Hear from Our Customers
The smoke smell is gone. The soot isn’t embedded in your walls anymore. Your HVAC system isn’t circulating contaminated air through rooms that weren’t even touched by flames.
You’re not wondering if your insurance company is going to fight you on coverage. You’re not second-guessing whether the “clean” surfaces are actually clean or just wiped down. You’re not dealing with contractors who show up late, leave messes, or ghost you when you have questions.
Your property looks like it did before the fire. Your belongings that could be saved were packed out, cleaned properly, and returned. The stuff that couldn’t be saved was documented with photos so your claim doesn’t get shortchanged. You got a final walkthrough, a follow-up two weeks later, and a crew that treated your property like it mattered.
Elite Clean Restoration has been handling fire and smoke restoration in Federal Hill and the greater Indianapolis area for over eight years. We’re IICRC-certified in water damage restoration, applied structural drying, and mold remediation—credentials that matter when you’re dealing with the water damage that always comes with fire suppression.
We’re not a franchise. We’re not a call center that dispatches the lowest bidder. When you call our line, a real person answers, and a trained crew is at your door in 60 to 90 minutes. We know Federal Hill’s older housing stock. We know how smoke travels through balloon-framed walls. We know how Indiana’s humidity makes drying tricky and how winter freezes complicate water extraction after the fire department leaves.
You call our live-answer line. We dispatch a crew immediately. They arrive in 60 to 90 minutes with containment barriers, HEPA filtration units, moisture meters, and thermal cameras.
First, we stop the damage from spreading. That means setting up physical containment around affected areas so soot and smoke odor don’t migrate into clean rooms. We pull air through HEPA filters to capture airborne particles. If the fire department soaked your property, we start water extraction right away because standing water creates mold problems within 24 to 48 hours.
Next, we document everything. We take photos of every damaged surface, map moisture levels in walls and floors, and create a scope of work that aligns with Xactimate pricing—the same software your insurance adjuster uses. You get that documentation within 24 hours, and we update you every 48 hours after that until the job is done.
Then we clean. Soot and smoke residue aren’t just black streaks you can wipe off. They’re acidic, they’re sticky, and they bond to porous surfaces like drywall, wood, and fabric. We use specialized detergents and techniques based on what burned—protein fires, synthetic materials, and natural materials all leave different residues that require different treatments.
Ready to get started?
You get emergency containment and air filtration to protect unaffected areas. You get water extraction and structural drying if the fire department flooded your property during suppression. You get soot and smoke residue removal from walls, ceilings, and structural surfaces using IICRC-approved methods.
Your contents get packed out, inventoried, cleaned off-site, and stored until reconstruction is complete—or disposed of with full photo documentation if they’re unsalvageable. Your HVAC system gets inspected and cleaned because ductwork circulates smoke particles long after the fire is out, and that’s a health hazard you don’t want.
You get odor neutralization, not masking. We don’t spray perfume over smoke smell. We use hydroxyl generators and thermal fogging to break down odor molecules at the source. You get a dedicated insurance liaison who handles all communication with your adjuster, submits documentation, and makes sure you’re not leaving money on the table.
Federal Hill’s housing stock includes plenty of pre-1950 homes with plaster walls, hardwood floors, and crawl spaces that complicate drying and restoration. We’ve worked in these structures for years. We know how to dry a basement with limited ventilation, how to treat smoke damage in horsehair plaster, and how to handle lead-safe work practices when demolition is required.
We dispatch a crew within 60 to 90 minutes of your call, any time of day or night. Speed matters because smoke residue becomes harder to remove the longer it sits, and water from fire suppression starts growing mold within 24 to 48 hours.
Our trucks are stocked with containment barriers, HEPA air scrubbers, water extractors, and moisture detection equipment so we can start mitigation immediately. We don’t need to go back to the shop for supplies. We don’t need to wait for a supervisor to approve the work. We show up ready to stop the damage from getting worse.
