Structural Fire Damage Cleaning in Garrison, TX
With the wallboard torn out, what is left is a skeleton of black studs, scorched rafters and smoke-stained block. Somebody now has to decide what gets blasted clean, what gets sistered and what gets replaced. Unify Fire Solutions puts you in touch with independent, licensed and insured Garrison contractors who clean the bare structure down to sound wood.
- Soda blasting, dry ice blasting and wire brushing
- Char depth probed member by member
- Sealer applied to lock in residual odor
What Makes Framing Work Different
Close up the walls over dirty framing and the smoke odor bleeds right back through the new finish. Cleaning the structure is the step that decides whether the rebuild smells like a new house or a campfire.
Licensed & Insured Independent Pros
Each contractor on our referral list is an independent, licensed and insured local company. Verify both, and ask whether the crew follows the IICRC S700 standard for fire and smoke work.
Upfront Written Estimates
Blasting is priced by surface area, media and access, and attics and crawlspaces cost more to reach. Ask for a line-item written estimate before the first bag of media is opened.
Rapid Local Dispatch
Day or night, a dispatcher picks up and starts looking for a structural cleaning crew right away. Timing depends on which crews near Garrison are free, and it is often the same day.
Blasting Rigs and Probing Tools
This trade runs on gear most remodelers do not own: soda blast pots, dry ice blasters, tow-behind compressors, HEPA vacuums, air scrubbers and an awl for probing char.
Stay out of a fire-damaged attic, and never walk a charred roof deck to check it. Burned joists and decking can fail under one person's weight, and open wiring may still carry current. Let the crew confirm the structure will hold before anyone goes up, and keep everyone off the floor above a burned basement or crawlspace.
Cleaning the Building From the Roof Deck Down
Furniture and debris are a separate job. It is the work done on the wood, block, brick and steel that hold your house up.
Char Depth Probing and Member Decisions
Pressing an awl into the blackened wood shows how deep the char goes; a shallow crust over firm wood usually means it can be cleaned. When the char cuts deep into a joist or a truss web, the member gets sistered or swapped out.
- Members marked clean, sister or replace
- Structural engineer called in for questionable beams, trusses and headers
- Photos of each marked member for the claim
Soda Blasting
Sodium bicarbonate is softer than wood, so it strips soot and light char off studs, joists and roof decking without gouging the grain. Expect fine dust and residue that has to be contained and HEPA vacuumed when the blasting is done.
Dry Ice Blasting
With dry ice the pellets sublimate on impact, so there is nothing left on the floor but the soot itself. It suits cramped attics and areas around wiring, but it runs louder and pricier than soda.
- Hearing protection and ventilation required
- Good choice when residue would be a problem
Wire Brushing and Sanding
Small, isolated char spots are often handled by hand with wire brushes and sanders tied into a HEPA vacuum. It is slow on big areas but precise where blasting would be overkill.
Brick, Block, Concrete and Steel Beams
Porous brick, block and concrete trap soot deep in the surface, so crews use alkaline detergents, scrub brushes or blast media to lift it. Steel beams and columns are cleaned of soot and checked for warping or sag, which goes to the engineer.
Encapsulation and Attic Insulation Removal
Even well-blasted wood can hold faint odor in its pores, so crews roll or spray a pigmented shellac-based or specialty encapsulating sealer over cleaned framing. In the attic, smoke-soaked blown-in or batt insulation is vacuumed out with a high-powered insulation vac before the rafters and decking are cleaned.
Under the house, the crew probes the joists, sill plates and subfloor underside, then blasts and seals what can stay. Expect a vapor barrier to be pulled and replaced if smoke or hose water soaked it.
Have the contractor explain the method they plan for each part of the house. A good crew may soda blast the open walls, dry ice the attic around the wiring and hand sand a few studs near the panel.
Plan for containment, because blasting throws soot and media into every corner it can reach. Expect poly over openings, taped-off HVAC returns and air scrubbers pulling the space under negative pressure during blasting. Ask what the plan is to shield the undamaged rooms, floors and glass.
