You've just lived through your worst nightmare. Your home has been damaged by a fire. Now you have to begin the process of restoring your home to its previous condition. There are several steps to be taken to reach this goal. These actions must be implemented as quickly as possible because fire damage can become more serious in a very short time and the process of fire damage restoration is most effective if started as soon as possible.

Immediately contact your home owner's insurance company and have an insurance adjuster assess the damage to your house and get clearance from your fire marshal to re-enter your home. You should then call a professional fire damage restoration company to come out and go over all the parts of the needed restoration with you. Keep in mind that there are many chemical reactions that occur from the fire damage to the different surfaces in your home and the resulting smoke and soot. Using the wrong solutions to clean these surfaces can lead to more chemical reactions which can harm the surfaces in your house. This is why it is wise to hire fire damage restoration professionals who are trained in the proper method of bringing your home back to its previous condition.

The first step in fire damage restoration is to board up any holes in the roof or walls of the dwelling to prevent further damage from occurring. The fire damage restoration specialists will then open windows and doors to get air circulating through-out the house. Since there is likely to be water damage as well, fans and other equipment will be brought in to dry-out your house as quickly as possible.

Next, the fire damage restoration specialists remove any of your belongings and household goods that are salvageable. In some cases, the fire damage restoration specialists have a restoration center where these things can be sanitized and deodorized. This saves you a lot of time and trouble.

The third step in the fire damage restoration process is the removal of soot particles from the structure and surfaces of your home. This is done by a combination of vacuuming, using dry cleaning sponges on latex painted ceilings and walls, and the use of appropriate cleaning detergents on counters, porcelain, and fixtures. This is an important step toward removing unhealthy particles from the air as well.

After removing the soot the fire damage restoration specialists apply sealants to the remaining framing and house structure to seal in the smoke odor. This helps to remove lingering odor from smoke damage. The vents and ducts of the furnace and air-conditioner are often treated with sealants as well because they are difficult to access with other cleaning methods.

The last step in the fire damage restoration process is to sanitize and remove any lingering odor or particles from the air. This is done with an odor counteractant such as a thermal fogger or ozone generator. After this step is finished your house should be restored to a livable condition.