New Orleans Fire Damage Restoration

Whether a kitchen fire filled your New Orleans home with smoke or a structural fire displaced your family, the path back starts with stabilization: board-up, water removal and soot cleaning. Water Restoration puts you in touch with local crews who handle every phase, from the first tarp to the final coat of paint, and who document everything for your insurance claim.

Properties in New Orleans (Orleans Parish) range over high-rise condominiums, older apartment buildings, dense single-family neighborhoods and large commercial and industrial properties. Cooking fires are the leading cause year-round, with electrical and heating fires rising in the cooler months.

Fire and smoke damage we handle in New Orleans

Whatever the construction type in New Orleans, the pattern is the same: the visible damage is usually a fraction of what the moisture meter finds. Cooking remains the leading cause of home fires here, as it is nationwide.

• Electrical fires when power is restored to water-damaged wiring after a storm
• Lightning-caused attic and roof fires
• Garage, workshop and vehicle fires
• Clothes dryer lint fires
• Small fires that were extinguished quickly but filled the house with smoke
• Smoke damage from a fire in a neighboring home or apartment unit
• Electrical shorts in humid attics and crawlspaces
• Candle and holiday decoration fires

Soot, odor and water: three clocks running at once

Soot is acidic. Within hours it discolors plastics and countertops; within days it etches glass, pits metal and permanently stains grout. Smoke odor penetrates drywall, insulation and upholstered contents and becomes harder to remove each day. Meanwhile the water used to put out the fire is soaking into the same materials, starting the mold clock that every water loss faces.

Emergency services on the first visit typically include board-up and tarping, water extraction, HEPA air filtration, protection of unaffected areas and an initial inventory of contents, with full cleaning and reconstruction following.

From board-up to rebuild

1. Dispatch and assessment. A local crew confirms the property is safe to enter and plans the stabilization.
2. Board-up, tarping and security. Windows, doors and roof openings are sealed against weather, animals and intruders.
3. Suppression water cleanup. Extraction and drying equipment address the water left by firefighting.
4. Structural cleaning. Walls, ceilings, cabinets, fixtures and the HVAC system are cleaned using methods chosen for wet, dry or protein smoke.
5. Contents processing. Furniture, clothing, electronics and documents are inventoried, cleaned where possible and stored until the home is ready.
6. Deodorization at the source, sealing of framing and subfloor, and reconstruction of damaged areas to code.

Salvage versus replace

More than most people expect. Glass, ceramics, metal and sealed wood clean well. Many textiles are restorable with specialty laundering and ozone. Electronics that were not exposed to heat can often be cleaned and tested, and documents and photos can be freeze-dried. Items generally not salvageable include food and medicine exposed to heat or smoke, melted plastics, mattresses, particleboard furniture and heavily sooted drywall and insulation.

Cost and insurance considerations

The cost of fire damage restoration depends on the size of the fire, the type of smoke residue, how far it traveled through the building and how much of the structure and contents can be cleaned rather than replaced.

Fire and smoke are covered perils in essentially every homeowners and commercial property policy, and most policies include additional living expenses if the property cannot be occupied during repairs.

The restoration companies we connect you with in New Orleans handle claims every day and can explain what is likely to be covered before work begins.

Service area: New Orleans and Orleans Parish

Coverage in New Orleans includes all 61 New Orleans ZIP codes, including 70112, 70113, 70114, along with the rest of Orleans Parish.

ZIP codes served in New Orleans: 70112, 70113, 70114, 70115, 70116, 70117, 70118, 70119, 70121, 70122, 70123, 70124 and 49 more.

The same crews also serve nearby communities including Gretna (4 mi), Arabi (4 mi), Harvey (5 mi), Marrero (6 mi), Metairie (6 mi), Chalmette (7 mi), Westwego (7 mi), Meraux (9 mi), Kenner (11 mi) and Violet (11 mi). If you are just outside New Orleans, call anyway; coverage areas overlap.

What to expect when you call about fire damage restoration in New Orleans

• A live person answers around the clock, because water and fire do not keep business hours
• You are connected with a restoration company that actually serves New Orleans, not a national call center that will call you back tomorrow
• You can ask about licensing, insurance and IICRC certification before any work begins, and you should
• There is no cost or obligation to call and talk through what you are seeing
• The companies we work with deal with insurance adjusters daily and can bill covered mitigation directly to your carrier