What is a Puff Back and How does it Cause Fire Damage to Syosset Homes?

9/17/2019 (Permalink)

This client didn't have to wait long for SERVPRO to arrive! We restored his home and he was completely satisfied with the restoration.

Puff Back is a Form of Fire Damage and can Affect Your Syosset Home's Interior 

Every season, homeowners across Syosset check different appliances to ensure they remain in proper working order. In the fall, furnaces come into use, and some residents find themselves looking for a new unit to heat their homes. Others slip through and seem fine for a month or two.

When loud bangs or small explosions start coming from your home's furnace in Syosset, soot and fire damage might not come to mind right away. Puff backs not only makes your furnace a source of strange noises, but it also dumps soot from partially combusted fuel into your home's living space.

Visual evidence of puff back appears around the walls next to vents and on the ceilings directly above them. Inside the ducts, a coating of soot gradually grows thicker every time your furnace heats your house. Because puff back is a sign of a failing furnace and repairs typically cannot sufficiently remedy the problem, a new furnace becomes the only way to fix puff back.

After the installation of a new furnace, SERVPRO's team of specialists can clean your home's interior of the darkened areas near vents. These surfaces might require more than cleaning if the deposits hardened. Slight abrasive action with a stiff brush might suffice. However, some cases require sanding and then repainting.

The items you have on display within your residence also become covered in a thin, slightly sticky layer of soot from a furnace with puff back. We use special cleaners that cause the soiling to disintegrate quickly and then rinse these items. Several items also become soot-free during a water bath in our ultrasonic machine. We have a method for practically every item in your home affected by soot, smoke, or fire damage.

Our building services team also assists us in restoring homes and businesses by cleaning the HVAC systems, including the ducts. These can continually release into the air loosened pieces of soot you and your family breathe. This contaminated air can also smell stale or heavy. A thorough cleaning of the vents and ducts eliminates this from continuing.

SERVPRO of Hicksville / Plainview can rid your home in Woodbury and Lake Grove of the residue left on your walls, ceilings, and other interior surfaces by a failing furnace. Call us at (516) 733-1800 for technicians who can arrive at your earliest convenience.

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