If you’re in Federal Hill or anywhere in the Indianapolis metro area, we’re close enough to respond fast. That’s not marketing talk—it’s how we’ve operated since 2016.
Most homeowner policies cover fire damage restoration, including smoke and soot cleanup, water extraction from firefighting efforts, contents pack-out, and odor removal. But coverage depends on your specific policy, your deductible, and how well the damage is documented.
That’s where we help. We create a detailed scope of work with photos, moisture maps, and line-item pricing using Xactimate—the same software your insurance adjuster uses. We submit everything directly to your carrier, communicate with the adjuster on your behalf, and make sure nothing gets missed or undervalued.
We also bill your insurance company directly in most cases, so you’re not fronting tens of thousands of dollars out of pocket. You pay your deductible, and we handle the rest. If there’s a dispute over coverage, we provide the documentation and technical expertise to back up the claim.
If smoke odor is treated correctly, it doesn’t come back. But “correctly” means neutralizing odor molecules, not covering them up with sprays or candles.
Smoke odor embeds itself in porous materials—drywall, insulation, wood framing, upholstery, carpets. If those materials aren’t cleaned or sealed properly, the smell resurfaces, especially when humidity rises or temperatures change. We use hydroxyl generators and thermal fogging to break down odor molecules at the molecular level, and we seal surfaces where odor has penetrated too deeply to remove.
We also clean your HVAC system. Ductwork circulates air through your entire property, and if smoke particles are sitting in the ducts, you’ll smell it every time the system runs. A lot of restoration companies skip this step. We don’t. We inspect and clean ducts after every fire job, and we replace filters before we leave.
Anything that can be saved gets packed out, cleaned off-site, inventoried, and stored in a climate-controlled facility until your property is ready. Anything that can’t be saved gets photographed and documented so your insurance claim reflects the full loss.
We don’t make those decisions arbitrarily. We follow IICRC guidelines for contents restoration, and we consult with you before disposing of anything. Some items—important documents, heirlooms, electronics—get special handling and cleaning methods. We work with specialty vendors for things like fine art, antiques, and electronics recovery.
You get a full inventory list with photos and condition notes. When reconstruction is done, we deliver everything back and help you unpack if needed. If you’re in Federal Hill and you’ve got a basement or attic full of belongings, we’ve handled bigger pack-outs than yours. We know how to move fast without breaking things.
Mitigation—stopping the damage from spreading—starts the day we arrive and usually takes three to seven days depending on the size of the loss. That includes water extraction, structural drying, soot removal, and odor treatment.
Reconstruction—rebuilding what was damaged—takes longer, typically two to six weeks depending on how much demolition and rebuild is required. If we’re replacing drywall, repainting, and reinstalling trim, that’s a faster job than rebuilding a kitchen or replacing roof decking.
We give you a timeline during the initial inspection, and we update you every 48 hours so you know where we are in the process. We don’t disappear for days and then show up unannounced. We don’t leave jobs half-finished to start another one. If we’re on your property, we’re there to finish the work, not juggle six other jobs at the same time.
Yes. We handle emergency mitigation, contents pack-out, structural cleaning, odor removal, and full reconstruction under one contract. You’re not coordinating between a restoration company and a separate contractor. You’re not explaining the damage twice or waiting for two different schedules to align.
One crew, one point of contact, one timeline. We clean it, we dry it, we rebuild it. That also means better communication with your insurance company because they’re dealing with one vendor, one invoice, and one scope of work instead of multiple subcontractors billing separately.
We’re licensed, insured, and IICRC-certified for both restoration and reconstruction. We pull permits when required, we follow building codes, and we pass inspections. If your fire damage happened in Federal Hill or anywhere in the Indianapolis area, we’ve handled similar projects in similar homes. We know what your adjuster expects, what your city inspector requires, and what it actually takes to get your property back to pre-loss condition.
Local Resources
Useful Links
Other Services we provide in Federal Hill
