Fire changes the shape of a home or business in a single afternoon. Walls that felt solid now carry hidden heat, framing that looked intact can be brittle, and smoke has a way of finding every cavity. The chaos that follows brings a second wave of risk, from lingering soot acidity to water trapped in subfloors. Over years on jobs large and small, I’ve seen two patterns determine outcomes: how quickly the right actions start, and how consistently they continue. Bedrock Restoration’s fire recovery process is built around those two truths, and it works because it blends speed with discipline.
What follows is a walk through that process, the reasoning behind each stage, and the practical decisions that keep costs contained and downtime minimal. Whether you are a property manager trying to keep tenants housed, a homeowner guarding equity, or a business owner racing a reopening date, the same core principles apply.
The first hours shape the next six months
The first day sets the tone. Soot is acidic, especially when plastics burned, and it etches finishes within hours. Water used to knock down flames soaks insulation and subflooring and starts feeding mold in as little as 24 to 48 hours. Doors and windows damaged by fire invite weather and opportunists. Waiting turns fixable surfaces into tear-out, and tear-out into structural work.
When we mobilize with Bedrock Restoration, the early goals are simple: stop secondary damage, capture accurate information, and establish safe access. We do not chase shortcuts in the first hours. A good start pays for itself in fewer change orders and quicker rebuilds.
Stabilize the scene: safety, power, weather, and evidence
Every fire site is unique, but the safety checklist rarely changes. Before anyone reaches for a mop or a sponge, we test and isolate utilities. Natural gas and electric lines may look fine to the eye and still be compromised. We often bring in temporary power to run negative air machines and dehumidifiers through a portable panel, avoiding the risk of using a damaged electrical system.
If the roof, windows, or doors are open to the sky, we board up and tarp, not just to keep out rain and snow, but to control humidity and temperature. In Minnesota winters, a 20 degree night can turn wet drywall into ice, and a frozen line can flood a level that never saw flame. In humid summers, the opposite happens: warm outside air condenses on cooled interior surfaces and feeds mold. Simple weather control saves thousands.
A word on documentation. The first hour after we secure a site, we photograph, sketch, and, when needed, laser-scan rooms before anything moves. This helps adjusters, speeds approvals, and protects you when questions arise about pre-existing conditions or contents valuation. If you must move an item for safety, photograph it in place first, then again after relocation.
The anatomy of a proper assessment
Fire damage assessments reach beyond char. We divide the building into three zones: direct fire impact, heat and smoke impact, and water impact. Each zone requires a different plan.
Direct fire impact is obvious, but the extent is not. Char on studs is evaluated by depth. As a rule of thumb, if charring is less than a quarter inch and probing shows solid fibers beneath, a structural member may be restorable with shaving and encapsulation. Deeper char or loss of section usually means replacement. Infrared cameras help locate heat pockets in concealed spaces. We always follow with physical verification since hot spots can hide behind insulation or within joist bays.
Heat and smoke impact areas often look deceptively clean. Smoke follows airflow, so it threads into soffits, ductwork, behind baseboards, and up wall cavities. If you skip these paths, you will smell it forever. We use ATP swabs on select surfaces to validate cleaning efficacy, thermal fogging to trace pathways, and air sampling when occupants are sensitive or when the fire involved heavy plastics or synthetics.
Water impact areas get a separate moisture map. Non-invasive meters find elevated readings in drywall and trim, followed by pin meters to confirm depth. We record readings by room and by material, set dry standards, and design a drying plan that considers building assemblies, not just surfaces. A plaster wall over wood lath dries differently than half-inch paper-faced gypsum, and old-growth subfloors can trap water along tongue-and-groove joints.
Contents: what to save, what to discard, and how to decide
People attach memories and value to things that insurance schedules reduce to line items. That tension is real, and it deserves respect. Our approach to contents triage weighs three factors: material, porosity, and exposure. Solid wood furniture with light soot often cleans beautifully. Medium-density fiberboard that swelled from fire suppression https://www.youtube.com/@bedrockrestoration3429 water rarely returns to flat. Pressed paper items, open-cell foams, and textiles saturated with protein smoke (from kitchen fires) may clean but carry odor risks unless handled correctly.
