A fire damages far more than what burned
The room that burned is the smallest part of a fire restoration. Smoke travels through the whole house and settles as soot on every surface, into the HVAC ducts, behind the cabinets and inside the closets. The water the fire department used to put it out soaks the floors and walls of rooms the fire never reached. Heat warps framing and cracks windows two rooms away from the flames. And the smell — which is not a surface problem but a chemical one, embedded in porous materials — is what most homeowners remember longest and what most cheap restorations fail to remove.
Fire restoration is the most complex kind of restoration work there is, because it is every other kind at once: structural repair where the fire weakened framing, roof repair where it burned through, water damage restoration from the suppression, smoke and soot cleaning throughout, odor removal, and then a rebuild of everything that could not be saved. It is also, almost always, a large insurance claim with a scope that has to be got right the first time.
We handle the whole thing. After the fire department releases the property, we board it up and tarp the roof, document everything for the claim, clean and deodorize what can be saved, remove what cannot, repair the structure and the roof, and rebuild the interior to the point where the fire is a memory rather than a smell.
- Emergency board-up and roof tarping to secure the property against weather and entry.
- Structural assessment of fire-weakened framing, trusses and roof decking before anyone works beneath it.
- Water damage from suppression extracted and dried before it becomes a mold problem on top of a fire problem.
- Soot and smoke cleaning of walls, ceilings, contents and HVAC, using the right method for each kind of residue.
- Odor removal that treats the source in porous materials, not a fragrance sprayed over it.
- Full rebuild: roof, structure, exterior, drywall, flooring, cabinets, paint. Claim handled throughout.
How fire restoration runs
Secure and document
Once the fire department releases the property, we board up openings, tarp the roof and photograph and inventory the damage room by room. The claim will be scoped on this record, so it is thorough.
Stabilize the structure
Fire-damaged framing is assessed and shored where needed before any work happens beneath it. Charred structural members are replaced, not painted over.
Remove water and prevent mold
Suppression water is extracted and the structure dried with commercial equipment, because a fire-damaged house that is also growing mold is a much bigger problem.
Clean, deodorize, remove
What can be saved is cleaned with the method the residue requires; what cannot is removed. Odor is treated at the source in the materials that hold it.
Rebuild
Roof, structure, exterior and interior rebuilt in the right order by one project manager under one claim, with the scope reconciled against the insurer's estimate and supplemented where it falls short.
Why homeowners choose LASIM after a fire
Everything under one roof
Structure, roof, water, smoke and rebuild by one company, not a chain of subcontractors who each blame the last one.
The smell actually goes away
Source treatment of porous materials, not a fragrance over the top. If it still smells in August, it was not done.
Claim scoped for the real damage
Fire claims are large and easy to under-scope. We document room by room and supplement what the estimate misses.
Structure checked first
We do not rebuild over fire-weakened framing. Assessed, shored and replaced before the finish work starts.
Fire & Smoke Damage Questions
Do not re-enter until the fire department says it is safe. Call your insurance company to open the claim, and call us to secure the property. Do not start cleaning, throwing things away or wiping soot yourself; the wrong method sets soot into surfaces permanently, and the insurer needs to see the damage before it is disturbed. Find somewhere to stay and keep every receipt; additional living expenses are usually covered.
Yes, if it is treated at the source. Smoke odor lives in porous materials: drywall, insulation, unfinished wood, fabrics, HVAC ducts. Removing it means cleaning or removing those materials and sealing what remains, then treating the air. Spraying a deodorizer over the top masks it for a few weeks and it comes back with the first humid day.
Smoke does not stay in the room. It moves through the house on air currents and the HVAC system and settles as soot everywhere, and the suppression water runs wherever gravity takes it. A "small" kitchen fire routinely means soot cleaning in every room, duct cleaning, and water damage in the rooms below. That is normal, and the claim should reflect it.
Longer than most restoration work. A contained fire with smoke damage throughout is typically several weeks; a fire that involved the structure or the roof is months, partly because of the claim process and the permits. Your project manager gives you a realistic schedule after the assessment and keeps you updated through every stage.
If the fire reached the attic or burned through the roof, usually yes, because heat damages decking and trusses well beyond the visible burn. If the fire was contained below the ceiling, the roof may only need the vents and any heat-affected areas assessed. We are a roofing company, so that assessment and the roof work are done by us rather than a subcontractor.
Yes. Fire claims are large and complex, and the initial estimate is frequently short. We document room by room before anything is disturbed, meet the adjuster, reconcile the estimate against the actual scope and file supplements for what is missing, and provide the completion documentation at the end so the depreciation is released.