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Fire in house...Bar RE-OPENING is Scheduled!! New pics 9/28 |
Bargoyle
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 18, 2004
Posts: 1025
From: Tolland, CT
|  Posted: 2006-03-27 1:47 pm Permalink
Hi everyone,
I need suggestions, and I need em fast.
We had a fire at the house this past thursday night (3/23). Everyone is ok, and the house, although uninhabitable, is structurally sound.
Unfortunately, soot & ash are EVERYWHERE in the house. The damamge is pretty extensive.
The lounge did not get hit by any flame, but is also COVERED in the foul smelling soot. The cleaning crew has told me that there is NO WAY to clean the soot out of the bamboo (too porous) and that the bar is going to have to be gutted.
This absolutely breaks my heart.
If anyone (Bamboo Ben, Im looking in your direction....) has any ideas on how to save my lounge, please, let me know as soon as possible. I've convinced the cleanup crew to not touch that room for a few days.
Thanks!!!
Pre-Fire pics...(will post some post fire pics when I have my computer up & running)
[ This Message was edited by: Bargoyle 2006-04-01 20:00 ]
[ This Message was edited by: Bargoyle 2006-04-17 18:47 ]
[ This Message was edited by: Bargoyle 2006-08-15 06:39 ]
[ This Message was edited by: Bargoyle 2006-08-29 17:06 ]
[ This Message was edited by: Bargoyle 2006-09-28 12:06 ]
[ This Message was edited by: Bargoyle 2006-09-28 16:59 ]
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bigkahuna627
Tiki Centralite
Joined: Nov 14, 2004
Posts: 99
From: ocean city md
| Posted: 2006-03-27 2:01 pm Permalink
Search for a company named chemspec, they have a cleaner for everything, even one to remove dead body odor. No Joke.
Best of luck.
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aloha.taboo
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jan 08, 2006
Posts: 173
From: Grand Rapids, MI
| Posted: 2006-03-27 2:06 pm Permalink
I used to work for my parents blind cleaning company, where we used an ultrasonic water-based cleaning method to clean the blinds. Quite often we did fire cleanup jobs and put all sorts of stuff in the machine. The fire restoration crews used to have us try to clean stuff before the insurance company paid for replacement.
The ultrasonic method would definitely work to get soot out of normally hard to clean places, as long as the object can fit in the tank. Look in the yellow pages under "blind cleaning - ultrasonic".
The restoration companies would also use a machine that literally destroy all the oxygen in a room in order to combat the smell.
I would look up ServPro to see if there's a franchise in your area, I did a lot of work with them.
Good luck!
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Bargoyle
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 18, 2004
Posts: 1025
From: Tolland, CT
| Posted: 2006-03-27 2:14 pm Permalink
Thanks for the suggestion!
Found em at chemspecworld.com
All they seem to have are a degreaser and the chemical sponges that the cleaning crew are using on the drywalls & ceiling. Unfortunately, these wont work on bamboo(according to the cleaning crew...I might have to try it on my own)
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pappythesailor
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jul 07, 2005
Posts: 1563
From: Mass.
| Posted: 2006-03-27 2:17 pm Permalink
Bargoyle, I have an ultrasonic cleaner for clock repair. We can put some smaller stuff in it.
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Bargoyle
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 18, 2004
Posts: 1025
From: Tolland, CT
| Posted: 2006-03-27 2:19 pm Permalink
Thanks for the input Aloha.taboo.
We're working with ServiceMaster, and they've got one of those O-Zone machines (or whatever it is) upstairs right now.
I guess there's no way of getting this stuff clean with out at least taking it all down.
Still, taking it down is better than detroying it all.
I'll try the blind cleaners too. The problem I see there may be one of size. Most of the bamboo on the ceiling is 12 foot long. Do the blind washers come that big? ALthought the blind washers might be perfect for the Lauhala on the walls!
Thanks again!
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Bargoyle
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 18, 2004
Posts: 1025
From: Tolland, CT
| Posted: 2006-03-27 2:22 pm Permalink
Thanks Pappy.
I'll def take you up on that. Pretty much every mug, carving, print, glass & swizzle stick needs to be cleaned or destroyed.
I'm really hoping for cleaned.
