Are Wood Furnishings Susceptible to Fire Damage?

10/23/2020 (Permalink)

SERVPRO Can Perform Fire Restoration on Wooden Fittings, Floors, and Furnishings in your Evans Home.

Does wood burn quickly in a property fire?

It is commonly thought that your Evans home's wooden materials are the first to go in a fire. While wood does provide fuel for fires, it is often different from the types of wood used in construction. A solid wood counter, for example, is likely to retain up to 12% in moisture content, which can slow down the combustion process.  Dense woods slow flames' progress, while modern finishes and coatings can prevent fires from causing permanent harm to these materials. SERVPRO knows when a piece of furniture is restorable and when it is replaceable.

What are the three types of wood found in a home?

• Unfinished wood which is naturally porous and allows smoke residues to penetrate deeper into the wood grain
• Finished wood which usually has a coating of varnish, polyurethane, lacquer, shellac, or paints to make it non-porous
• Photo-finish simulated wood grain is made up of multiple pieces, including particleboard and pressed wood glued together.

Can smoke residues be sanded off of wood materials?

Aggressive abrasion methods are a critical part of fire restoration in your Evans home. Often SERVPRO technicians opt for a wall and surface cleaner with low alkaline levels to avoid inadvertently damaging the surface. When smoke residues penetrate through the layers of wood, surface cleaning solutions become less and less effective. In these circumstances, fire damage restoration technicians can resort to more abrasive cleaning methods that remove upper layers of wood. Blasting equipment fires millions of tiny particles against a wood surface, slowly removing layers of smoke residue, as well as wood, and leaving behind a smooth surface for refinishing.

What types of abrasion blasting are useful for woods

• Sandblasting is particularly aggressive and primarily used for hardwood surfaces.
• Soda blasting uses bicarbonate of soda to ease away layers of softwood like balsa gently
• Dry ice is also used for sensitive woods and removes only a small amount of the wood surface, without adding moisture

Replacing woods can be time-consuming and expensive. To restore wood after fire, contact SERVPRO of Columbia County at (706) 868-5441.