Things You Can Salvage After a House Fire

House fires are one of the most disastrous events that can occur in anyone’s life. If you’re a homeowner, you’re probably experiencing financial loss and sadness. House fires can start for several reasons and due to no one’s fault. House fires are an emotional ordeal as most people work hard to build their houses, their place of safety. When a house burns down, there are often many things that people can never regain.

After the first responders are done extinguishing the flames, you might look around and wonder if you can salvage any of this. How can you put your house back together with love again? It may be difficult and complex, but it’s not impossible. Even if your entire house burns down, you might be able to salvage some things.

In the article below, we have listed some materials and things you can salvage after a house fire.

Things You Can Salvage

The easiest things to salvage are the most durable materials. So, anything hard and non-porous is likely to survive the fire. You shouldn’t ever keep items charred, burned, or melted. However, you also have to look at what you can salvage until soot sets. Once the soot sets in, the objects you hold so dear to your heart will not be salvageable. Soot is extremely acidic and causes permanent damage to articles it comes in contact with.

Some regular items you can salvage in a fire are as follows:

1. Materials

Glass is usually resilient to fires. If the temperature of the house fire wasn’t too hot, your windows and other glass materials like vases, tables, and dinnerware would be okay. If you have a precious set of glasses you didn’t want to lose, they likely survived the fire. Even if you have stained glass windows, they will likely survive the fire. You can clean them up using detergent and a clean cloth. Remove nastier stains using baking soda and vinegar.

Depending on the temperature of fire and thickness of metal, metal can usually sustain a significant amount of fire damage. If the temperature of the fire is too high, the metal may melt but is still salvageable since you can repurpose it in your new home.  If a metal retains shape, you can clean it up using vinegar and dish soap, then sand and paint the metal.

If your hardwood floors, it shouldn’t be a problem for you to salvage them either. Unless they have burnt too deeply, you don’t have to worry about hardwood floors. You will have to tidy them up significantly. You can clean the floors up with oil soap. Next, sand and refinish them. You won’t have to replace them completely.

2. Clothing

Clothing is porous, so you may have to clean and dry clean the clothes a significant amount. However, if your clothes were in a cupboard or bureau where the fire didn’t burn them, you can likely retrieve them. The most significant clothing for people is generally their wedding dresses. They may smell like soot, but if properly protected, the clothing is likely to be maintained.

Additionally, if clothing is easy to wash, it’s also more salvageable. If it didn’t catch fire, you’re likely going to salvage your clothing after a fire. Washable clothing includes anything you can clean using a washing machine. This factor means any clothes you have, any furniture with removable covers, and curtains.

The way to clean these articles of clothing is to use a combination of tri-sodium phosphate and bleach to clean these items. If you want to get rid of the smell of smoke, put the clothes in some water and a few drops of vanilla essence.

3. Books

If you have a shelf of books, you may not have lost all of them. Paperback books have less protection, but hardback books can protect their insides more. Inspect your shelved books to ensure they’re beyond repair. Ensure you handle all of these items as delicately as you can. Soot is acidic, and you might face further negative effects if you’re not careful to avoid it. There have been instances where the fire destroyed a book’s hardback cover, but the pages being covered by it remained intact. You can always have the book rebound once you’re sure it’s alright.

This fact means you will likely not lose all of your pictures if you keep them in photo albums. You can hold on and salvage all the memories you have, or at least some of them.

911 Restoration of Carson City Can Help With Fire Damage Restoration

The event of a house fire is exceptionally traumatizing. However, your priority during a house fire must be to get you and your loved ones to a safe place. If you can grab anything, it should be important documents you may need and your cellular device to call for help. Objects can be replaced even if you may not think they are not. However, you only have one life to live.

911 Restoration of Carson City can help you return your home to its original condition and make it as good as new. Even smaller fires can cause substantial damage, but acting quickly can result in reversing fire damage. A qualified and trained fire restoration company can ensure safety and finish restorations swiftly.

We know accidents can happen out of nowhere, and you need to act fast to prevent costly damage. That’s why our fire restoration services are available 24/7. You can rely on 911 Restoration of Carson City to reach your home within 45 minutes of contacting us. Call us at (775) 419-0122 or contact us here for additional information.