If your home’s experienced smoke damage, you’ll want to address the issue immediately. The sooner you begin cleaning, the better chance you’ll have of eliminating the damage completely. You have two choices available to you: you can hire professionals, or do the work on your own.
Professionals are a lot of experience when it comes to addressing smoke damage, and they also have access to high-quality equipment. Unless the damage is severe, you may be better off getting rid of the problem on your own.
The first step will be to get rid of the black marks that smoke damage leaves on your walls. You can do this with a powerful cleaning solution called TSP. Mix it with water, scrub your walls, then rinse it off and scrub again.
You’ll also need to get rid of any blistering the smoke has caused. Use a putty knife to scrape away the blister, then sand the area down. Fill in the gaps with spackle, and then sand the area again until it’s flush with the wall.
To eliminate odors, air out the house completely. Open all of the windows, and use fans to help the air circulate. Do this as frequently as you can. You should also use a high-strength odor remover like Odoban. This can help you to get rid of bad smells for good. Read some more fire and smoke damage tips here.
Tackling smoke damage cleanup takes a lot of work. It’s likely that you’ll spend many days scrubbing and cleaning your home. However, all your efforts will be worthwhile, your home will look and smell like new again. Put in the effort, and you’ll get results.
