Defeating the Odors in your Danbury Home during Fire Restoration

4/19/2023 (Permalink)

SERVPRO Effectively Deodorizes Danbury Homes after Fire Damage

Odors are volatile compounds constantly released into the air until the source is depleted. Fires leave different odor sources within a property, such as the fine soot and ash residues deposited on surfaces, charred material remnants, and wet smoke residues embedded in materials. Fire damage might also turn your ventilation system into an odor reservoir recirculating pollutants in your Danbury property.

Although odors may not seem complicated like the other aspects of fire restoration your Danbury home requires, resolving them can prove difficult. SERVPRO is already aware of the challenges of deodorizing smells left by the fire, so we start tackling them right from the onset, minimizing many difficulties.

Unique challenges when handling odors:

• Smoke characteristics and movements leave odors deeply embedded 
• Restoration processes such as cleaning can create chemical odors
• Various sources emit odors simultaneously, requiring a multipronged intervention
• Sometimes, people experience non-existent odors

Apart from the unusual cases when your brain erroneously tricks you that there is an unpleasant odor, the other scenarios require elaborate intervention to eliminate the odor sources. SERVPRO helps manage all the circumstances, including placing slow-release beads within your home to provide a sweet scent masking the bad smells. 

Dealing with Embedded Odors

Fire odors are deeply embedded in areas with porous materials since smoke molecules readily penetrate the surfaces. Hard-to-reach areas such as structural cavities and air ducts also accumulate odors. You need a subtle yet effective odor management approach if the materials the fire affects are structurally intact. One solution SERVPRO relies on is fogging deodorizing agents over the affected areas. A device such as a thermal fogger vaporizes solvent deodorizers creating fog with similar characteristics to smoke, thus penetrating all areas where odors are deeply embedded.

Another fogging solution is spraying sealing agents into air ducts where standard cleaning proves challenging. The sealants, which can be acrylic or shellac-based, encapsulate odor residue remnants.   

Other solutions that help manage smoke odors:

• Applying odor-absorbing granules or pellets
• Chemical neutralization with ozone generators
• Managing airborne particles with air scrubbers

SERVPRO of Danbury / Ridgefield can help you manage any aspect of fire restoration, including successfully neutralizing any odor “Like it never even happened.” Call (203) 791-0920.