apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

When it comes to getting rid of the smell that has become imbedded in the wood, a through thermal-fogging needs to take place. Thermal-fogging is a process where a specially designed machine heats up special soot odour counteractent causing it the particles to become smaller just like the particles given off during a fire. By doing this, these smaller particles will be permitted to enter the pours of the wood and eliminated the odour. The entire area should however be ozoned with an ozone generator. If you are not aware of this process, it actually changes the molecular structure of the soot particles (oxidizing them)

I think the best tool for the job is an ozone generator. This are easily located via Google - you can even rent them via the mail. Ozone Generators are used by hotels and others to remove smells and odors.

Ooh, it can be tough if your place has a lot of wood. It absorbs the smell. When I was a kid, our basement caught on fire and even with extensive cleaning and a few years time, it smelled of smoke everytime it rained.

Didn't Consumer Reports repeatedly kick the Sharper Image Ionic Breeze's ass? You know, likening its dust clearing capabilities to that of a TV or something along those lines because of its minimal CADR?

www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7391185/

In terms of electrostatic air cleaners, the CR guys recommend the Honeywell C90A, which has a big fan on it to move air through the numerous electrostatic fins.

There are specialists who can deal with this.

I see them advertise primarily under water and fire damage.
(which sort of makes sense...fire=water from fire dept....but flooding as well)

here is a site of one i found...

www.servproofnorthwestchester.com/home.html

If you own your insurance should cover it.
If you rent...ummm I'm not sure about renter policies

if you have smoke damage, you need professional help. there is a company that has been advertising on tv their smoke damage removal capabilities. i don't remember the name but it's worth a google search. good luck.

AskMetafilter is tackling a variety of this question,
ask.metafilter.com/mefi/19187

An excerpt, "My Mom works for an insurance restoration specialist and I used to work with the construction crews as a young man. The general procedure for reducing smoke smell in fire damaged buildings was to seal things up pretty well in the affected rooms and then turn on an ozone machine, moving it from room to room over the course of a few days. They're not perfect, but they do significantly reduce the smoke smell. Call around to equipment rental stores and see if you can't pick one up for the day."

There is also a suggestion on how to make an ozone machine if you can't get your hands on one.

My parents had a small kitchen fire years ago and half of the house smelled like smoke & burned beans... it may not do much for the particles, but the smell can be tackled in part by keeping the windows open and setting boxes of baking soda everywhere.

Thanks everyone. The LL is actually being pretty good about the cleanup. I'm going to get one of the air-cleaners though. My renters insurance would cover my losses but they're not significant enough to file a claim. Two apartments below the site of the fire were completely destroyed by water and the tenants have no insurance.

I think ServePro (part of the ServiceMaster network) is the smoke/fire/water damage removal experts Patrick referenced.

These Zontec Ozone generators are the ones used by many hotels as well as in Fire restoration and they also have a UV model which is germicidal. There are many models available depending on the Application at hand.

Please contact me via email:

opatel@zontecozone.com

TRUE HEPA vacuums and air purifiers trap the dust and particles with a minimum efficiency of 99.97%, up to 0.3 microns – as measured with my particle counter seen in
my YouTube Air Purifier Videos – As seen on ABC 7

Over the years, HEPA filtration has become a marketing scheme deployed by both vacuum cleaner and air purifier manufacturers to lure customers to buy products that do not meet the HEPA definition. Most vacuums and air cleaners that I have tested on the market claim to be “HEPA,” however, lack the filtration efficiency and other important benefits that are intrinsic to HEPA technology – so they are “fake HEPA.” They are simply imposters that do not deliver what they claim – in other words, they do not trap the dust.

To precisely find real HEPA machines, I test products (where the air flows through) with the particle counter. It is important to note, that I not only test the middle of the filter, but also the side edges and other areas of the chasis, where more often than not, there is high readings due to leakage.

Also check-out my blog called Consumer Reporter - a vehicle to educate consumers about the vacuum and air purification market.

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