Smoke & Odor Restoration

The fire is out, but the smoke is still at work. Soot settles on every surface, the smell soaks into drywall, carpet, clothes and furniture, and the air system carries it into rooms the flames never touched. JCC Restoration cleans smoke, soot and odor out of homes and businesses across Middle Tennessee and North Alabama, with Pulaski as our home base.

Call 24/7: (931) 638-5187

What smoke and soot do to a house

• Soot spreads when you touch it. It is fine and often oily, so wiping it the wrong way smears it deeper into paint, grout and fabric.
• Odor hides where you can’t see it. Insulation, wall cavities, ductwork and the underside of furniture hold the smell long after a room looks clean.
• Residue keeps working. Left alone, smoke residue can stain finishes and dull metal, so getting it cleaned early saves more of what you own.
• A small fire still reaches the whole house. A kitchen fire can leave a film on every floor once the HVAC moves the smoke around.

What can usually be saved

Often more than people expect. We look at your belongings item by item and tell you plainly what we think will clean up and what belongs on the replace list for your claim.

• Furniture: wood and other hard surfaces often clean up well. Upholstered pieces depend on how heavy the smoke was.
• Clothes, bedding and soft goods: these go through our in-house Esporta wash system for smoky textiles.
• Electronics: TVs, computers and small appliances can often be cleaned of soot. If a piece isn’t worth the risk, we’ll tell you.
• Documents and photos: handled gently, cleaned where possible, and photographed either way so your records are not lost.
• Keepsakes: heirlooms, collections and the things money can’t replace get extra time and hand cleaning.

How we clean and deodorize, step by step

1. Walk-through and photos. We go room by room, find how far the smoke traveled, and document the damage before anything moves.
2. Protect the house. We board up or tarp if needed and set up HEPA air filtration so soot isn’t pushed into clean rooms.
3. Move or protect your belongings. Items that need cleaning are packed out. Everything else is covered and kept out of the way.
4. Remove the soot. We work top to bottom (ceilings, walls, cabinets, floors) with cleaning methods matched to each surface.
5. Get rid of the odor at the source. We clean or remove whatever is holding the smell, including the HVAC system and ductwork when smoke got into them, then deodorize so it doesn’t come back on the first hot day.
6. Seal and rebuild. Only after surfaces are clean do we seal and paint. Painting over smoke is how the smell returns. If materials need replacing, the same crew handles the rebuild.

Before we get there

• Keep the heat and air off if smoke got into the house.
• Don’t scrub or wipe soot. It smears.
• Hold off on washing smoky clothes at home. Heat and the wrong detergent can set the smell.
• Throw out food that was near the smoke or heat.
• If it’s safe, take photos of every room.

Insurance

Smoke damage is usually part of a fire claim. We document the damage with photos and notes, write up the scope of work, and work with your adjuster so you aren’t stuck in the middle. Every policy is different, so we can’t promise what yours will cover, but we’ll walk you through what we found and what we recommend.

Call any time, day or night

Smoke damage gets harder to clean the longer it sits. Call JCC Restoration at (931) 638-5187, 24/7. We’ll tell you what to do right now and get a crew headed your way.

Related: Fire & Smoke Restoration · Contents cleaning and pack-out