How Can I Remove Soot Residues from My Mount Kisco Walls and Ceilings After a Fire?

6/3/2020 (Permalink)

If you ever notice that your walls and ceilings are coated with soot residues after a fire, call SERVPRO of Northern Westchester County.

SERVPRO Can Utilize Various Techniques and Chemicals to Remove all Soot Residues Inside your Mount Kisco Home

If a fire breaks out inside your house in Mount Kisco, the smoke can cause several issues aside from the materials it burns. Partially combusted particles can travel through your building and harden in the form of soot when it touches cooler surfaces like your walls and ceilings.

How do you determine what type of chemicals and techniques to use?

When working towards removing soot during fire damage restoration in Mount Kisco, our SERVPRO technicians start by finding all of your building materials and contents that got affected by soot. Once we determine where the smoke traveled, we then figure out what type of soot is present by determining what the blaze burned as fuels. For hard non-porous surfaces, we can use water-based, wet cleaning procedures, and for softer porous surfaces, we can use dry cleaning methods.

Why do some surfaces have to be dry cleaned?

Porous surfaces are unwashable because water-based solutions can cause the soot to soak deeper into the material. Softer materials like acoustic ceilings or drywall can be cleaned using dry sponges, vacuuming, dry wiping, or other methods. Sponges can be effective when cleaning different types of walls and ceilings because they can keep removing soils after they absorb a large number of residues.

What types of chemicals do you use when wet cleaning harder surfaces?

    •    General Surface Cleaners- These detergents can be used on most painted and washable surfaces. Their alkalinity is low enough to where it will not ruin semi-gloss surfaces.
    •    Heavy-Duty Cleaners- Heavy-duty detergents are effective when removing heavy grease and soils that are difficult to remove. They are usually high alkaline solutions that can ruin finished surfaces.
    •    Strong Acid Cleaners- Solutions high on the acidic side are excellent at cleaning soot residues from stone and brick items.

If you ever notice that your walls and ceilings are coated with soot residues after a fire, call SERVPRO of Northern Westchester County at (914) 241-8100 any time of the day.