Smoke Damage Tips for Restoration

Smoke damage restoration isn’t just about cleaning the sooty walls, it’s about restoring your home’s safety, preserving the value of your home, and most of all your family’s health. When smoke damage occurs, the impulse to clean surfaces quickly can feel natural. But the smarter choice is hiring a restoration partner with the right training and protocols, especially for health-sensitive households.

For over 20 years Orange Restoration has served San Diego County, 24 hours a day with emergency flood cleanup response, fire damage repairs, and mold remediation services. We do complete restoration services for fire damage repairs on homes or commercial properties. We employ an expert fire restoration team as well as a master plumber, team of electricians, and we just recently added more medically sound remediation technicians. We are even more aware of health concerns with our ultrafine particle cleanup protocols associated with the medical grade remediation services. –Urgent Fire Damage Repairs and Medical Remediation Concerns

Smoke Damage Tip 1: Check for Advanced Certifications & Training

Most restoration companies hold standard credentials like IICRC or Fire & Smoke Damage certifications. But when you have CIRS, or sensitivities for the final, if not the whole project, you’ll want to consider another level of certification: CIRSx Medically Important Remediation certification, particularly for families affected by Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS).

• Yaron, our lead remediator, is one of a select few nationally recognized by ISEAI as certified remediation professional, and is on track to become a CIRSx Master Trainer.
  
• These credentials aren’t just badges, they assure you’re working with someone trained for serious, health-risk scenarios, not just basic cleanup.

Smoke Damage Tip 2: Demand Containment and Air Quality Protocols

Smoke particles, including soot and odor-causing compounds, behave like mold spores. They’re ultrafine, pervasive, and easily airborne.

• Any competent restoration company should use containment barriers and negative air pressure to prevent cross-contamination.
  
• But if you’re health-sensitive, you want more. Make sure they use Small Particle Cleaning (SPC), a protocol that removes things most cleanup crews miss, reducing long-term exposure.

Smoke Damage Tip 3: Confirm They Use In-House Trades

Rushed drying or relying on subcontractors often leads to secondary mold growth, especially in hidden wall cavities.

• Projects done with fragmented teams frequently fail to follow through on health-sensitive protocols.
  

At Orange Restoration, we employ all trades in-house, plumbers, electricians, remodeling experts, and certified remediators, ensuring a consistent, medically sound process every time.

Smoke Damage Tip 4: Consider Health-Sensitive Occupants

Up to 25% of people are genetically susceptible to CIRS. For these individuals, typical fire cleanup may still pose health risks.

• Homes that seem “clean” can retain ultrafine particles or chemical residues that trigger symptoms.
• That’s why we emphasize SPC and medically sound protocols, to ensure environments are truly safe for vulnerable people.

Smoke Damage Tip 5: Look for Documentation & Testing

A restoration company committed to health, not just house, should provide:

• Pre- and post-project documentation.
  
• Moisture and particle monitoring.
  
• Ultra-fine particle counts and air quality testing.
• Written verification that medically safeness standards have been met, ideally using dust clearance protocols like HERMI or HERTSMI-2 for sensitive environments.

Why Orange Restoration Stands Apart

While many restoration companies can repair smoke damage, we live at the intersection of property care and health-first remediation. Here’s why:

• Our technicians are fully certified across fire, smoke, water, and mold restoration.
• Our true specialty, however, is Medically Sound Remediation, CIRSx protocols, and Small Particle Cleaning.
• We’re often deployed to serious, health-critical flood and fire projects, not just locally, but regionally and across state lines.
• Medical consultants and restoration teams refer us for sensitive scenarios because we understand the stakes.
  

Essentially, while others patch and paint, we ensure health is built back into homes. We work when high-level protocols are not just preferred, but necessary.

…If you insist on handling your own smoke and fire damage restoration process, take quick action and use the right things to counteract and clean away what remains.

