Hear from Our Customers
You’re not wondering if the smoke smell will ever leave. You’re not second-guessing whether hidden water damage from firefighting efforts is going to turn into mold next month. You’re not stuck playing phone tag with your insurance adjuster because nobody documented anything properly.
Your property is safe, dry, and odor-free. The soot is gone from places you didn’t even know it reached. Your belongings that could be saved were packed out, cleaned, and stored properly. The areas that couldn’t be saved were removed correctly, and you have every photo, moisture reading, and timeline your insurance company asked for.
You got through one of the worst experiences a property owner can face, and your space is back to what it was before the fire. That’s what fire restoration actually means when it’s done right.
Elite Clean Restoration is IICRC-certified in fire and smoke restoration, which means our team has been trained on the actual science of how smoke travels, what it does to different materials, and how to remove it completely. We’re not guessing. We’re following protocols that work.
We’ve been serving New Winchester and the surrounding area since 2016, and we know this housing stock. A lot of homes here were built before 1960, which means older wiring, older materials, and specific risks that come with that. When fire damage happens in an older home, you need someone who understands how those structures respond and what needs attention beyond what’s visible.
We answer our phone 24/7, and we’re on-site in 60 to 90 minutes. Not tomorrow. Not when it’s convenient. Right now, when it matters most.
First, we show up fast and assess safety. That means checking for structural hazards, electrical risks, and whether it’s safe to enter. We’re looking at what the fire damaged, what the smoke reached, and what the water from putting out the fire affected. You get a clear picture within the first hour.
Next, we contain the damage. We set up barriers and HEPA filtration to keep soot and odor from spreading to unaffected areas. We start water extraction immediately if firefighting efforts left standing water, because waiting even a few hours turns a fire job into a mold job. We document everything with photos and moisture readings, because your insurance company will ask for it, and we’d rather have it ready than scramble later.
Then we remove what can’t be saved and clean what can. Soot gets into everything—walls, ducts, belongings. We pack out salvageable items, clean them properly off-site, and store them while we work. We remove damaged materials, treat surfaces, neutralize odors at the molecular level, and dry out the structure completely. You get progress updates every 48 hours with photos and readings, so you’re never wondering what’s happening.
Finally, we do a walkthrough with you and follow up 14 days later to make sure everything is still solid. No surprises. No lingering smells. No moisture creeping back.
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You’re getting immediate water extraction and drying, because the fire department had to flood your property to put out the flames. You’re getting soot and smoke residue removal from every surface it touched—walls, ceilings, floors, and contents. You’re getting odor elimination that actually works, not just masking sprays. We use hydroxyl generators and thermal fogging to break down odor molecules.
You’re also getting contents pack-out and storage if needed, so your belongings aren’t sitting in a contaminated space while we work. We clean HVAC ducts after fire events because smoke travels through your system and will keep recirculating if it’s not addressed. And you’re getting complete documentation with Xactimate-aligned pricing, which is what your insurance adjuster is using on their end.
In New Winchester, where a third of homes were built before 1940, fire damage often reveals other issues—old wiring, asbestos in older materials, lead paint. We’re EPA RRP certified for lead-safe work practices, and we’ll let you know if we see something that needs attention beyond the fire damage itself. You’re not just getting cleanup. You’re getting a full assessment from people who know what to look for in older properties.
We’re on-site in 60 to 90 minutes, 24/7. That’s not an estimate or a goal—that’s what we commit to when you call. Fire damage gets worse the longer it sits. Soot becomes harder to remove. Water starts soaking into subfloors. Odors set deeper into porous materials.
The first few hours determine whether this is a manageable restoration or a total loss. We answer our phone live, not with an answering service, because when you’re standing outside your property at 2 a.m. after a fire, you need to talk to someone who can actually help you right now. We dispatch immediately, and we bring everything we need to start containment, assessment, and water extraction on the first visit.
Speed matters in fire restoration, and we’ve built our entire response system around getting to you fast when it counts most.
Most homeowner policies cover fire damage restoration, including smoke and water damage from firefighting efforts. But coverage depends on your specific policy, your deductible, and how the damage is documented. That’s where a lot of property owners get stuck—they don’t have the right documentation, or the scope doesn’t match what the adjuster is expecting.
