What Everyone Needs To Know About Fire Damage

3/13/2020 (Permalink)

bathroom outlet fire

Fire Damage to Your Bathroom can Happen When Electrical Circuits Get Overloaded

Because of the risk of electrical shock, most homes in Piatt/DeWitt County have GFCI outlets in both the bathroom and the kitchen. Many people feel it is safe to use several different electrical gadgets at a time. A cell phone for music, a hair dryer, and curling or straightening irons are among the many things found plugged into a socket in the typical bathroom.

When the bathroom appliances in your home overload, fire damage and electric shock are prevented by the tripping of the outlet's switch. Overheating of devices can also cause small fires. Irons are one way this happens, but cords that have weakened areas due to twisting or age can also burn countertops. Towels and clothing nearby can catch on fire and cause considerable damage.

The soot produced by fires that burn synthetics like plastics has a very greasy feeling, heavy and dense. This soot makes a serious mess when someone tries to clean it up without the right cleaning equipment. SERVPRO technicians can have everything looking “Like it never even happened,” quickly because we have specialized tools and in-house cleaning compounds that strip soot away from surfaces with minimal spreading.

If your vanity has a Formica countertop, we can often restore this rather effortlessly. Sanding the burned area down to undamaged layers allows us to fill the depression in with a standard epoxy that dries without shrinkage. This can mean the difference between needing a new vanity and keeping the current one, a much less expensive option.

Removing soot from walls after a fire, as well as the ceiling can reveal if new paint should come next. If so, we apply a primer and then a paint of your choice. We mix in an antimicrobial agent that does not change the color to help prevent microbial infestations like mold and mildew.

Fire damaged homes often experience these problems after a fire because of the water used to extinguish the flames. We know that helping you prevent any additional damage through small measures like this go a long way toward saving you money, time, and inconvenience.

When GFCI is not enough to prevent a fire in your bathroom, call SERVPRO of Piatt/DeWitt County at (217)935-2992, to get fire damage mitigation started. Our IICRC-certified specialists can help get things back to normal. "Like it never even happened."