What is the Best Way to Restore Fire Damaged Cabinets?

5/15/2020 (Permalink)

Cabinet Restoration for Kitchen Fire Damage in your Home

Leaving a stove unattended in your kitchen can be a prime cause of house fire. High temperatures can result in animal fats or other forms of grease to ignite, resulting in rapid naked flames, which can damage both the stove as well as the immediate surrounding area. Often you may see severe blackening on the ceiling directly above the stove as well as soot or smoke residues on cabinets. Since hot smokes seek out cooler areas, there is a strong chance that interior cabinets may become soiled with smoke damages.

The impact of kitchen fire damage in your home is likely to concentrate on appliances and fittings in the immediate vicinity. Removing these soots can be tricky without the requisite experience in dealing with different types of material and different types of smoke. Heat and pressure may also wear away finishes both on appliances and cabinet. These can then expose surfaces to soots, which can become ingrained. SERVPRO technicians recommend that homeowners not repair, clean, or restore the surfaces and walls before an inspection by professionals.

While SERVPRO promise to arrive on-site within four hours of notification of loss, many homeowners may attempt to repair some damages themselves. We recommend that you lay down any protective sheeting like tarpaulin or old bed linen on surfaces and floors in the affected area. This process can help to prevent falling soots from causing damage. Minimizing foot traffic in the affected area may also be a useful consideration for homeowners while awaiting professional assistance.

In performing kitchen fire damage restoration, the first task of our restorers is to decide which items are salvageable and which are not. The outer layers of your cabinets may become charred beyond repair, in which case SERVPRO technicians may need to remove and dispose of the offending areas. Other aspects of a fitting may respond well to restoration. SERVPRO technicians can use sandblasting equipment to remove surface layers and embedded soots before re-finishing the surface appropriately. We always conduct pre-testing of materials before cleaning solutions, or other chemicals are applied to avoid causing further harm.