Hero Section
H1: Fire damage restoration and smoke damage cleaning
A chip pan fire in a flat on Wells Road last year. The fire brigade had it out in under twenty minutes. The actual burn damage was limited to the kitchen ceiling, the extractor hood, and about two square metres of wall.
But the smoke? It reached every room. Soot coated the bathroom mirror two floors up. The clothes in the wardrobe smelled like a bonfire. The landlord thought a quick wipe-down and some paint would sort it. It didn’t.
We spent four days doing thermal fogging, soot removal and ozone treatment across the entire property. That’s the reality of fire damage. The fire is the headline. The smoke is the story.
Had a fire in your property? Call us on 07985 505061 or emergency 24/7 on 0808 303 7072. We’ll get soot and smoke damage under control before it causes more harm.
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Trust Bar
IICRC certified | Thermal fogging and ozone treatment | Full insurance documentation | £2M insured (AXA)
After the Fire Brigade Leaves
The fire service puts out the fire. They don’t clean up after it.
Once they’ve left, you’re standing in a property full of soot, smoke residue and, quite often, water from the hoses. The immediate danger is over. The slow damage is just starting.
Soot is acidic. It etches into metal, discolours paint, stains fabrics and corrodes electronics. The longer it sits, the harder it is to remove and the more permanent the damage becomes. On polished metal and painted surfaces, soot can cause irreversible staining within 72 hours.
Smoke travels everywhere. It gets behind walls, inside cupboards, through ducting, into loft spaces. A fire confined to one room can leave smoke residue throughout an entire property. You’ll find it in places you didn’t think smoke could reach.
The particles are toxic. Modern homes burn differently to old ones. Synthetic carpets, plastic fittings, foam-filled furniture, painted MDF. When these materials burn, they release hydrogen cyanide, formaldehyde, acrolein and dozens of other harmful compounds. Those compounds are in the soot on your walls and in the smoke residue on your soft furnishings.
Opening a window won’t fix this. A regular clean won’t fix it either. Smoke particles are measured in microns. They embed in porous materials and off-gas for months.
How We Restore Fire-Damaged Properties
Step 1: Assessment and safety check
We inspect the property room by room. What’s structurally safe, what’s fire-damaged beyond repair, and what can be restored. We also check for asbestos risk in properties built before 2000, because fire can disturb asbestos-containing materials that were previously safe. We won’t start work until the property is confirmed safe.
Step 2: Contents inventory and insurance documentation
Before anything gets moved or cleaned, we photograph and catalogue every affected item. Room by room, item by item. Furniture, electronics, clothing, documents, valuables. Each one gets logged as restorable, cleanable, or write-off.
This inventory goes straight to your insurance company or loss adjuster. We’ve done this hundreds of times and we know what they need to see. Proper documentation at this stage saves weeks of back-and-forth later.
Step 3: Soot removal
Soot comes in different types depending on what burned. Dry soot from wood and paper fires behaves differently to greasy, wet soot from kitchen fires or synthetic material fires. Using the wrong cleaning method on the wrong type of soot makes it worse. Wiping greasy soot with a damp cloth, for example, drives it deeper into the surface.
We use dry sponges, HEPA vacuuming, and chemical soot removers matched to the specific residue type. Walls, ceilings, hard surfaces, fixtures. Everything gets treated methodically.
Step 4: Smoke decontamination and thermal fogging
This is where specialist fire restoration separates from regular cleaning. Smoke odour doesn’t sit on surfaces. It penetrates into wall cavities, inside furniture, through carpet underlay, into insulation.
We use thermal fogging to reach smoke particles in places we physically can’t. The fog produces particles the same size as smoke, so it follows the same paths. Into cracks, behind walls, through fabric fibres. It neutralises the odour at a molecular level rather than masking it.
For severe cases, we follow up with ozone treatment. Ozone is an oxidiser that breaks down the chemical compounds causing the smell. The property needs to be vacant during treatment, typically for 24 to 48 hours.
Step 5: Specialist cleaning and restoration
Salvageable contents get cleaned using methods appropriate to the material. Upholstery gets extracted and deodorised. Hard furniture gets cleaned and sealed. Electronics get assessed by specialists. Clothing goes to a fire-restoration dry cleaner.
Not everything can be saved. We’ll be straight with you about what’s worth restoring and what should go to the insurance claim as a write-off.
Step 6: Final inspection and handover
Moisture readings (from fire-service water), air quality checks, visual inspection. We make sure the property is safe, clean and ready for the next stage, whether that’s redecoration, building repairs, or moving back in.
You get a full documentation pack: photos, treatment records, contents inventory, and our assessment report. Ready for your insurer.
Before and After
[Before/after image slider; real fire and smoke damage restoration jobs]
Photos from actual BCH fire damage projects. No stock images.
Why Choose Bristol Cleaning Heroes for Fire Damage
Personally, I think the biggest mistake people make after a fire is assuming any cleaning company can handle it. They can’t. Smoke damage is a specialism. The wrong approach doesn’t just fail. It makes things permanently worse.
Here’s an honest caveat: we don’t rebuild. We don’t replaster walls, rewire electrics, or replace kitchens. That’s building work, and you’ll need a contractor for it. What we do is everything between the fire brigade leaving and the builders arriving. We make the property safe, remove the contamination, save what can be saved, and document everything for your insurance claim.
