The Manufactured Housing Forums

Mark,

Have you had any experience with mobiles that have had a fire? I'm looking at one (1996) and I'm figuring on pulling out all floor coverings, cabinets, drywall and insulation to get rid of the smell. Would you (or anyone else) recommend anything else? I wouldn't even consider it but almost all damage is smoke only damage... electrical fire and the residents got the fire out before the fire dept got there. The firemen broke out a section of the wall and the ceiling to ensure no more fire was inside. Insurance indicates a total loss. Your thoughts and help are greatly appreciated.

I just moved into a '96 Skyline that suffered a fire. The previous owner fell asleep while smoking. Thanks to the drywall the fire didn't make it out of the master bedroom. We had extensive smoke damage throughout the home. What we did was wipe everything down, just enough to get the loose soot off, then we painted everything with "KILZ II" it even turned the blackest part of the cielings white and covers the smell. As far as the carpet, use a rug doctor or similar steam cleaner and get the shampoo for pet odors. Our damage sounds alot worse than yours, we had to gut the master bedroom and bath and start over. Even with the damage and all the repair work we have ended up with a nice home for pennies on the dollar. I hope this helps.

Greg has the right idea. His method will generally work and is much less expensive than trying to "gut" a home. Carpet should be cleanable, but if you don't like it or it's worn or singed then it needs to be replaced. Be sure to replace the pad with the carpet. Many homes were delivered with foam pad and rebond is much better.