remove without specialized equipment and practices. 

It is important to note that our SERVPRO professionals do not always choose ozone machines specifically because this equipment can be unsafe for humans and pet exposure. With our volume of portable units and our ozone chamber at our local facility, we can still appreciate the efficiency and thoroughness of this approach. In larger damaged areas where no living things exist or remain, we can install multiple ozone machines to address present odors quickly. 

These tools work by creating the chemical equivalent of ozone and allowing oxidation to break down the molecular structure of odor compounds. This gas generated is not breathable, presenting the risk to humans and pets around it. This gas can also infiltrate materials and contents, much like smoke did, to eliminate existing foul fire damage scents to leave no discernable odor behind. 

We know how quickly odor damages can spread throughout a property, and even with a small fire, you can deal with an entire house of secondary effects. Let our SERVPRO of South Shreveport fire restoration professionals help you through this trying time by calling (318) 865-4655. 

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Let SERVPRO Put The Flames Of Worry Out In Shreveport

4/18/2019 (Permalink)

After the fire is put out call us for restoration. We are available 24/7 to offer our expertise, equipment and experience.

Cooking-Related Fire Damage in Shreveport Can Be Restored

Learning new recipes for your family to enjoy can be an absolute delight, at least until your skillet catches fire and leaves fire damage all around your kitchen, even on the ceiling. Worse still, because your recipe involved meat, you can expect an especially foul odor that is off-putting for anyone's appetite.

When accidental fire damage in your Shreveport home has you ordering takeout for dinner, it is best to address and mitigate the damage as soon as possible. SERVPRO professionals are available 24/7 to visit your home, address the damage, and curb potential long-term corrosion from soot turning acidic.

During our team's visit, we can get right to assessing fire damage and cleaning soot-covered surfaces in your home. It is vital to mitigate soot on surfaces before it is allowed to become acidic and corrode your possessions. Porous surfaces, such as kitchen wallpaper, curtains, and tablecloths, are also prone to absorbing soot and need extensive cleaning to eliminate fire damage from these surfaces. Residue from proteins that have caught fire is nearly invisible and requires thorough manual cleaning of surfaces before odor can be eradicated with deodorizers. If left unchecked, these proteins impart a hard-to-remove film that can continually give off unpleasant odors, even on surfaces where you may not have expected such a residue to settle.

Multiple methods of deodorization may be used by our SERVPRO odor control technicians (OCTs), including Ultra Low Volume (ULV fogging), which works by releasing deodorant particles that are 8 to15 microns in size. These particles are small enough to settle in and penetrate odors in cracks and crevices where you may have least expected to find it. ULV fogging is also an effective method for deodorizing ventilation systems after a thorough cleaning to prevent odors from spreading throughout your home.

CTA, SERVPRO of South Shreveport is ready to assist you in cleaning up any size disaster. Give us a call today at (318) 865-4655, and we can have a team sent out to mitigate damage within hours.

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Is Your HVAC System Circulating Smoke After the Fire on Your Shreveport Property?

3/11/2019 (Permalink)

Each vehicle in our Green Fleet is loaded with equipment to restore your fire damaged home.

HVAC Cleaning and Deodorizing After Shreveport House Fires

Many Shreveport homeowners use their HVAC systems every day to regulate the temperature inside their homes and to offer cleaner breathing air by filtering the circulating air through the filter of the system. Whenever situations occur like a fire, however, this same HVAC system can work to spread soot and smoke particulates, as well as the sour odor that often accompanies the incident, throughout every area of the house.

Once the first responders have left your fire damaged Shreveport home, you need to begin to address the effects throughout the property such as fire debris removal, soot cleanup, and fire odor deodorization. Our SERVPRO professionals have effective mitigation and restoration tactics from our extensive fire restoration training to obtain IICRC certifications. The continued educational opportunities that our technicians undertake ensure that we send knowledgeable and prepared professionals to your home capable of restoring the property quickly.

Many steps are intricate to the fire restoration process, but our team must first fully assess the property. This inspection includes a close look at the HVAC system, both the physical unit and the ductwork throughout your house. We can utilize drill-powered brushes to break sediment loose throughout this system, and combine this with high-powered vacuums to improve the cleanliness and effectiveness of this appliance. Additionally, clean ducts, filters, and coils can stop the spread of damaging effects throughout your home.