What we bring:
- 25 years of experience including fire and smoke damage restoration
- Thermal fogging equipment that gets into places wiping and scrubbing can’t reach
- Ozone generators for deep odour elimination
- IICRC certification in fire and smoke restoration
- Full contents inventory service built around what insurers need
- £2 million AXA insurance policy covering every job
Not for us: If your property has had a minor incident, maybe a small kitchen fire where the smoke didn’t spread beyond one room and there’s no soot on other surfaces, you probably don’t need specialist restoration. A good deep clean might do the job. We’ll tell you honestly if that’s the case.
Fire Damage and Insurance
Most home insurance policies cover fire damage, including smoke and soot damage to areas beyond the fire itself. Here’s what we’ve learned from working with loss adjusters in Bristol, Bath and across the South West.
Act fast, but document first. Your insurer will want evidence of the damage before cleanup starts. We photograph everything before we touch it.
You can instruct restoration before the loss adjuster visits. Most policies allow “reasonable mitigation.” Leaving soot on surfaces for weeks while you wait for an appointment causes more damage and costs the insurer more. We’ve never had a claim rejected because the policyholder started cleanup promptly.
We work directly with your insurer. We’ve dealt with Aviva, AXA, Direct Line, Zurich, NFU Mutual, LV= and others. Our documentation pack is formatted for what loss adjusters expect. Some insurers have their own approved networks, but you’re not obliged to use them. You have the right to choose your own contractor.
Contents claims are where people lose out. Without a proper inventory, items get missed. We’ve seen people forget to claim for smoke-damaged clothing in a wardrobe three rooms from the fire, or electronics that looked fine but were full of soot internally. Our room-by-room catalogue catches things you’d miss on your own.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens after a house fire in the UK?
The fire brigade will make the property safe and may board up windows or doors. They’ll give you a fire investigation reference number. After that, it’s over to you. Contact your insurer as soon as possible. Arrange somewhere to stay if the property isn’t habitable. Then call a specialist fire damage restoration company (that’s us, 07985 505061) to assess the smoke and soot damage, start cleanup, and prepare your insurance documentation.
Who cleans up after a fire?
The fire service doesn’t do cleanup. Your insurer may appoint a restoration company from their approved network, but this can take days or weeks. You’re entitled to instruct your own specialist. We can usually assess a property within 24 hours and start work the same week. For emergency situations, we respond via our 24/7 line on 0808 303 7072.
Is fire damage cleaning covered by insurance?
In most cases, yes. Buildings and contents insurance typically covers fire damage restoration, including smoke and soot cleaning, contents cleaning, and temporary accommodation if needed. We provide a full documentation pack designed for insurance claims. Your excess will apply, and there may be policy limits on contents, but the restoration work itself is almost always covered.
How do you remove smoke smell from a house?
Surface cleaning removes visible soot but rarely eliminates the smell. Smoke particles are microscopic and penetrate deep into porous materials. We use thermal fogging, which produces particles the same size as smoke, to reach residue in wall cavities, fabrics, carpets and insulation. For severe cases, we use ozone treatment to break down odour-causing compounds at a molecular level. Air fresheners, scented candles and “odour neutraliser” sprays don’t work on fire smoke. They mask it temporarily.
Can fire-damaged furniture be restored?
It depends on the material, the type of damage, and the extent of smoke exposure. Solid wood furniture can often be cleaned, deodorised and refinished. Upholstered furniture depends on the filling. Natural fibre fillings respond better to treatment than synthetic foam, which absorbs smoke compounds permanently. We assess each piece individually. Some items are worth the restoration cost. Others are better claimed through insurance and replaced.
How much does fire damage restoration cost?
A single room with moderate smoke damage: £800 to £2,000. A whole-property restoration after a significant fire: £3,000 to £10,000+. The variables are the size of the property, the extent of smoke spread, the type of materials that burned (synthetic fires produce more toxic and stubborn residue), and how many contents need processing. We quote after inspection. For insurance claims, costs are typically covered by your policy.
How long does fire damage cleanup take?
A single-room smoke damage job: two to three days including ozone treatment time. A full property restoration: one to two weeks for our part of the work. Building repairs, redecoration and structural work are separate and depend on the severity. We can work alongside builders if the property needs both restoration and repair.
Related Services
- Odour Removal: Smoke odour elimination using thermal fogging and ozone treatment
- Deep Cleaning & Disinfection: Full property sanitisation after fire restoration
- Flood Damage Cleaning: Fire-service water damage often needs extraction and drying
- Insurance Sector: How we work with insurers and loss adjusters
Had a Fire? Talk to Us Today.
Don’t leave soot sitting on your walls. Don’t let a regular cleaner make it worse. And don’t wait three weeks for your insurer to send someone.
We’re based on Southmead Road in BS10 and cover all of Bristol, from Kingswood to Portishead, Filton to Brislington. We also cover Bath, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset.
Phone: 07985 505061 Emergency 24/7: 0808 303 7072 WhatsApp: 07985 505061 Email: hello@bristolcleaningheroes.co.uk
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