Available 24/7 · Raleigh and nearby areas
A kitchen fire, an electrical fire, or smoke from a neighbor’s townhome can leave soot throughout your home. Our crew handles fire and smoke damage restoration in Raleigh, NC, from soot cleanup to repairs. Call any time, day or night.
Call (919) 238-9459
We work with all major insurance carriers
Fire damage help
Soot is acidic. Left on a surface, it keeps staining paint, yellowing grout, tarnishing metal, and over time etching glass. Surfaces that clean up well in the first few days can stain for good if the soot sits.
Raleigh has two very different kinds of homes. In older homes, smoke drifts through plaster walls and down into crawl spaces. In newer townhome rows, it spreads through shared attics.
Hose water often runs into the crawl space, where humid air keeps it from drying. Left there, it can soak the subfloor and start mold within days.
Homeowners, property managers, and business owners call us after fires all year round. We work across Five Points, Oakwood, Village District, North Hills, Boylan Heights, Brier Creek, Hayes Barton, Mordecai, Glenwood-Brooklyn, and Wakefield.
Call Now (919) 238-9459Board-up, crawl space drying, soot cleanup, odor treatment, and the rebuild.
A lightly smoked room or two often takes days. A burned kitchen or new walls takes several weeks.
We consider the reach of the smoke, what can be saved, crawl space and wall drying, and the rebuild.
A free inspection and estimate before any work starts.
The first 24 hours
The Raleigh Fire Department, or the department that responded, decides when it’s safe to go back in. After that, these steps protect your family, your belongings, and your claim.
Not sure what’s safe to touch? Call and walk through it with our crew.
Call (919) 238-9459Fire can weaken floors and ceilings in ways you can’t see. Stay out until the fire department says it’s safe.
Take photos and video of every room, closet, and the garage before anything is moved or thrown out.
Open a claim and write down the claim number and your adjuster’s name. Ask the Raleigh Fire Department for the incident report too.
Hotel stays, meals, and supplies may be covered by your policy’s loss-of-use coverage.
In townhomes, smoke and water can reach adjoining units, so let them and the association know.
Water and household cleaners smear soot into paint and fabric and can set the stain for good.
It can pull soot from one room and blow it through the whole house. Leave it off until the ducts are checked.
The USDA says to throw out food exposed to heat, smoke, or firefighting chemicals, including food in the fridge, since the door seal isn’t airtight.
Heat, water, and soot can damage them inside. Have them checked first.
Leave that to Duke Energy, Enbridge Gas North Carolina or a licensed electrician.
Common fire damage
Historic cottages, fast-growing suburbs, and humid summers shape the fires we see across the Triangle.
In open-plan Raleigh homes, grease from a stovetop fire can drift past the kitchen into the family room.
Older wiring in historic homes, overloaded outlets, and storm-damaged circuits can ignite inside walls.
A heat pump or air handler left on may spread soot through ducts in the attic or crawlspace.
Lint in a long dryer vent, common in upstairs laundry rooms, can catch fire and spread smoke.
Townhomes are built in rows, and smoke can slip past firewalls from one unit to the next.
Hose water soaks floors and drains into crawl spaces. Raleigh humidity means hose water must come out fast, before mold starts.
How we clean
Smoke smell lingers when residue stays on drywall, plaster, cabinets, insulation, or ductwork. Fresheners only mask it.
We test before we clean. Plaster, painted drywall, and fabric respond differently, so each gets a trial spot.
Soot is lifted dry first. HEPA vacuums and dry sponges remove loose residue before any washing.
Then we go after the smell. Joists, subfloor, and ducts over the crawl space get deodorized. Insulation that soaked up smoke or water is replaced. Some treatments need people and pets out for a while, so we plan them with you.
Usually fromFast fires in wood or paper
How it behavesLoose, powdery soot that HEPA vacuums lift.
Usually fromPlastics and wiring smoldering slowly
How it behavesA greasy layer that streaks when touched.
Usually fromBurned food
How it behavesThin film with a strong odor.
Usually fromSmoke crossing a shared attic
How it behavesGray film on ceilings near shared walls.
What can be saved
In Triangle homes, outcomes depend on the material, how close it was to the fire, and how quickly drying starts in the humidity. These are typical results, and your inspection confirms them.
These clean well when soot is removed within days.
Painted drywall and older plaster usually clean up. Any smoke outline that stays gets sealed and repainted.
Drywall in newer homes that took on smoke can usually be cleaned and primed. Burned or hose-soaked sections are cut out.
Oak and pine floors and cabinets often clean. Heat-blistered finishes may need refinishing.
Many fabrics recover with specialized laundering. Burned or melted items can’t.
Light smoke can usually be removed. Hose-soaked pieces mildew quickly and are usually replaced.
Soot and humidity corrode electronics, so have them tested first.
Store photos and papers flat in an air-conditioned room. Specialists can often recover them.
Floor joists over the crawl space with light char may be cleaned and sealed. Wood the fire weakened is replaced.
Crawl space insulation, mattresses, and pad hold smoke and water, so they’re removed.
Pantry food and anything in the fridge near the fire belongs in the trash. A pharmacist can tell you whether nearby medicine is still safe.
If rooms need heavy cleaning or a rebuild, we can pack out your belongings as a separate service. Ask about it during your free inspection.