Removing the sour odor that fires can leave behind often requires multiple pieces of equipment. Our SERVPRO technicians might begin with our hydroxyl generators which can work to reduce particulates in the environment and reduce present odors. Thermal fogging is also an effective approach that is safe to use on soft materials, fabrics, and textiles throughout the property.

Recovering after a fire requires an immediate response from skilled professionals who have the expertise to restore your home entirely. Our SERVPRO of South Shreveport fire restoration technicians can showcase the full measure of our experience and equipment to make these damages “Like it never even happened.” Give us a call anytime at (318) 865-4655.

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We've Got Your Back When A Fire Has Destroyed Your Shreveport Home

11/26/2018 (Permalink)

When fires happen, however, few homeowners are prepared for the repercussions.

Cleaning Up Your Home In Shreveport After Fire Damage

Disasters that do not discriminate, fires in Shreveport can occur no matter the condition or age of your home. The chance that a fire could start is always present, for any number of reasons. A majority of homeowners realize this fact, and it is probably the most common fear for people when purchasing a home. When fires happen, however, few homeowners are prepared for the repercussions.

If you’ve experienced a fire and fire damage in your Shreveport home, we understand that this is a time of overwhelming emotions, including sadness, anger, and confusion. That is why at SERVPRO, a professional restoration company, we handle each case that comes to us with care.

When cleaning and restoring materials in your home which have been damaged by smoke, tour goal is to restore these materials to their condition of preloss. We use some general principles of cleaning to accomplish this task.

SERVPRO staff first locate smoke residues by carefully inspecting the area affected. We begin at the source of the fire and trace how far the smoke traveled through your home. Different kinds of smoke residues can be present in the same area of loss. We select the cleaning method which will most effectively remove the type of smoke residues present.

We also identify the affected surface types, which determines the cleaning methods and products that are all right to use. We carefully preserve the material or surface we need to clean, and some elements can be unrestorable since they cannot withstand the cleaning process.

Since smoke residues bond with surfaces they contact, we use dry and wet processes of cleaning the residue particles can release and be carried away from the surface that was affected. We can then properly dispose of the debris and waste from cleaning.

As fire damage restorers, we have to respond to a variety of challenges created when odors and smoke residues affect various materials and surfaces. We adapt basic concepts of cleaning for each situation to ensure we are successful. We have several ways to agitate surfaces, multiple products to make the chemical reactions needed, and various cleaning procedures for using dwell time and heat to remove residues. We use the complete range of restoration procedures before determining that a fire-damaged material is unrestorable.

SERVPRO of South Shreveport wastes no time in getting to your property in Forbing, Shreveport, or the surrounding areas when you contact us after a fire. Don’t hesitate to give us a call at (318) 299-1638 when you need help repairing and cleaning your property from fire damage.

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How Our Team Removes Smoke Particles After A Fire In Your Forbing Home

10/8/2018 (Permalink)

Postponing fire damage restoration after a fire occurs in your home is not a good idea.

Capturing And Removing Smoke Particles During Fire Damage Restoration In Forbing

Postponing fire damage restoration after a fire occurs in your home or business can be overwhelming. The longer you take to correct the damage, the number of areas that need repairs increase - which ends up increasing the cost of the restoration work. Alerting your home insurance company and licensed restoration professionals should be your priority. We can assess the level of damage in your Forbing property and outline appropriate cleanup procedures.

When our SERVPRO technicians attend to fire damage incidents in Forbing, they have the task of finding and identifying the various types of smoke residues at the site. The tests we perform during this stage helps us to come up with the most suitable methods of capturing and removing the particles. While some of the residues loosely attach to the surfaces, some are firmly attached, and we have to use fluids and air to release and carry them away.

Dissolving and vacuuming are the most common processes that our SERVPRO team uses to capture and remove the smoke residues. If the site contains dry particles that are not firmly attached to the surfaces, then vacuuming may be our preferred method. Particles that have come into contact with moisture may be hard to remove since they bond with the surface becomes stronger and it may be necessary to use a wet cleaning process.

Our SERVPRO technicians use dissolving to weaken the bond between the particles and the surfaces. After weakening the bond, we can then suspend the residues in a cleaning product and readily flush it away. The cleaning product that we select should not react with the surface in any way so that the area does not deteriorate. Wash, rinse, and dry are the three steps that we follow when using the dissolving method. At the end of the cleaning process, our team disposes the residues as per the state and local requirements. For instance, we cannot release the waste into a septic system or gutter.