Bare Framing Covered in Soot and Char?
Phone our dispatchers and they begin searching for a structural crew close to Garrison. It costs nothing to call.
Call +1-833-336-1630The Path From Charred Framing to Sealed Wood
- 1
Phone the Dispatcher
Describe what is exposed: open stud walls, an attic, a crawlspace, block or steel. Let us know if an adjuster, engineer or roofer has already visited.
- 2
Mobile Crew on Site
An independent crew shows up with its compressor, blast gear, poly and air scrubbers. They check that the roof and floor are safe to walk and that power to the open walls is off.
- 3
Probe, Mark and Quote
They test each stud, joist and rafter with an awl, tag it, and flag anything doubtful for an engineer. You get a written, line-item quote listing square footage, method, sealer and insulation removal before any work starts.
- 4
Blasting, Sealing and Walkthrough
Once the wood is blasted, vacuumed and sealed, the crew lead walks you through the open structure. Do a sniff test on a warm afternoon, and ask for photos of every marked member before the rebuild closes the walls.
Notes From People We Connected
The attic fire left every rafter black and the insulation soaked. They vacuumed out the insulation, dry iced the rafters around the wiring and sealed it all. An engineer looked at two deeply charred rafters and they were sistered instead of torn out.
My contractor brother-in-law said all the black studs had to go. The crew lead pushed an awl into each one and showed me the wood was solid under a thin crust. They soda blasted and sealed them, and only three were swapped.
Our basement fire blackened the block walls and the steel beam over the family room. They scrubbed and blasted the block, cleaned the beam and had the engineer confirm it had not sagged. The basement smells normal again, even closed up.
Common Questions About Cleaning Charred Framing
How do crews decide if a charred stud can stay?
The test is simple: they probe it. Push an awl into the char, and if it hits solid wood after a shallow layer, the stud is usually a cleaning job. Members with deep char, splitting or a lost cross section get sistered or replaced, and anything structural in doubt goes to a licensed structural engineer.
What is the difference between soda blasting and dry ice blasting?
Soda media is mild on the grain and helps with odor, though it leaves a white dust that needs a full HEPA cleanup. Dry ice leaves no media behind and works well near wiring, but the equipment is noisy and the job usually costs more. It is common to see both on one job.
Why seal the framing if it has already been cleaned?
Wood is porous, and smoke molecules sit deep in the grain where no blasting can reach. An encapsulating sealer traps what is left so the odor does not seep back through the finished walls. Sealing dirty wood does not work, so the cleaning has to come first.
Does the attic insulation have to come out after a fire?
If smoke reached the attic, almost always yes. Blown-in and batt insulation trap smoke and soot like a filter, and many get soaked by hose water too. It is vacuumed out with an insulation vac so the rafters and roof deck can be probed, blasted and sealed before anything new is blown in.
Can soot be cleaned off brick and concrete block?
Usually yes, though masonry takes more effort than drywall because soot sinks into the pores. Crews use alkaline masonry cleaners and stiff brushes, and soda or other media blasting for heavy buildup. Heat-cracked or spalled block and brick should be looked at by an engineer or mason.
Do I need a structural engineer for fire-damaged framing?
You may not on a small job, but any doubtful load-bearing member calls for one. An engineer's report on trusses, headers, beams, steel and badly charred joists protects you and supports the claim. Your local building department may also require one before the walls close.
Charred Framing Cleaning Across Garrison and Beyond
Our dispatch line covers Garrison and the nearby communities around it, from older homes with plaster and solid-sawn joists to newer builds with engineered trusses. Attics, crawlspaces, basements, garages and small commercial buildings are all in scope.
- Attic fires
- Electrical fires
- Furnace puff-backs
- Chimney fires
- Lightning strikes
- Neighbor's fire spread
If the first crew we connect you with is not the right fit, call back and a dispatcher will connect you with another. Do not let the rebuild close walls over dirty framing.