We’re sorry for your loss. Not enough people say that. And we hope you choose to leave most smoke damage restoration to professionals. That saves you a world of hassles, and many cost are covered by insurance. But if there’s some part of the smoke damage restoration process you’d like to handle yourself, we have some advice for you.

Good Preparation and Planning Will Help With Smoke Damage Restoration

One common issue after a fire is smoke damage from soot. Soot is very simply the residue that smoke in a confined space leaves behind. It can be on walls, ceilings and just about anywhere, and ordinary household cleaners won’t clean it away. To tackle the problem yourself, you’ll need several things, including:

• a special cleaner called TSP, which stands for trisodium phosphate
• an oversized sponge like you might use for washing a car
• two different buckets
• lots of warm to hot water
• heavy-duty gloves
• plenty of rags
• safety glasses or goggles

Never use TSP without gloves. Use only about a tablespoon of the cleaner per gallon of water. Wipe it on the area impacted, then wash it away soon after using your sponge dipped in clean water from the other bucket. Wash and rinse the entire area and see how the results look. Remember that saturating walls with this solution can cause additional damage, so apply liberally but don’t over-apply.

How long the cleaning process takes depends on the extent of the soot and smoke damage and how large an area is covered. Keep in mind that if an area is charred, the paint or other material has actually been burned away and cannot be restored by cleaning.

You may notice bubbling and blistering caused by the excessive heat on the paint and ceiling tiles. This kind of damage also can’t be undone and must be repaired.

Do It Yourself Smoke Damage Repair

To repair bubbling or blistering, you will need:

• a good putty knife
• a trusted brand of spackle
• fine-grit sandpaper
• primer paint
• paint that matches the damaged area

The process is simple: scrape away the blistering or bubbling with the knife, then sand the area until it is as flat as possible. If there’s an indentation, imperfection or any missing drywall, use spackle to repair it. When the spackle has dried, re-sand the area until the spackle has blended smooth with the drywall.

Then, prime the area and paint it. Using primer will ensure the smoothest finish and one that matches the original professional paint job in your home or office.

Smoke Damage Tips for Odor Removal?

You can get rid of smoke odors by washing walls and all surfaces with a solution of vinegar or baking soda. But truthfully, the smell is what is likely to linger longest after fire and smoke damage if you don’t use a professional restoration service.

“You can’t control the habits of previous owners of your new home, or the previous tenants of that new apartment or condo you found. You know, habits like smoking. You don’t always notice the odor of smoke when you’re doing a walk-through, but once you settle in…the smell hits you at once. Don’t despair, though. While removing the smell will not be an easy task, with time, patience and a lot of dedicated “elbow grease” you won’t even know that anyone other than yourself occupied your new digs.” – How to Remove Smoke Odor from a Home

Professional fire and smoke damage restorers can use ozonation and many other processes to actually break up smoke particles and make smells go away. Also, might want to take a look at these 7 Smoke Damage Tips for Cigarette Odor Removal.

Smoke Damage Wrap-Up

There’s a lot to do after a fire, and dealing with your own restoration doesn’t have to be on that list. Instead, you can leave the restoration to experts so you can get on with life, with health intact!

Smoke damage restoration is more than cleaning, it’s about preserving long-term health, especially in sensitive homes. Use the smart tips above to assess any contractor’s capability.

At Orange Restoration, we do handle fire and smoke restoration, but selectively. Our expertise lies in medically sound remediation, SPC, and advanced containment protocols. When health demands the highest standards, our team is among the few trusted to deliver that level of safety and care.

Master Guide On Smoke Damage Tips Related to Rebuild After Fire Damage Blog Topics

• Fire Damage Remediation
• Critical 1st Steps to Restore after Fire Damage (read this to learn about rapid rebuild after fire damage)
• Clean Soot Char Yourself (DIY)
• Urgent Fire Damage Repairs and Medically Sound Remediation Concerns
• Negative Effects of Smoke and Fire Damage
• Electrical Fire Damage
• Cooking Tips to Prevent Kitchen Fires
• Air Quality Issues