For electronics, we base decisions on corrosion risk and contamination type. Light dry soot in a desktop computer can be cleaned in a controlled environment. Heavy greasy soot, or evidence of condensed acids from PVC combustion, means replacement is safer in most cases. We inventory each item, photograph condition, and create a cleaning or disposal path with client approval. The best outcomes come when owners are present during the high-value decisions. If you cannot be on site, a video walk-through with close-ups prevents regret.
The cleaning strategy that sticks: dry first, then wet
Cleaning order matters. Start dry, then go wet, then finish with odor control. Soot smears when it meets moisture, so we remove the bulk of it with HEPA vacuuming, dry chemical sponges on painted surfaces, and soft brushing on delicate finishes. Only after the particulate load is down do we introduce detergents or alkaline cleaners matched to the soot chemistry. Protein fires call for enzymatic or specialized degreasers. Rubber and plastic fires can leave oily residues that need surfactants with higher pH, followed by neutralization.
Ceilings are cleaned before walls, walls before floors, lights and fixtures before furnishings. Work top down to avoid re-soiling. Ductwork, if impacted, is sealed off immediately to prevent migration and cleaned after structural cleaning but before final odor treatment. I have seen projects fail nose tests because vents were immaculate while the space behind baseboards held sooty dust. Detail wins.
Drying is a race against mold
Water from suppression is an ally in the fire fight and an enemy afterward. The drying plan starts as soon as standing water is extracted. We select a mix of low-grain refrigerant dehumidifiers and air movers based on cubic footage, the extent of wet materials, and grain depression needed. Too much air movement, too early, can aerosolize soot. Too little, and you trap moisture behind finishes. We balance air changes per hour with containment to keep air clean and direct the dry.
Cavity drying is often overlooked. When insulation was saturated, we drill small access holes behind baseboards or at the top of wall cavities to move air and monitor progress. In older homes with plaster, a gentle approach prevents delamination. Moisture readings are logged daily, target levels are set based on unaffected areas, and equipment is adjusted as the building dries. Most light to moderate water impacts stabilize in three to five days when handled correctly. Heavy saturation or complex assemblies can take a week or more.
Odor control that actually works
Odor lives in both surfaces and air pathways. Chasing it with fragrances fails. We use a three-stage approach: source removal, controlled application of thermal fog or hydroxyl generation, and sealing only where needed. After cleaning, thermal fogging replicates the fire’s particle size and reaches the same pathways smoke used. Hydroxyl machines run while spaces are occupied and excel in public or residential settings where ozone would be unsafe. Ozone still has a place in unoccupied, well-sealed environments, but it requires caution and clear re-entry protocols.
Sealers are not magic paint. We apply smoke-sealing primers on structural wood that cleaned but still shows light staining or where open-grain members might harbor residual odor. Overuse creates adhesion issues for finish coats and wastes money. The best proof of success is a blind odor test: a neutral third party enters after a rest period without machines running. If they cannot detect smoke, you are ready for rebuild.
Structural decisions: repair, replace, or engineer a hybrid
Once the building is clean and dry, decisions about framing, sheathing, and finishes come into view. I look for measurable criteria. For example, if the modulus of rupture for a charred joist is compromised beyond a threshold suggested by an engineer, replacement is unavoidable. Where damage is superficial, shave and sister methods work. You can shave down char to sound wood, then sister with new lumber to restore capacity. Fire-damaged steel beams often look untouched, but heat can alter yield strength. Temperature-indicating paints that show discoloration bands can suggest exposure levels, but an engineer’s assessment trumps guesswork.
Masonry behaves well in heat but suffers from thermal shock. Spalling on brick faces or cracked mortar joints means selective rebuild or repointing. Concrete can hide microcracking; a petrographic analysis is rare in residential work but worth it in commercial settings where load paths are critical.