SERVPRO of South Shreveport is a trusted leader that uses industry proven procedures to restore homes and business after water, fire, storm, and mold damage. Call us at (318) 865-4655 and our highly trained technicians can offer you emergency services.

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SERVPRO Fire Damage Technicians Out of Forbing Talk About Restoring Contents

9/3/2018 (Permalink)

SERVPRO Provides Pack-Outs for Cleaning Fire Damaged Possessions in the Forbing Area

Fire & Smoke Residues Require Cleaning As a Phase of Cleanup and Restoration

Whenever a fire ignites on a property in Forbing, burnt materials are not the only problems that can occur. Smoke can spread throughout a structure and cause more issues than just fire damage. Smoke consists of particles that did not wholly combust during the blaze. When these partially burned particles hit cooler surfaces, they coat the materials with soot residues. Sometimes affected items can be easily cleaned, but often the soot is impossible to remove forcing the object to be replaced during the fire damage restoration process.
 
Soot created by smoke can cause problems with both structural materials and your possessions. In many cases, during a fire damage project in Forbing, we remove contents from the affected areas to clean and treat them. Restoring your building materials and personal items separate from each other helps prevent secondary problems as a result of the restoration procedures. It is also easier to remove soot from your contents once our SERVPRO technicians move them to a clean and disinfected location.
 
If items inside your home get negatively affected during the fire, then they need to be cleaned, deodorized, and restored. When our SERVPRO technicians remove your contents for cleaning, we follow some general steps. First, we remove the boxes of your dirty possessions from their storage location to our cleaning area. We then unpack each box comparing the items in the box to the inventory list to ensure accuracy. Then, we clean each object using a standard set of procedures. Ultrasonic cleaning may be employed for specific possessions.
 
As each item is being cleaned, we perform additional deodorizing such as implementing an ozone machine or thermal fogging as required to eliminate foul odors to the structure. Once all of the elements are both cleaned and deodorized, we pack them back up in new with fresh packaging paper and update our inventory sheets. Lastly, we move the boxes filled with clean items to our clean storage warehouse until we schedule the time to bring them back to your home. "Like it never even happened."
 
If you ever think your contents require soot cleaning after even a small fire starts inside your home, call SERVPRO of South Shreveport at (318) 865-4655 seven days a week.

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Misused Electrical Outlets Can Cause Fire Damages In Your Shreveport Home

7/18/2018 (Permalink)

SERVPRO Says Be Aware of Electrical Fire Potential in Your Shreveport Home

Prevent Fires from Electrical Shorts By Following this Information from SERVPRO

Many Shreveport homeowners do not fully understand the electrical network throughout their homes. While most occupants can appreciate the plug and use mentality of outlets, they fail to understand how they work and their limitations for specific oversized items or their ability to fail in dangerous ways when they get improperly used.

Preventing dangerous situations in your home is a priority to most families, and this begins with better understanding the limitations and restraints of your electrical systems. To prevent situations like fire damages in your Shreveport residence, it is a good idea to educate yourself about how you can be more safety-conscious about electrical consumption and improper usages.

One of the first things that a homeowner needs to consider when it comes to their electrical outlets in their home is that they only get rated for a specific amount of available power. This misunderstanding has required our SERVPRO technicians to respond to emergencies in residences and commercial structures alike. Trying to get more out of this individual stations than what they can provide underpowers the devices you have plugged in and can overload the outlet itself, causing sparks and combustion.

Another situation that our SERVPRO fire restoration team has seen is improper usage of outlets. Many homeowners mistakenly believe that because their home is grounded with a wire outside, that this protects all of the outlets, whether they have a grounding slot or not. Unless the individual who installed your electrical system physically connected your outlets to this grounding rod via the fuse box, some of your power outlets could remain unprotected. Using three-pronged appliances and devices with a converter for a two-pronged outlet provides no protection, and power surges can and do ignite fires. GFCI, ground fault circuit interrupters are often used in water accessible areas like bathrooms and kitchens to help prevent the chance of shocks or electrocution.

