The Chicago location lists water damage restoration, mold remediation, fire damage restoration, air duct cleaning, leak detection and contents cleaning. Its website says it serves Chicago and the Chicagoland area, has operated for over 15 years, and is an IICRC certified firm with 24/7 emergency service and direct insurance billing.

Listed since 09/27/2021

Fire damage in Chicago

Chicago rebuilt its building code after the 1871 fire, and the city's fire risk today is more about its older housing than its downtown. More than a quarter of Chicago's homes are two- and three-flats, most of them built between 1900 and 1920, and in some neighborhoods they are the majority. These buildings are typically masonry outside with wood framing inside, which the Chicago Building Code classes as ordinary construction: interior framing made in whole or in part of wood. A fire can climb through concealed floor and wall cavities even when the brick shell looks intact.

Multi-unit buildings also mean shared walls, shared stairwells and shared ventilation, so smoke and water from firefighting reach neighbors above and below.

What a fire damage job involves

After the fire department clears the building, crews secure it, board openings and remove debris. Soot is cleaned from surfaces that can be saved, charred and water-soaked materials are removed, and smell is treated at the source, because odor sealed behind new paint returns. Contents are sorted into what can be cleaned, what is replaced and what is lost. Ask how the contents inventory will be documented, since that list supports the insurance claim. Our guides to what can be saved after a house fire and smoke damage you can't see go through this in more detail.