According to the National Fire Protection Association, it is estimated that some 370,000 home fires occur each year, costing close to $7 billion in total property damage. Many of these fires, however, start and are contained in a certain area of a home or business. Even though containment eliminates the necessity for complete demolition and reconstruction, it is still necessary for proper cleaning of soot and smoke in order to restore the property to a pre-loss condition.

For the news “junkies” among us, you know that the big news of Sept. 25, 2015, was that John Boehner was stepping down as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. What you might not know, and of interest to restoration professionals, was that his replacement, Congressman Paul Ryan, said when he moved into Boehner’s prestige office…it reeked.  

Fire and smoke damage can be one of the most challenging remediation tasks. There’s the actual damage from the fire, which is relatively straightforward, and then there’s the smoke.

In chemistry, we represent elements with letters (for example “O” stands for the element “oxygen”), and the small numbers to the lower-right of the element indicate the number of atoms of that element in the molecule.  

Odor control is a marriage of science and art. When the proper techniques are followed, the restoration technician can create a more pleasant and often more healthful environment.

This week, Annissa is talking about the importance of not cutting corners on a contents restoration job.