Fire and Soot Damage Cleanup, Car Parts Supplier

Project Brief

Our client suffered extensive fire and soot damage to their depot in Aylesford, one of their biggest stock sites. Opening six days of the week, they were keen to keep disruption and downtime to an absolute minimum.

We were called in to carry out odour neutralisation and complete fire damage restoration on stock, ceilings, walls and floors, which would involve working at heights. We had to act quickly. Not only did the business risk suffering major losses, but if not treated quickly, soot and ash can cause significant secondary damage as they are acidic and corrosive, damaging the surfaces that they come into contact with.

While our client made contingency plans to transfer telephone lines and ship from other depots for the immediate future, this was far from the ideal situation in terms of business continuity, so they were looking for a way to minimise disruption.

Our Brief

Due to the impact on business for our client, one of the key parts that surrounded the methodology was identifying how we could possibly minimise the down- time. It was agreed that it would be preferable to manage everything from site, in terms of cleaning the soot-damaged stock whilst the clean to the building was carried out.

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In order to allow the clients to get back to trading as quickly as possible, we decided to focus on the front of the shop first. Once this was cleaned and habitable, we could seal the area off, allowing our clients to carry on trading while the back was being cleaned. Having an adequate sealing would be crucial as to not re-contaminate the previously cleaned areas.

The Technical Part

To get the client back to business as quickly as possible, a ‘clean area’ principle with an external cleaning unit was the most favourable option. And once a relevant section of the building was cleaned and ready, we planned to effectively sheet the area off, creating a barrier so that the clean areas would not be re-contaminated.

We had to remove soot damage to the ceilings, walls and floors of the building, which included working at height. There was a section at height, above racking, that needed particular attention as the smoke damage went across the ceiling and left a large “footprint” of smoke damage to the concrete wall and ceiling.

The odour left by fire damage can prove difficult to remove. Therefore, we decided to carry out a treatment of our Biosweep® technology – our high-performance air and surface decontamination solution. Biosweep® is an industry-leading odour neutralisation technology and enables us to guarantee 100% odour removal.

The stock contents were cleaned and decontaminated and placed into a ‘clean room’ via an external unit until the building was cleaned and restored. We were able to save all the stock and contents, with 95% of it being salvaged.

We completed the fire damage restoration within 10 days. Our competitors quoted our client 6 months.

With the work successfully carried out, we saved our client in the region of £3 – £5 million, the insurance company the business interruption insurance and the cost to the insurance company for alternative accommodation, which could run into six-figure sums.

The Technology and Equipment

BioSweep® is our preferred choice when it comes to odour neutralisation. With its industry-leading technology, it can eradicate even the most stubborn odours, in as little as 3 – 12 hours.

Utilising the acclaimed photocatalytic Oxidation (PCO) technology, BioSweep® is highly effective at destroying airborne microorganisms and even the smallest traces of malodorous smells.

An ozone decontamination process, BioSweep® provides the permanent eradication of indoor bio-contaminants and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). A five-stage process, BioSweep® produces simultaneous, interrelated forms of oxidation to eradicate airborne organic contaminants and permanently eradicates a number of pathogens, including fungi and other fine particles.

The size of the structure, type of odour, and damage caused are all factors that directly affect the amount of time required to carry out an effective BioSweep® treatment. Therefore, an inspection is first carried out by our technicians to identify how many BioSweep® reactors will be required for an effective course.

The Results

We completed the fire restoration within 10 days. Our competitors quoted our client 6 months.

With the work successfully carried out, we saved our client in the region of £3 – £5 million, the insurance company the business interruption insurance and the cost to the insurance company for alternative accommodation, which could run into six-figure sums.

The client stated: “I am very satisfied with the work that has been carried out. A great team to deal with! I have no hesitation in recommending Ideal or its staff.”