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Fire Damage Restoration Equipment Used by Our Dallas Experts
1/6/2019 (Permalink)
Our SERVPRO professionals are your trusted leaders in fire damage restoration. We have serviced Dallas since 1986.
Board Ups for Dallas Residents
Board ups are needed on an emergency basis and are usually one of the first things that happen in fire damage. After the fire department leaves, a property is sometimes left with damaged doors and windows. These open spaces create two problems.
First, damaged entryways allow the weather to enter the property. If rain, snow, or just natural moisture enter the property and wet items, the property is setting itself up for both water damage and mold growth. This type of damage is considered secondary damage, which an insurance company will not typically cover if it can prove that a property owner could have taken steps to prevent it but didn’t. It’s important to seal entryways with weatherproof barriers to prevent both secondary damages to your property and to help your fire damage insurance claim be wholly covered.
Secondary, damaged entryways make it easier for thieves to enter your property. It’s unfortunate but common for robberies to occur in fire damaged properties. Even though many items inside have been damaged, thieves typically ransack the home looking for anything valuable. Boarding up doors and windows both make it harder for thieves to enter, and the barriers send a clear message that the property is being taken care of.
When the weather prevents our office from immediately boarding up a property, we will hire a live security offer to monitor your property.
Learn more about our emergency board up services.
Roof Tarping
Another part of a property that typically needs immediate attention is the roof. We will install a temporary roof tarp to all damaged portions of your roof to prevent any precipitation from entering the property and causing secondary damage. Secondary damage to your property from a leaking roof can include water damage which then leads to mold growth.
The roof tarp is meant to be a temporary security and safety measure. After the tarp has been secured, our office will send your insurance company an estimate to permanently fix or replace your damaged roof. See our pictures of previous roof tarping jobs.
Thermal Foggers
An ultra low volume fogger is specialized equipment that we use when deodorizing a home or business after fire damage. The fogger vaporizes solvent-based deodorizers and creates what looks like smoke. This “smoke” is made up of very small particles that will reach the tiny crevices that a person cannot otherwise clean with traditional methods. The use of ULV foggers has risks and should only be used by professionals with training and experience.
Ozone
Ozone is used for fire damage deodorization. Items that have been wiped of soot but still retain smoke odor are typically sent to our specialized ozone room. Items that are being treated with ozone remain in the ozone room until the smoke odor has been eliminated. Just like ULV foggers, ozone should only be used by a trained professional.
Commercial Air Duct Cleaner
Our office uses commercial air duct cleaners to clear residential and commercial air duct vents of all soot. Smoke contains very small particles of the substance that was just burnt. When a fire occurs, the properties of smoke say that the smoke will first travel to places in a property where the temperature is cooler. Oftentimes, this means that the air ducts in that property will become full of smoke. When the smoke cools, it settles into the air ducts and becomes soot.
When we inspect a property for fire damage, one of the first places we will inspect is the air duct system. If it needs to be cleaned, it’ll be one of the first things that is taken care of by our Dallas fire damage restoration experts. The last thing a homeowner needs is to have their entire home cleaned only to turn on their air conditioner and have fresh soot blow throughout their home!
Our air duct cleaners are commercial grade and clean air ducts of all sizes. Visit our air duct cleaning page to learn more.
Truck Mount Carpet Cleaner
A typical carpet cleaner will just not be powerful enough to get a smoke and soot affected carpet clean again. A typical carpet cleaner that you can purchase at an electronics store or rent from a grocery store do a decent job with day to day wear, but smoke and soot permeate the fibers of a carpet and require a deeper clean.
In our SERVPRO production vehicles, we have specialized and commercial truck mounts that help us extract water after flooding. These truck mounts also have the ability to deep clean carpets. SERVPRO has developed a carpet cleaning method for fire and smoke that involves hot water extraction and specialized shampoos. Our cleaning has been refined after decades of research and is an effective cleaning method for fire damaged carpets.
Fire Damage Sponges
Fire damage cleanup is rarely as straightforward as many people think. Our technicians use specialized sponges that are specifically made to capture the fine soot particles that embed themselves into walls and furniture. Before applying any chemicals to clean surfaces, we will first wipe the entire surface with fire damage cleaning sponge to remove as much soot as possible.
Ultrasonic Wash System
An ultrasonic machine is a sophisticated piece of equipment that we often use in fire damage clean up. An ultrasonic machine looks like a very large tub that is filled with water and proprietary chemicals made to remove soot from items.
Items that need to be cleaned are loaded into the machine and dipped into the water. The water itself looks like billions of tiny bubbles are swimming inside of it. The bubbles are caused by high frequency, low amplitude vibrations. Items remain in the ultrasonic bath until all the smoke and soot particles are removed from the item. This process usually takes no more than a few minutes.
After the items have been cleaned, they are removed from the ultrasonic machine and transferred into a specialized drying chamber. After items are dry, they are packed and stored for the homeowner.
Esporta Wash System
The Esporta Wash System is the most effective way to sanitize clothing and other textiles after fire damage. Soot is acidic, which makes it damaging to clothing once it touches it. The longer soot is allowed to remain on a piece of clothing, the higher the chance that is will permanently stain it. Clothing is also a necessity for everyone, and one of the first things a family needs after fire damage is fresh clothing to wear. For these reasons, we work to quickly pack up all clothing and textiles from a home and take it back to our fire damage cleaning facility for processing.
An Esporta machine looks like a large front loading washing machine, but inside of it are chambers where we load clothing. Once the machine is running, the chambers of clothing spin rapidly inside the machine which forces the detergent-laden water to push all smoke and soot particles out of the clothing. A typical Esporta wash lasts well over an hour with a variety of six different detergents used. Esporta proprietary chemicals are environmentally friendly and result in clothing having a near neutral pH after a wash.
We introduce different cleaning agents to each load we wash until the item of clothing is food grade clean, meaning it is safe to wear again.
The Esporta Wash System is safe for almost every type of clothing and textile, including shoes, stuffed animals, and leather. After a wash, the clothing is transported to a specialized drying chamber.
We are one of the few businesses in Texas licensed by the Esporta Wash System. We have successfully restored thousands of pieces of clothing and textiles. Our restoration rate is over 85% -- one of the highest in the industry.
SERVPRO Proprietary Chemicals and Detergents
SERVPRO has developed many chemicals that help us properly clean after fire damage. We have perfected the use of our own proprietary chemicals after decades of research of experience.
Trusted Leader in Fire Damage: Dallas, TX
SERVPRO of North Irving is locally owned and operated leader in the restoration industry. We have the expertise to handle any size smoke and fire damage restoration in Dallas, TX. We have performed residential and commercial restoration work in the Dallas community or over 30 years. We also have a Texas Mold Remediation Contractor License and offer free mold inspections.
Our crews are available dispatch for 24 hour emergencies every day of the year. We can be reached 24/7 at (972) 986-7677. Call us any time!
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