Insurance partnerships without friction
Fire losses come with an adjuster, sometimes a consultant, and often a desk reviewer who never visits the site. The cleanest projects keep communication factual and prompt. We map our scope to commonly accepted estimating databases while documenting exceptions with photos and notes. If a protein fire coated a home’s interior with a nearly invisible film, we prove it with wipe tests, not adjectives.
Homeowners and business owners benefit from a single point of truth. We provide a running scope document that evolves with approved change orders, and we never bury cost in jargon. If we recommend upgrading from basic cleaning to encapsulation on a set of rafters, the why is attached to a photo and a measurement, not just a line item. That keeps claim cycles short and tempers disputes.
Timelines that respect reality
Everyone wants a date. The honest answer is a range, then a commitment to hit the early end by removing delays. A typical single-family fire with moderate structural impact and whole-house smoke might follow this cadence: 1 to 3 days for emergency services and stabilizing, 5 to 10 days for cleaning, drying, and deodorization, 2 to 6 weeks for reconstruction depending on trades availability and material lead times. Commercial spaces scale by size and complexity. Kitchen-heavy restaurants take longer because of hood cleaning and appliance evaluations. Medical suites require more air quality validation and often third-party clearance.
Permitting can add time, especially if structural changes or code upgrades enter the picture. We preempt delays by submitting clear plans and scheduling inspections in step with the work, not after walls are closed.
Health considerations you should not ignore
Soot is not uniform. Fires that involved synthetics can create polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and other toxins. Protein fires, the bane of many restorers, leave a sticky, nearly invisible residue that resists casual cleaning and continues to smell rancid. If occupants include children, older adults, or those with respiratory conditions, we bring industrial hygienists into the loop early for sampling and post-cleaning verification. It’s an added cost that pays for itself in peace of mind and, in some cases, medical necessity.
Masks on site are standard. After the first day, when heavy particulates have been removed and HEPA filtration is in place, risk drops, but we don’t cut corners. For owners who want to enter and retrieve essentials, we create a path, provide PPE, and accompany the visit to limit cross-contamination.
Rebuild with an eye to resilience
Reconstruction is more than putting it back the way it was. Fires often reveal vulnerabilities you can address without big cost jumps. Swapping paper-faced drywall in utility rooms for glass-mat boards reduces future mold risk. Using intumescent paint on exposed basement steel adds a safety buffer. Adding hardwired interconnected smoke detectors with battery backup is now code in many jurisdictions and pays forward in early detection.
Kitchens deserve special attention. Grease fires remain the most common start. Install an automatic fire suppression canister above the range or choose induction over gas if cooking style allows. In multifamily settings, consider stovetop auto-shutoff devices. These are small choices that prevent big problems.
What we do when budget and coverage collide
Even well-insured claims meet coverage limits or policy exclusions. When that happens, priorities matter. We direct dollars first to remove hazards, then preserve structural integrity, then restore livability. Cosmetic perfection can wait. For example, if cabinets suffered smoke exposure but structurally are sound, refacing or repainting often meets both budget and standards once odor is truly resolved. Flooring choices can step down to durable vinyl plank for interim occupancy with the plan to upgrade later. Honest planning avoids scope creep that runs out of money before a home is functional.
Small business recovery: speed, cash flow, and communication
For small businesses, every day closed costs revenue and customers. We tailor sequences around partial openings. A café might reopen for takeout from a cleaned, contained front area while back-of-house rebuild continues. We schedule noisy work off-hours and coordinate with health inspectors when food service is involved. Cash flow pressure is real. We work with insurers to approve progress payments tied to completed milestones so owners can cover payroll and inventory.
For offices, continuity plans may include temporary power and data rooms to keep non-customer-facing operations alive. We’ve run projects where staff returned to a clean second floor in a week while the damaged first floor rebuilt behind airtight containment. It requires discipline, but it works.
