Cleaning a small amount of fire damage or smoke damage on walls of a home can seem doable yourself.
If your home has fire damage or if you are looking to purchase a home with previous smoke or fire damage on its walls, you should consider how much work might go into cleaning.
Smoke damage, smoke stains, and other types of fire damage on walls are notoriously hard to get out. The smell can seem like it will linger forever, too.
How to Clean Smoke or Fire Damaged Walls
Trisodium Phosphate (TSP)
Trisodium phosphate is a powerful cleaner agent that can get through some of the toughest stains on walls.
Typically you will mix TSP with hot water and apply it to stains with a scrub brush.
Do use caution with TSP, as it can cause eye and skin irritation and is dangerous if swallowed. Be sure to wear gloves, eye protection, and long sleeves when cleaning with TSP.
How to Clean a Fire Damaged Wall
- Use hot water for your TSP solution. Adjust to a stronger concentration of TSP for tougher stains.
- Start scrubbing from the bottom of the wall and work your way to the top.
- After multiple passes with TSP and water rinsing, go over the stains again with a magic sponge.
- Use a recommend primer for fire damaged walls such as Zinsser or Kilz.
- Consider getting a paint gun to make the job easier than paint rolling everything.
After applying primer to the fire damaged wall, you can add a teaspoon of vanilla extract to your normal paint to help neutralize the smoke odor.
Contact a Professional Fire Restoration Service
Understand that it is extremely difficult to completely eliminate fire damage and smoke odors from walls. These stains and odors will likely still remain even after a lot of DIY effort.
You should always consider calling a professional fire damage restoration service for larger tasks.
ServiceMaster of San Francisco/San Mateo provides fire restoration, smoke odor removal, and soot cleanup services in the San Francisco, CA area and surrounding areas.
Our technicians are IICRC certified and experienced in removing stains, odors, and other signs of fire damage from walls, ceilings, and exteriors.
We are available 24/7 at (800) 439-8833 to provide fire damage restoration services.
