Our house was smoke damaged from the Marshall Fire and State Farm is saying that the upholstered furniture, rugs, and clothes can all be cleaned. They have replaced all the mattresses and bedding. Do you know of any policy statements or data indicating such contents (soft goods) are non-salvageable?
Ellen O\'Callaghan asked 2 years ago 2 Answers
Chris Rockers Expert answered 2 years ago The loss was sustained a year ago – much depends on the amount of combustible byproducts (char/soot/ash) and other fire-related debris that infiltrated the interior of your home. If in close proximity to the fire, an assessment by a reputable Industrial Hygienist would have been/would be useful – sample results would capture if elevated levels were/are present and if so, the report should provide recommendations/guidance as to items which could be professional cleaned and those to be discarded. If the home was professionally cleaned and contaminates continue to infiltrate your home, request another IH assessment. It is difficult to remove certain byproducts from soft-goods – raise health issues if any in the family are susceptible to elevated levels of byproducts. There does not appear to be a set standard to follow that definitively determines when upholstered furniture, clothing and the like are to be discarded – but you have a say as to what is acceptable for cleaning – and if not successfully cleaned, request possessions be replaced.
Hi Ellen,
The Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification is in the process of developing wildfire smoke damage restoration standards. They have published a draft and it is available for public comment. You can review and comment here: https://iicrc.org/s760/. United Policyholders will be offering a webinar to discuss these standards when they are published.
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