We don't mask
odors. We dismantle
their chemistry.

Diagnostic baseline

Before we touch anything, we measure. You can't verify a remediation if you didn't measure what you started with.

• Laser particle counter readings at 0.3, 0.5, 1.0, 2.5, and 10 µm — captured per room at standing breathing height.
• Photo-ionization detector (PID) sweep for total VOCs, calibrated to isobutylene. Hot-spot mapping in HVAC plenums and behind furniture.
• ATP surface swabs in the affected zones — typically 6–12 swabs per 1,000 sq ft, indexed against an unaffected baseline area.
• Surface pH testing in fire scenarios, to determine acidic-smoke severity and select alkalinity of pre-treatment.
• If tobacco history: nicotine surface swabs (NicoCheck) on at least four porous and four non-porous surfaces.
• Photographic & substrate inventory — every porous material that may need to be sealed, replaced, or treated separately is logged.

Source removal & containment

We isolate the work area before we agitate anything. Disturbing residue without containment redistributes it through the rest of the property.

• Char and burned material physically removed and bagged — soft goods triaged for off-site cleaning vs. disposal under photo log.
• 6-mil polyethylene containment with zipper doors at every threshold leaving the affected zone.
• HEPA negative-air machine (AFD) installed at minimum 4 air-changes-per-hour for the cubic volume, with flex duct exhausting outdoors. Manometer reading verified at −5 Pa.
• Supply and return registers in the affected zone are sealed with ASTM E84 Class A poly. HVAC system is locked out at the breaker.
• Floor protection rolled in. Personnel enter only in P100 full-face respirators and Tyvek.

Dry mechanical removal

Counter-intuitive but critical: most residue is removed dry, before any liquid touches it. Wet-first is the most common amateur mistake.

• Vulcanized rubber chemical sponges, single-pass, top-down. Sponges are rotated to a clean face every 8–10 strokes and discarded — not laundered.
• HEPA vacuum (Nilfisk GD930 or equivalent, 99.995% @ 0.3 µm filtration) over every horizontal and vertical surface. Brush-roll heads are not used on char — they re-aerosolize particulate.
• Soft goods either bagged for off-site ozone-chamber treatment or, if heat-set synthetics or sentimental items, transferred to a hydroxyl chamber.
• Light fixtures, HVAC grilles, ceiling fans, switch plates removed and bagged for separate cleaning.

Wet chemistry pass

Now — and only now — we introduce liquid. The chemistry is matched to the residue category we identified at Stage 1.

• Type A residues: low-pH (5.5–6.5) anionic surfactant, dwell 2–3 min, low-pressure rinse.
• Type B residues: alkaline pre-treatment (pH 9.5–11) to neutralize acid char first, then anionic surfactant.
• Type C (protein): subtilisin/lipase enzyme blend at 95–105 °F, 5–10 min dwell, mechanical agitation, low-residue rinse, repeat-and-verify by ATP.
• Type D (tobacco/cannabis): multi-pass alkaline degreaser with a counter-ionic odor neutralizer (we do not use masking fragrances). Verified by surface nicotine swab.
• Hard floors are mopped with two-bucket method and pH-neutralized after surfactant.

Atmospheric oxidation

This is where we attack the gas-phase odor — the molecules embedded in drywall, framing, and soft goods that surface cleaning cannot reach.

• Hydroxyl generation as the default — UV photolysis of ambient H₂O and O₃ produces hydroxyl radicals (OH•, oxidation potential +2.80 V), which break down odorants in occupied conditions without damaging materials.
• Ozone (O₃, +2.07 V) used only on isolated soft-goods in an off-site sealed chamber, never on plastics, electronics, or finished elastomers. Ozone in-place is the wrong tool for nine out of ten residential jobs.
• Chlorine dioxide (ClO₂) reserved for protein and biologic-overlap scenarios, with full evacuation and re-occupancy testing.
• Run time and air-volume calibrated to room volume × Henry's Law partition coefficient of the dominant odorant — not a guessed-at number of hours.
• Continuous PID monitoring inside the envelope. We don't stop on a schedule; we stop on a measured threshold.

Substrate sealing

For Type C and Type D jobs, oxidation alone does not stop long-term re-emission from porous substrates. The substrate has to be encapsulated.

• All raw or absorbent surfaces — drywall, raw framing inside cabinets, particleboard backs, attic decking — receive two coats of pigmented shellac-based primer (Zinsser B-I-N type, denatured-alcohol carrier).
• Shellac is non-negotiable here. Latex primers are vapor-permeable; oil-based stain blockers seal water but pass solvents. Only shellac reliably blocks the SVOC migration pathway.
• HVAC duct interior surfaces inside reach are wiped, then receive a flexible duct-grade encapsulant (NIKRO or Foster 40-20).
• Where sealing is impractical — fiberglass batt insulation in affected wall cavities, smoke-saturated carpet pad, contaminated HVAC fiberglass duct liner — the material is removed and replaced. We tell you which is which, in writing, before we start.

HVAC remediation

If the system ran during the smoke event — and it almost always did — every duct run, the evaporator coil, the blower wheel, and the plenum are contaminated. Skipping this step is the #1 reason a remediated property re-stinks within a week.

• Evaporator coil chemically cleaned with a foaming alkaline coil cleaner, condensate drain pan flushed, blower wheel pulled and pressure-washed.
• Rigid metal ductwork brushed with a rotating whip and HEPA-collected.
• Fiberglass-lined ducts: visually inspected — replaced if saturated, encapsulated if salvageable.
• Filter upgraded to MERV-13 minimum for the first 90 days post-job.
• Refrigerant line set, supply boots, and return air drop are wiped, dried, and sealed where applicable.

Verification & sign-off

We measure again. The numbers either hit the targets we agreed to in Stage 1, or we keep working — at our cost.

• Repeat particle count at the same locations as Stage 1, in same units, same height.
• Repeat PID VOC sweep. Target: ≤ 110% of unaffected reference area.
• Repeat ATP swabs. Target: indexed within reference area variance.
• For tobacco/cannabis: repeat surface nicotine swabs. Target: at or below unaffected reference.
• For insurance jobs: third-party industrial hygienist clearance available on request.
• Photographic close-out report delivered as a PDF, with all readings, before/after photos, materials sealed, and warranty terms.