Talk About Structural Issues

7/10/2019 (Permalink)

If a fire ever burns inside your Kentucky home, the flames can cause devastation to your property. If the blaze gets hot enough, it can cause fire damage to your building materials and contents. If the conditions are ideal, flames can engulf just about anything that is in their path. The amount of time the blaze burns can make a difference as to how much fire damage takes place.

Items that are close to the source of the initial burn are the ones that get torched first. As the flames grow, your fire damage situation in Fort Worth can get worse and cause things to get ruined due to burning, charring, and soot residues. The amount of oxygen and how hot the fire got while burning can both change the types of damage caused during a burn. Slow burning, oxygen-starved blazes tend to create wet smoke that is tough to clean, but the number of objects burns may not be as high. When flames have plenty of oxygen and things, burn hot more charring on contents, and structural components are likely to occur.

Since insurance companies separate their coverage based on your contents and your building materials, our SERVPRO technicians categorize the damage caused to your home in either the contents or structure classification. If your possessions like furniture or art displayed on walls get ruined, then the problems would be placed in the estimate as damage to contents. If items such as your ceilings or walls get torched, then the problems would be classified as structural issues.

If fires do not get put out quickly, it is likely that structural components will get burnt. When things like drywall and ceiling materials get burned, they often get replaced. In some situations, our SERVPRO restoration crew has to remove and replace wooden studs or floor joists due to charring as well.

The general rule when determining whether wooden structural components are ruined or not is if there is more than a quarter inch of charring then the item must get replaced. If the charred material is less than a quarter inch deep, then it is possible to save the items by sanding them down and applying a specialized sealant paint to trap in pungent aromas. If you ever need help with structural charring issues, call SERVPRO of Breckinridge, Grayson, Meade & Hancock Counties at 270-580-2200 24 hours a day.