With the devastation of the Santa Rosa fires, we wanted to talk about how to go about dealing with the affects of fire damage on your house or property. Hopefully you’ll never need to implement this knowledge, but it is best to prepared.
Remember, things can be replaced but YOU CAN’T. Your safety should be your first concern. Make sure that you are safe and evacuate the area, the make sure to call the fire department to come out and settle the situation. Following the fire department, you will need fire damage restoration services, and as soon as possible to ensure further damage doesn’t occur. You don’t want smaller damages to become large problems because of holes or bursts in water pipes or water mains.
The most important step in picking a fire restoration company is…
Choosing your own fire restoration company
When a tragedy like severe fire damage happens, scammers are close by to prey on those with their guard down. As soon as the first responders leave these scammers will be ready to jump on your misfortune. They’ll approach you in your time of need and it will be easy to go with them since it will take minimal work for you, since they’re already there to get things started. These companies will prey on this and overcharge and add on services that aren’t needed.
You should always pick out the company that will handle any of your restoration needs, and check out their accreditation. Just a short inquiry of a company on the web is enough to save you a lot of unneeded stress and financial burden down the line. Allow yourself to look for reputable and efficient fire restoration companies. (We always recommend researching and finding a company or companies for all possible types of restoration [flood, fire, mold, etc.] as soon as you can, so you’ll have it ready in case disaster ever strikes.)
Make sure the company you choose includes a list of what they can do for fire restoration. Make sure the company you choose is going to fully assess the damages that have been done. Sometimes damages occur that won’t be noticeable until time has passed. Don’t allow yourself to be in a situation where a company comes in and only fixes what seems to be the damage, only to find out later that a proper assessment would have revealed potential problems and prevented more damage from occurring.
You need the company to be able to handle total cleaning, proper sanitation, and professional grade deodorization (very important). With these services you need the company of your choosing to be very transparent with what they are doing through every step of the fire restoration process, and to communicate their plans with you.
After choosing a company to handle your fire restoration, they will come in and start the process of restoring your property. Make sure to keep in contact with your insurance throughout this process, as they will mitigate the cost of getting your property restored. A good fire restoration company will help you with this process, and the more transparent they are with their process the easier it will be for you and your insurance company.
Choosing the proper company to do your fire restoration is not only important for you financially, but also for your mental and emotional wellbeing. The aftermath of fire damage isn’t only physical, therefore you should always have a company researched beforehand in case you ever need fire restoration services. Take time to prepare a list of companies for any type of restoration that may be needed in the future, no matter how unlikely. This way, when the time comes, you’ll have one less thing to worry about, and one more thing to feel secure about.