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Cleaning and Storing Contents: How We Handle Your Belongings

Content Pack Out

When you have fire, smoke or water damage, more than the structure needs repair, your belongings are affected too. The contents of your home can be damaged by water, fire or smoke; for example, furniture, silverware and plates, portraits, keepsakes and clothing. Even items that aren’t damaged need to be safely stored while Rainbow Restoration repairs the home or business. We call it contents cleaning and pack out.

In works like this, our team of trained experts come in, pack up belongings, clean them and restore them back to how they were. According to Rainbow Restoration’s Vice President of Technical Service, Jack White, here is what you can expect with Contact Pack Out service:

  • It is often smarter for your belongings to be taken to another location when there is smoke, water or mold damage. Restoration professionals will carefully take your belongings to be cleaned or restored in one of our facilities.
  • The process is split into two parts, the structural side and the content side. All of your belongings are content, and what is left in the house is structure. “Content has to be cleaned, whether it is your electronics, clothes, everything in your drawers and your furnishings,” White said. “Everything has to be taken out and has to be cleaned.”
  • Photos and documentation will be taken of all your belongings to ensure they are safe. “At the pack out, someone will come in and inventory all the items and box it up to be cleaned,” White explained.
  • After restoring your items, we will store them in a safe, climate-controlled unit until the restoration process of your home is complete.
  • Part of the cleaning process involves multiple methods to ensure your items are as clean as possible. The methods used to clean your items are determined through an expert inspection.
  • There are specialty services for electronics and certain types of clothes. “There are vendors that will come in and take clothes and pack them up to be dry cleaned,” White said. “There are companies that do that with electronics. We do the content, but in some cases, specialty vendors come in and take items that require more special attention. People don’t think about it, but smoke actually gets in the components.”
  • After your items are cleaned and returned, you will receive a detailed list of all of your items to help with the unpacking process.
  • You shouldn’t discount this process due to the fact that different odors permeate. “It is not as easy as wiping the components down,” White emphasized. “Your belongings will be deodorized with specialty products to get rid of the odor.

Visit our website for more information on what to expect in the Content Pack Out. The Rainbow Restoration staff is here to help when the unexpected happens. Contact us when water, fire, smoke, or mold damage occurs in your home or business.

Additional Reading:

The 10 Things That Definitely Need to Be on Your Home Inventory

How to Be Ready for Any Disaster

Storm Disasters: The Hidden Damage

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