Why Do Burned Buildings Have Tarps on the Roof?

1/25/2022 (Permalink)

Board up services to a building in Baytown, TX.

Fire Restoration Process

You may have passed by a recently burned building in Baytown, TX, and wondered why the restoration company has placed a tarp over the roof. If the commercial fire occurred in a large business park, it can be unsightly, and you may wonder what purpose it might serve. As it turns out, tarping the premises has multiple purposes, but to get a proper grasp on its usefulness, it’s helpful to understand the fire restoration process as a whole. Here is a basic rundown of the fire restoration process as it relates to tarping the ceilings:

Damage Inspection

The fire cleanup process is laborious and often difficult, but much of that work is made easier by the first step. Fire restoration professionals should come equipped with technology that allows them to assess the severity of damage to the affected area and the contents within. Though it doesn’t take high-tech equipment to determine whether a ceiling has been burned out, this process still gives restoration professionals a solid foundation on which they can structure their restoration efforts.

Board and Tarp Services

Once the restoration professionals have a solid understanding of what can be restored and what must be replaced, they set to work on boarding up destroyed windows and tarping destroyed ceilings. This is an important part of the fire cleanup process. Since the contents caught in the fire are already in a vulnerable condition, it’s important to protect them from the elements. For example, a wooden chair that has been heavily damaged by smoke and soot might pass the point of no return if a torrential downpour of rain comes through the ceiling. Similarly, boarding up the windows also protects contents from the elements as well as looters.

Final Steps

Once the windows are boarded and roofs tarped, restorers have a secure environment to work in. They will set to work on finishing the fire cleanup process by restoring salvageable contents and conducting important remodeling procedures like drywall and roof repair.