Belongings that can’t be restored are photographed and listed separately, so your adjuster sees why.
Help beyond the fire
Every job starts with a free inspection and estimate. Fire damage rarely comes alone, so the same team handles what comes with it.
Firefighting water collects in Raleigh crawl spaces and soaks the subfloor. We extract the standing water, set up dehumidifiers and air movers, and take moisture readings every day until the floors and framing test dry.
More about Water Damage Restoration
Raleigh crawl spaces left wet after firefighting grow mold fast in humid Triangle weather. We find the moisture source, contain the area, remove the mold, and dry the space out.
More about Mold Remediation
Hurricane remnants and summer storms may bring trees down on Raleigh roofs. We dry the structure, remove damaged materials, and repair the ceilings and walls inside.
More about Storm Damage
A Glenwood South restaurant or North Hills shop may sit empty until smoke cleanup wraps up. We extract, dry, and clean on a plan built around reopening, and we document each step for your carrier.
More about Commercial Restoration
When you’re ready to rebuild, the same crew puts it back together, from drywall to cabinets to the final coat of paint, so there’s no second contractor to hire.
More about ReconstructionCall and talk to our crew about what happened. The call is free, and so is the inspection.
Our process
Call (919) 238-9459 any time, day or night, including weekends and holidays. Tell us what happened and whether the fire department has cleared the house. We’ll send a crew right away.
We board up broken windows and doors and tarp openings in the roof, so rain and intruders stay out while the work is planned.
The 24 Hour Flood Pros team traces how far the soot and smoke went, room by room, including closets, the attic, and the ducts. We use moisture meters to find hose water inside walls and under floors. We photograph all the damage for your insurance. The inspection is free.
We pump out standing water and set up drying equipment. Rooms the smoke didn’t reach get closed off with plastic, so soot doesn’t follow us through the house.
Materials that can’t be saved, like charred drywall and soaked insulation, come out. If you need belongings packed out, we can do that as a separate service.
Soot comes off with dry methods first, then wet cleaning matched to each surface. With the residue gone, we treat the smell in the materials and ducts that soaked it up.
When you’re ready, the 24 Hour Flood Pros team fixes the damage. We replace drywall, install cabinets, and finish with fresh paint. Our goal is to make your home look the way it did before.
Before we sign off a room, we check surfaces in strong light and wipe-test them for leftover residue. Then we walk through with you, with the heat pump running for a smell check, and send the final records to your insurance company to close out the claim.
Your Raleigh townhome may pick up soot through shared attics and walls. Call us for a free inspection.
Insurance and claims
We work with all major insurance carriers, including State Farm, Allstate, Liberty Mutual, Farmers, American Family, Travelers, and Nationwide. Documentation starts on the first visit, and your adjuster can call us directly with questions.
Your policy decides what’s covered, not us. Our job is keeping the paperwork clear enough that your claim doesn’t stall. We bill your insurance directly for damage your policy covers.
Many homeowners policies also include loss-of-use coverage, sometimes called additional living expenses, for a hotel or rental while the house is repaired. Ask your adjuster what yours includes before you book anything.
If a claim stalls, you can file a complaint with the North Carolina Department of Insurance.
Where we work
We serve Raleigh and towns across Wake County and the Triangle.
Don’t see your area listed? Call us and we’ll tell you right away.
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Common questions
A crew can be there within 45 minutes. We work 24/7, including nights, weekends, and holidays. If the fire department hasn’t cleared the house yet, we’ll talk you through what to do until it does.
Not until it’s been checked, and often not in the rooms closest to the fire. Soot in the air irritates your lungs, and burned floors, ceilings, and wiring can be unsafe. After the inspection, we’ll tell you which areas are safe to use and whether it makes sense to stay somewhere else during the work.
In most homes, yes, once the residue is cleaned off and the materials that soaked up smoke are treated or removed. A smell that keeps coming back usually means residue was missed, often in the ducts, the insulation, or inside cabinets. That’s why our final walkthrough includes a smell check with the heat or air running.
A light film on a small area, maybe. Anything more, we don’t recommend it. Wiping soot with water or household cleaners usually smears it into paint and grout and can set the stain. Soot is also acidic and irritating, so it shouldn’t be handled without gloves and a respirator.
Most standard homeowners policies cover sudden fires, including smoke damage and water damage from putting the fire out. Limits, deductibles, and exclusions vary, so check your policy or ask your agent.
It depends on how far the soot and smoke spread, what can be cleaned or has to be replaced, how much water needs drying, and how much has to be rebuilt. One smoky room costs far less than a kitchen fire that reached the attic. The inspection and estimate are free, so you know the cost before any work starts.
Light smoke damage in a room or two can take a few days. A fire that needs walls, cabinets, or floors rebuilt can take several weeks or longer, depending on the scope, permits, and insurance approvals. Your estimate includes a schedule.
For fires inside the City of Raleigh, request the incident report from the Raleigh Fire Department. Many nearby cities and counties run their own fire departments, so ask the department that responded.
Yes. We restore offices, restaurants, shops, and other commercial buildings, and we plan the work around getting you reopened. See our commercial restoration page for more.
Available 24/7
Day or night, weekend or holiday, call (919) 238-9459. A crew can be there within 45 minutes to start your free inspection.
Call (919) 238-9459Tell us what happened and we'll call you right back.