A better understanding of the safety guidelines and limitations of your residential electrical system can help you to prevent fires and disasters in your home. If these situations have already occurred, trust our SERVPRO of South Shreveport fire restoration specialists to help you clean up the mess and get your home back to preloss conditions quickly. Give us a call 24/7 at (318) 865-4655.

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Fire Damage can Happen when Forbing Residents use Candles During Power Outages

6/8/2018 (Permalink)

Several areas of this home sustained fire damage. The crew at SERVPRO was called in to clean or removed all of the damaged materials.

Rely on SERVPRO when a fire damages your home

Power outages happen during the spring months' thundershowers, and Forbing residents typically resort to using alternative ways to light their homes. Candles might play a role during a romantic dinner, but in an emergency, they pose a much higher risk than a flashlight or other temporary light source.

Candle use can cause a home in the Forbing area to suffer fire damage in a concentrated area. Setting a candle too close to a wall can force its heat to travel upward rapidly, catching any flammable items on fire. Drapes, paintings, wall art, and other furnishings can then spread the fire as burning pieces drop to the floor.

SERVPRO technicians with IICRC certificates in Carpet Repair and Reinstallation (RRT) can help save carpeting from the possible destruction caused by both the fire itself and the water used to put it out. Clearing walls and other surfaces of soot and oily smoke deposits often reveals that many materials do not suffer as much as the homeowners might have previously thought.

We use specially designed cleaning agents that pull dirty, greasy residues away from the different surfaces covered in soot. Some materials may require additional cleaning, while others may look and feel clean but continue to give off smoke-related odors. We have different methods that effectively eradicate odors caused by even the most challenging materials.

Many times, we find that the worst odors come from hidden nooks and crannies near the fire's location and not the suspected items. In these situations, we apply neutralizing deodorizing agents that bond with the smoke particles and chemically change them. After this takes place, they can no longer cause problem smells for you and your family.

After we replace damaged items and materials with new ones, your home once again should look "Like it never even happened." Damaged areas, greasy soot, and smoky odors no longer create bad memories or health and safety risks for your family members.

SERVPRO of South Shreveport has the technicians to help restore your family home to how you expect it to look and feel. Call us at (318) 865-4655 so we can perform the work needed.

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SERVPRO Fire Damage Cleaning in Forbing, LA

4/22/2018 (Permalink)

Smoke damage can remain in the home long after a fire. Contact SERVPRO for a quick response and remediation services.

Team SERVPRO Arrives With Equipment to Remediate Odors After a Fire

Forbing homes usually suffer most from smoke and soot after a fire. Massive structural damage is a rarity, but even cleaning and removing those residues can take days or weeks. In some cases, restoration costs can be higher than simply removing and disposing of the affected property and building materials.
 
Restoring the effects of fire damage to Forbing homes requires much more than a mop, bucket, and a bottle of cleaning and deodorizing chemical. To eliminate residues and the accompanying odors, we use specialized equipment not available to the general public. Every SERVPRO office maintains an extensive inventory of devices and machines to permanently remove both types of damage, and not just cover them up.
 
We start with Ventilation Fans. This high velocity, industrial grade, box fans shift 3000 to 5000 cubic feet of air per minute. Not only are they superb for removing odors, but they can also help to dry out furniture and building material like drywall. If the outside air is drier than inside, our technicians can use the fans to displace the odor-filled, damp air with the odor-free air from outside the home.
 
Once the fans are in place, SERVPRO team members bring out Electric Pressure Sprayers. We use these to disperse cleaning and deodorizing agents directly onto large surfaces, like carpets, and furniture such as sofas and chairs. These sprayers are very effective with light to heavy residues and mild to strong odors.
 
For small items or small stains on large items, we use Injectors. These are hand-held pumps with a large needle attached. Team members inject small amounts of cleaners and deodorizers directly into the stain. We prefer using this method to hopefully prevent the need to lift and remove a carpet or go to the expense of recovering an upholstered chair or sofa.
 
For very strong odors that have penetrated deep into wall framing and other support structure, we use Ozone Machines. These devices heat up and generate a gaseous molecule that binds with odor-causing molecules. The ozone molecules can penetrate as deeply as the odors, altering the molecules and eliminating them completely.
 
If you have smoke-related odors in your home, call SERVPRO of South Shreveport at (318) 865-4655 today. We can help you return your residence to its original condition and provide a safe environment for you and your family.

Click here for more information on the city of Forbing.