The Bedrock Restoration difference in practice
Processes only matter if they show up in the field. In the Twin Cities, our teams have worked in winter storms and summer humidity, in bungalows and multi-tenant commercial buildings. A few specifics that often surprise clients:
- Protein fire cleaning takes longer than expected, even when damage looks minor. Plan for thorough degreasing in every room, including closets, and budget time for multiple clean passes. HVAC systems are a highway for odor. Cleaning ducts without addressing the air handler and coil is a half measure. We clean the entire system or isolate and replace impacted components when cleaning is impractical. Encapsulation is not an excuse for poor cleaning. We never paint over soot. Sealers lock in residual odor only after surfaces test clean. This avoids failures that appear weeks later when humidity rises.
When to call and what to expect in the first visit
If you are reading this in the middle of a loss, get a professional on site quickly. While you wait, limit movement in sooty areas, keep HVAC off to reduce spread, and avoid wiping walls with household cleaners that can set stains.
Expect the first Bedrock visit to cover safety checks, initial stabilization, and a clear next-step plan. We’ll discuss scope, timelines, and communication preferences. You will see containment, filtration, and moisture control set up right away. Within a day, you will receive documentation suitable for your insurer, and within the week a detailed scope that reflects real conditions, not guesses.
Bedrock Restoration - Water Fire Mold Damage Service
There is comfort in knowing who to call and where they are based. Bedrock Restoration - Water Fire Mold Damage Service serves St Louis Park and the greater Minneapolis area with teams trained for fire, water, and mold impacts. The shop and warehouse sit near the city’s center, which shortens response time and keeps equipment rotations fast. That matters when dehumidifiers need swapping, filters need changing, and schedules shift because real buildings rarely follow tidy plans.
Contact Us
Bedrock Restoration - Water Fire Mold Damage Service
Address: 7000 Oxford St, St Louis Park, MN 55426, United States
Phone: (612) 778-3044
Website: https://bedrockrestoration.com/water-damage-restoration-st-louis-park-mn/
A homeowner’s snapshot: what the process feels like day by day
One winter, a split-level in St Louis Park suffered a living room fire from a space heater too close to drapes. Flames were contained, but the main floor and upper hallway filled with smoke, and firefighters soaked carpeting and insulation near the window. We arrived within hours, shut gas and power to affected circuits, and set up board-ups and roof tarps where shingles had blistered. Day one, HEPA filtration and moisture extraction reduced particulates and water load. By the second day, dry cleaning sponges had lifted soot from painted walls upstairs that looked untouched at first glance. Moisture maps showed a wet path under the living room subfloor. We drilled drying ports along the joist bays, saved the hardwood above, and avoided a full tear-out.
There was a grand piano in the living room. It had a light ash dusting but no heat damage. Rather than move it twice, we coordinated a single pack-out with a climate-controlled truck and a partner conservator. Electronics were triaged; the television was replaced due to heavy soot inside the housing, while a few lesser items cleaned well.
Odor control ran for three days with hydroxyl generators, then sealing primer on shaved studs along the window framing. By the end of week two, cleaning and drying were complete. Reconstruction ran three more weeks including new window units, a section of siding, and refinished floors. The owners were back in by week five, with a story to tell and systems in place that make a repeat far less likely.
A simple owner checklist to speed recovery
- Photograph every room from multiple angles before anything is moved, then store those photos offsite. Do not run the HVAC until a professional inspects and protects the system. Prioritize removing valuables and irreplaceable documents to a clean area to avoid cross contamination. Keep a log of conversations, approvals, and purchases for insurance and personal reference. Ask for daily moisture and progress updates in writing to maintain momentum and clarity.
What “made simple” really means
Making fire recovery simple is not about shrinking the work. It’s about sequencing, communication, and knowing which decisions carry outsized consequences. The science of soot behavior and drying physics does the heavy lifting, but people make it work. Crews that show up on time, document, and adjust plans based on real readings deliver projects that finish cleanly and stand up to scrutiny months later.
Bedrock Restoration’s process is proven because it resists shortcuts and embraces clarity. Stabilize fast, assess honestly, clean methodically, dry completely, control odor scientifically, and rebuild with foresight. Done that way, fire damage becomes a chapter, not the whole story.