Kitchen fires are more common than you think.
According to the National Fire Protection Association, U.S. fire departments respond to over 470 cooking-related fires per day. The sad truth is that doing something as simple as cooking a meal in your kitchen can quickly turn into a life-changing event. You’re likely reading this today because you know first-hand about how easily kitchen fires start and the devastation they cause.
Do you now have a kitchen in your family home you can’t use due to severe fire damage? The good news is you can take some actionable steps to clean up the aftermath and restore your kitchen to its former glory or better. Here’s what you need to do:
Contact your insurance company
If you’ve got home insurance cover, now is the time to contact them and submit a claim. They will send out a claims assessor to check the damage and give your insurer an estimated cost for repairing the damage.
Assuming your claim goes through the claims process successfully, they can take care of your kitchen repair and renovation. But, if your claim gets rejected or you find that you’ve not got a valid insurance policy in place, keep reading to find out what to do next.
Shut off utility supplies to your home
The last thing you want to happen is another fire or even explosion to occur due to a ruptured gas pipe, for example. That’s why it makes sense to have the gas, electricity, and water supplies to your home shut off.
Have a disaster restoration firm clean up your kitchen
Before you can carry out any repair work to your kitchen, you should first get it professionally cleaned. A disaster restoration company can remove your damaged appliances, furniture, and other items from your fire-damaged kitchen.
Many companies offer a comprehensive suite of services and could also take care of the renovation process. But, you can hire such companies only to clean up the fire damage if you wish to take care of the restoration process yourself.
Get the utility supplies to your kitchen made safe
The next thing you must do is have a professional check and repair the gas, electricity, and water supplies going into your kitchen. You must get that carried out before you can continue with the restoration process and use those utility supplies elsewhere in your home.
Render and paint your walls
Now that your kitchen is safe to inhabit, it’s time the renovation process continues in earnest. Your next task is to repair any drywall and subsequently paint your walls. Doing so will ensure you’ve got your kitchen ready for the installation of furniture and appliances.
You can also take that opportunity to lay new tiles on the walls and floor if the fire damaged them.
Install new furniture and appliances
Last but not least, you should install new furniture and appliances. Even if those items weren’t fire-damaged, they’d likely have suffered from smoke damage. Once you’ve had your new furniture and appliances fitted, you’re ready to begin using your new kitchen!
