Smoke Deodorization Techniques Beyond Source Cleanup
Fire damage mitigation and remediation services include many phases and tasks within each phase. Even after diligent cleanup of firefighting water, debris, and soot, homeowners can still face oppressive smoke odor removal challenges in Lakeville. Many months of the year, Minnesota homeowners must keep doors and windows closed, making lingering smoke odors particularly oppressive. Fortunately, LightSpeed Restoration of East Metro offers comprehensive soot and smoke odor removal services, leveraging innovative techniques aimed toward neutralizing rather than just covering up unpleasant smells.
Why Smoke Odor Removal Poses Difficulty
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How Odors Develop
When items in your home heat and burn, these fuels create smoke, containing airborne volatile organic compounds that are corrosive to building materials and irritating, toxic, and incredibly malodorous to building occupants. High temperatures and flames incompletely combust typical building materials and contents. The leftover residues are the colored portion of smoke and called soot, tiny broken-down bits of the superheated and burned materials that transform into sharp and gritty particles or lacquer-like residues made of chemically rearranged molecules.
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Odor Source Removal Alone Is an Inadequate Solution
The challenge becomes apparent when considering the literal “dimensions” of soot removal. Think about combustion residues this way: You cannot gather up wood or paper ashes or melted plastic or rubber and reassemble the remains because the constituent parts have been completely altered, including each particle now carrying horrible odors. Cooking fire soot, which is protein-based and made of dehydrated and rancid food and oils, is especially pungent.
Odor-bearing particles settle in inaccessible cracks and crevices, coat all surfaces, and absorb into porous structural components. Even with deep cleaning, significant quantities of the highly noxious, smoky-smelling soot bits remain out of reach. Masking or covering up the deeply embedded smell with sprays or granules is a temporary fix that worsens the situation by substituting artificial fragrances that can be just as unappealing and cause allergic and other adverse reactions in some people. Another approach to odor elimination is essential.
Innovative Odor Neutralization Strategies
LightSpeed Restoration of East Metro offers Lakeville homeowners effective smoke odor removal technology advancements. We start by containing highly affected spaces, using negative-pressure air scrubbers equipped with HEPA filters to capture and exhaust airborne odor-bearing particles. Then, we consider one or more of the following services:
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Ozone Treatment
Oxidizing agents react with the odor-bearing particles, chemically transforming them and eliminating the odor--evacuation of occupants is necessary during the treatment.
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Hydroxyl Generators
UV light creates hydroxyl radicals that seek out the partially combusted particles, breaking them down into harmless and odor-free compounds, specifically carbon dioxide and water. This can be done safely in the presence of people and pets.
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Thermal Fogging
Foggers recreate the conditions of the fire, combusting deodorizing agents at high temperatures. The fog created penetrates porous items and enters cracks and crevices, pairing with the odiferous particles and neutralizing them.
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Air Duct and HVAC Cleaning
Odor-bearing residues can reside in the ventilation system after a fire. Inspection and cleaning minimize the recirculation of the offensive odors now and in the future.
Rely on LightSpeed Restoration of Twin Cities East Metro to manage all aspects of fire damage recovery, including smoke odor removal in Lakeville. Lingering smoky odors are an unacceptable reminder of the devastation of a home fire. Call us at (651) 459-2662 to explore technologically advanced deodorization options.