Cleaning up After a Fire
If you’ve ever experienced a fire in your place of work you will realise what a traumatic event it is and you will appreciate the damage fire, smoke and soot can cause. A fire in your home is far worse to experience, it is often a really emotional and daunting experience and so it is vital to understand the steps you can take to get the insurance reinstatement process under way as quickly as possible. Your home may be very badly damaged and the most important thing is, of course, the safety and health of residents. Buildings can be cleaned repaired and reinstated in most cases.
If the fire services have been called or if you’ve used fire extinguishers, there may be foam, flood and water damage as well as fire and smoke damage, so you may be faced with water damage repairs as well as fire damage restoration. Home insurance repairs can be carried out by restoration companies under the insurance restoration policies. Fire damage restoration is a complex and involved process and requires expert reinstatement company involvement as soon as possible.
Insurance Reinstatement
The first step is to be in immediate and close contact with your insurance company throughout the fire damage assessment and building reinstatement process. If your insurance documents were destroyed in the fire, you may not even recall who you were insured with as we all shop around for better rates and deals these days. A good place to start is with your bank to remind you which insurance companies your direct debits are being paid to. This can often help you to recall who you’re insured with and help you get in contact quickly.
Contact your insurance company as soon as possible and request replacement policy documents as soon as possible. Keep notes of all bills you are incurring if you have to temporarily live in a hotel or rental accommodation.
Appointing a Reinstatement Company
Once the building restoration company is appointed by the insurance company the assessment and reinstatement can start in earnest. The building restoration contractors will start by examining the exterior structure of the property. The surveyor will search along the foundation of the building for cracks and will be taking particular attention to fire damaged areas. Fire may have caused structural damage, particularly where the utilities enter the building such as gas, electricity and where the sewage pipes exit the property.
If a Class A foam extinguisher product has been used to extinguish a fire, this type of foam may have been heated until it appears to have baked onto the exterior walls and windows. There are relatively easily removed by restoration companies with some effort before repainting can commence.
Fire is not the only concern as hot ash and smoke damage can cause more damage than the fire itself. So the first job of the restoration contractor is to seal the building with tarpaulins and plastic sheeting so that it is sealed from the weather. If the roof is partially destroyed then it makes sense to cover the roof to avoid water damage through rain entering the property.
The restoration company will then be able to begin the stripping out process and begin the building reinstatement phase, followed by redecoration and refurnishing of the property. By the time the insurance reinstatement is complete the property should be fully restored and freshly decorated or cleaned back to the condition it was in before the fire.
How Can We Help?
Paradigm Reinstatements is based in central Scotland and is one of the UK’s leading fire damage restoration and restoration companies. They utilise a wide range of cleaning systems and use their expertise to provide expert fire restoration services. As a result Paradigm are one of the leading building reinstatement companies appointed by several of the UK’s leading insurance companies.
We can help you following a fire...