Breaks my heart man...I've already built this room twice. I just dont know if I have a third one in me!
Gotta try to save it intact
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Blowfish
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Feb 09, 2006
Posts: 158
From: Hula-ifornia
| Posted: 2006-03-27 2:22 pm Permalink
Very sorry to hear about this...
I have salvaged important documents by takin gthem to a company focused on 'preservation' of paper documents... often used for art or related things. I would recommend taking things like the SHAG print of yours to have it gone over with a company that can ensure it has not been damaged... I'd hate to lose that, let alone everything else.
Best of luck in your recovery.
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Bargoyle
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 18, 2004
Posts: 1025
From: Tolland, CT
| Posted: 2006-03-27 2:26 pm Permalink
Thanks for the advice blowfish...there are actually about 10 shag prints that need to be gone over. The ones in the tiki bar got the brunt of the soot, but even the ones upstairs took a good blast. (Not to mention 2 that still in delivery tubes and not framed yet!!)
For the amount that the framing cost (museum preservation quality, uv glass, etc etc) I'm hoping that they're ok. Still, I'll have em checked out on the insurance company's dime. Thanks again for the tip!
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The Granite Tiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jul 02, 2005
Posts: 803
From: Nashua, NH
| Posted: 2006-03-27 2:34 pm Permalink
My heart goes out to you! I wish I had advice to give. 
I've met you, you will rebuild!
Keep the faith.
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Chip and Andy
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jul 13, 2004
Posts: 2095
From: Corner table, Molokai Lounge, Mai-Kai.
| Posted: 2006-03-27 7:33 pm Permalink
My sympathies and best wishes. What I would give for some of the things I lost in a house fire in my past.
In my (limited) experience I think your hardest battle is going to be between the insurance and cleaning company. What i recommend is that you talk to the cleaning/removal company and find out what they want to 'total' and see if you can have it left in place. That way you can at least have it for a future go at a proper cleaning. The company that the insurance is going to send in is there simply to clean what they can easily and ditch the rest.
As to the smell that is going to be in everything.... That one is tough. Some things, like bamboo and other pourus objects, you may just have to mask the smell as best as you can. Sealing them again (and again, and again) will help but never really stop it. Bamboo Ben can tell you more and better on the wood bits. As to any fabrics, save yourself the greif and get rid of them. They never quite come back to color and always have the soot smell. Especially bar stools and chair covers.
The one thing I can offer in the way of ideas is kind of old fashioned and that is to lay things out in the sun. Clean what you can with some good soap and water, or whatever is appropriate for the material you are cleaning, and then lay the item out in the sun for a day to dry. The sun will help dry them and do a bit of bleaching on the item if it is discolored.
Best of luck and keep us posted. If there is anything Andy and I can do to help, let us know.
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johnman
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 18, 2005
Posts: 452
From: RI
| Posted: 2006-03-27 8:03 pm Permalink
I'm no expert in fire cleanup so not much to add there. If you're looking at having a little cleaning party let me know and I'll try to make arrangements. Its good to hear that its' not completely destroyed.
Here are some pics of the coolest bar in CT:
I wish you the best of luck with everything and hope to see the bar rise from the ashes! And if you need some mugs or bamboo scrubbed let me know. Mahalo!
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Sneakytiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 31, 2003
Posts: 1795
From: Boise, Idaho
| Posted: 2006-03-28 12:53 am Permalink
Oh SHIT! I am so sorry for your loss!!!!!
[ This Message was edited by: Sneakytiki 2006-03-28 00:54 ]
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cynfulcynner
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 24, 2002
Posts: 1800
From: Ocean Beach, San Francisco
| Posted: 2006-03-28 02:19 am Permalink
Be prepared to have EVERYTHING in your house cleaned. There are traces of soot everywhere that you can't see. You will probably need to have the whole inside of your house repainted, even in the un-damaged rooms.
Can you still live in your house while it's being repaired?
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hewey
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Sep 14, 2004
Posts: 4277
From: Sydney, Australia
| Posted: 2006-03-28 03:06 am Permalink
Man that sucks. A mate of mine had a fire recently - the smoke smell gets in everything. Specially stuf like plastic, because it soaks in the odours. I dont like your chances for saving the bamboo as I think it might have absorbed the smell too. Good luck though!
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