We work directly with your insurance company and provide documentation in the format they need. We use Xactimate, which is the same estimating software most adjusters use, so our pricing aligns with what they’re expecting to see. We take detailed photos, moisture maps, and progress reports, and we can walk your adjuster through the scope if needed.
You’re not navigating this alone. We’ve worked with every major carrier, and we know what they ask for. Our job is to restore your property and make sure you have everything you need for a smooth claims process. If you’re paying out of pocket, we also offer discounts for seniors, military, first responders, and teachers on non-insurance jobs.
Smoke odor doesn’t just sit on surfaces—it penetrates drywall, insulation, carpets, and anything porous. Cleaning visible soot helps, but it won’t eliminate the smell. You need to neutralize the odor molecules, not just cover them up with air fresheners or ozone, which only masks the problem temporarily.
We use a combination of methods depending on what the smoke affected. Hydroxyl generators break down odor molecules at a chemical level and are safe to use while people are present. Thermal fogging releases a deodorizing agent that penetrates the same places smoke did, neutralizing odors in wall cavities and other hidden areas. We also clean or replace HVAC filters and duct systems, because smoke travels through your ventilation and will keep recirculating if it’s not addressed.
In older New Winchester homes with plaster walls or wood framing, smoke can settle deep into materials that have been there for decades. Sometimes that means removing and replacing sections of drywall or insulation that are too saturated to save. We’ll tell you what can be cleaned and what needs to go. The goal is a space that doesn’t smell like a fire ever happened, and we don’t consider the job done until that’s the case.
Fire damage is what burned—charred materials, melted items, structural damage from flames. Smoke damage is everything the fire touched without burning it. Smoke travels through your entire property, into rooms the fire never reached, and leaves soot, residue, and odor on every surface. In most fire events, smoke damage affects a much larger area than the fire itself.
Smoke damage is also harder to address because it’s not always visible. Soot can be wiped off a countertop, but the smoke that penetrated your drywall, your insulation, or your air ducts isn’t something you can see or clean yourself. It requires specialized equipment and cleaning agents designed for different types of smoke residue—wet smoke, dry smoke, protein smoke, fuel smoke. Each one behaves differently and requires a different approach.
Fire restoration includes both. We remove what burned, clean what the smoke affected, and treat the odors that linger after both. A lot of companies will focus on the visible fire damage and ignore the smoke damage in other areas, which is why property owners end up with lingering smells and soot reappearing weeks later. We treat the entire scope of damage, not just the obvious parts.
It depends on the extent of the damage and what phase of restoration we’re in. If there are structural hazards, electrical risks, or heavy soot and odor, it’s safer to stay elsewhere until we’ve completed containment and initial cleanup. If the damage is limited to one area and we’ve sealed it off, you may be able to stay in unaffected parts of the property.
We’ll tell you honestly what makes sense based on what we’re seeing. Some restoration processes—like thermal fogging or heavy demolition—require the space to be vacant for a few hours or a day. Other tasks, like drying equipment running or air scrubbers filtering the air, can happen while you’re there. We use containment barriers and HEPA filtration to protect areas we’re not working in, and we wear shoe covers to avoid tracking soot into clean spaces.
If you do need to leave, we can discuss contents pack-out and storage for your belongings, and we’ll keep you updated every 48 hours so you know exactly when it’s safe to return. Your comfort and safety matter, and we’re not going to rush you back into a space that isn’t ready just to close out a job faster.
It depends on the size of the fire, how much smoke spread, and whether there’s water damage from firefighting efforts. A small kitchen fire with limited smoke might take a week. A larger fire that affected multiple rooms, required demo, and left significant water damage could take three to four weeks. Every job is different.
What slows things down is usually drying time and waiting for materials to be safe to seal or rebuild. You can’t rush structural drying—if we close up walls before moisture levels are where they need to be, you’ll have mold in a month. We monitor moisture daily and don’t move to the next phase until readings confirm it’s safe. We also coordinate with your insurance adjuster’s timeline, because sometimes approvals or inspections add a few days.
What we can control is response time, communication, and efficiency once we’re on-site. You’ll know the estimated timeline after our initial assessment, and we’ll update you every 48 hours if anything changes. We’re not going to drag out a job, but we’re also not going to cut corners just to finish faster. You’re getting a timeline that’s realistic and a process that’s done right.
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