The source of smoke smell is not the air but the soot deposits on the surfaces. Those have to come off first — ozone treatment before that is wasted time.
After a fire, the biggest mistake is trying to remove the smell without touching the surfaces. Smoke smell comes from soot deposits — microscopic particles that settled on every surface during the fire and keep releasing odour for as long as they are there.
Two practical points follow from that. First, ventilation solves nothing: you can change the air, but the deposits stay and the smell is back within hours. Second, ozone treatment before the soot is removed gives a result that lasts a couple of days, no more.
The other thing people underestimate is how far it spreads. Soot particles are very fine and travel with hot air. So they end up:
The practical rule: the affected area is always larger than the burnt one. If one room burns, the whole flat needs treating. There is more on the smell itself on the Smoke smell removal page.
Another thing worth knowing in advance: smoke smell is not one substance but dozens of combustion products, and they differ depending on what burned. The combustion products of plastics, cable insulation and synthetic fabrics soak into materials far more persistently than wood smoke. In practice that means two fires with a similar burnt area can require entirely different amounts of work, and that cannot be assessed over the phone.
That is also why the first step is always an inspection. We need to know how far the soot has travelled, which materials are affected and whether the ventilation system is shared with the neighbours — in apartment buildings the smell often reaches neighbouring flats where there was no fire at all.
Few people think about this in the first days, but the water used to put the fire out creates a problem of its own. It gets into the structure, under the floor covering, into the insulation and into the floor build-up. If it is not dried out, mould appears within weeks — after the soot has been cleaned off and everything seems fine.
So we always plan treatment after a fire as two parallel jobs: soot and odour removal and moisture assessment with drying. Do not start a new finish until the moisture readings are normal — otherwise mould will appear underneath it. There is more on the Mould removal page.
A moisture reading tells you when restoration can start; the calendar does not. If firefighting water is left in the structure, the new finish seals it in, and the problem appears under fresh plaster or a new floor covering.
Moisture after firefighting is never confined to the room that burned. Water runs downwards and sideways, so we regularly find that the floor below and adjoining rooms with no sign of fire at all are affected too.
We assess how far the soot has spread, the moisture left by firefighting and the affected materials. We photograph for insurance purposes.
We take out what cannot be saved — textiles, fillings, finishes that have absorbed.
We clean the deposits off ceilings, walls and surfaces. This is the key step, and it cannot be replaced by chemistry or ozone.
We treat the grilles and the accessible section of the duct — that is where deposits build up most.
We establish how far the firefighting water travelled and dry the structure.
We treat the cleaned surfaces and the area around them.
We remove the smoke smell remaining in the space, the textiles and hard-to-reach places.
We confirm the smell has not returned and that the moisture readings allow restoration to start.
To be clear: we do not carry out construction or restoration work. Our work is sanitary treatment, soot and odour removal, and assessment of materials, so that the premises can be restored.
Ozone is the closing step in this chain, not a solution in itself. It deals well with the odour left in the air, in textiles and in hard-to-reach places once the deposits have been removed. Done before that, it only masks the problem briefly. There is more on the method itself on the Ozone treatment page.
We are sometimes asked whether it would be cheaper to treat with ozone alone. The answer is no, and the reason is technical: ozone acts on what it reaches in the air and at the surface, but a layer of soot is a physical substance that has to be removed mechanically. Saving here only means paying for the whole job again three weeks later.
After a fire we assess materials by how porous they are and by how long they were exposed to soot and moisture:
| Material | Action | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Tiles, concrete, metal | We treat | Soot can be removed mechanically |
| Painted walls | We assess | Repainting is often needed |
| Timber surfaces | We assess | Depends on how deep the absorption goes |
| Wallpaper | Usually removed | Paper absorbs soot irreversibly |
| Upholstered furniture | Often disposed of | The filling holds the smell |
| Mattress | We dispose of | Filling cannot be reliably cleaned |
| Clothing and textiles | We assess | Some can be saved by washing and ozone treatment |
| Mineral wool after firefighting | We dispose of | Wet, it loses its properties |
| Ventilation grilles | We treat | Often the main source of remaining smell |
Porous materials are a problem because soot particles get deep into the structure, where no treatment product reaches them. They can look clean and still smell.
If the case is insured, documentation has to happen before cleaning — afterwards the extent can no longer be proved.
After the inspection we prepare a description of what we found and what we did, which you can submit to an insurer.
If the premises are uninhabitable after the fire, the order of treatment can also be split: soot removal and drying first, so that restoration work can begin, and ozone treatment right at the end, once the renovation is complete. That order is often more logical, because renovation raises dust and brings in new materials with smells of their own anyway.
We price treatment after a fire individually, after an inspection. The reason is an honest one: the scope varies far too much — from a single sooted kitchen to a whole floor with ventilation ducts and a wet structure. Any price named without seeing the situation would be inaccurate.
As a guide: for flats, standard treatment starts from €55 (two-room €65, three-room €75), private houses from €95, and ozone treatment is €1.20/m² with a minimum of €60. After a fire, the final figure is made up of the amount of soot removal, whether drying is needed, and the volume of affected materials. We prepare the quote before the work starts.
As soon as possible. Soot soaks deeper into surfaces over time and firefighting water stays in the structure — both problems get more expensive by the day.
No. While soot deposits remain on the surfaces they keep releasing odour. Ozone is useful, but only after mechanical cleaning. There is more on the Ozone treatment page.
We can, but we usually advise against it. Soot spreads through ventilation and door gaps, so if one room is treated the smell often stays in the others and returns over time.
Describe the situation — we will tell you whether treatment is needed at all, and which one.
Fill in the form — we will call you on the number you provide, ask a few clarifying questions and propose a solution.
Thank you! We will contact you on the phone number you provided shortly.
