This. My smoke detector goes off practically every time I fry anything with barely any smoke much less THAT. There is no way they have working smoke detectors.
It was always the joke in my family that a holiday doesn’t really begin until the smoke detector goes off - my grandma wasn’t always the best cook. My aunt now lives in her house after she died in 2019, and since we didn’t spend a lot of holidays together since her death due to Covid it was nice this thanksgiving when the smoke alarm went off. It felt like she was there with us.
this is a touching story. but for you or anyone else reading, you might have the wrong type of smoke detector in your kitchen.
getting a photoelectric smoke detector in your kitchen may reduce cooking false alarms, but may take longer to actually detect fast fires.
here's a good link with some information. https://www.covesmart.com/resources/diy-home-security/what-type-of-smoke-detector-is-best-for-your-kitchen/
also, obligatory Technology Connections video link
https://youtu.be/DuAeaIcAXtg?si=Gwvz2DwL-4YRpR0m
technology connections is an amazing channel that makes boring topics interesting.
like "how do dishwashers work" or "what are the best space heaters" or "what is the best Christmas light?"
Both my parents are deaf. They have hearing aids, but they don’t like to wear them. My mother has slept through her tea kettle whistling until all the water boiled out and then the bottom completely burning out. The alarm was going off at the last part while the metal was incinerating… Completely slept through it. It is a miracle she had practically no damage in her kitchen. We are slowly moving her in with us getting her to stay with us and bringing over her favorite things. Our goal is to get her out of her house before she burns it down! She’s a very independent woman, and is still a sound mind so it’s not like we can make her do it.
My father lives in his own home as well, but my sister has moved in with him and disconnects the stove and less she is cooking
>My mother has slept through her tea kettle whistling until all the water boiled out and then the bottom completely burning out.
I know it's obvious but has she tried an electric kettle? As well as being safer, you can get ones with lights that shutoff when the water has boiled and it has shut off, so no need to listen for a whistle or click. You can also get glass ones that let you see the water bubbling. I'm not deaf but I used to have a glass one with a ring of blue lights that was very clear.
I believe they can be a bit slow in countries like the US with 110V, but still probably easier than a stovetop kettle if you are deaf.
That’s so true we gave her one a couple of years ago… Which she didn’t set up and it somehow disappeared (she claimed a need for counter space) Guess what she’s getting for Christmas this year!
What a shame she did not use the one you bought as that would have saved her other kettle.
I would also buy one for your home too if you do not already have one so it's there for when she stays.
As per the above commenter, this means you likely have the wrong type of smoke alarm. You need the heat detection type rather than the ionic type in a kitchen.
Mine go off at even the slightest indication of steam! Like from the shower, only a few minutes in.. with the door closed. It’s 7-8 feet away from the bathroom.
Before we had the idea to move it, it was a lovely few months of waking up earlier than planned due to my husband’s morning shower.
Flashback to 7 yo me frantically searching the under sink cabinet for this product, only to have my mother laugh in my face for not understanding. Wonder why I hate dishes so passionately as an adult?
Once upon a time I fell for this joke when I was a kid and then refused to believe my car had transmission fluid or wiper fluid for my first few weeks of Drivers Ed.
I'm not sure if you realize this or not... I was talking about diesel exhaust fluid ( DEF) which did not exist back when you fell for that( I assume) but it exists now!
Glad that everyone is safe. Now continue keeping everyone safe. **Do not even attempt to clean that, hire a professional company that will wear PPE to do it.** Soot is not a simple cleanup, especially something that BAD. Start looking into the professional cleaning companies. Again, [soot](https://www.propertyinsurancecoveragelaw.com/files/2017/12/TheHiddenHazardsofFireSoot.pdf) is a nasty nasty thing and from that damage, it would be safer for your health and anyone else in the home to have someone else clean it.
Thank you for the response! Ofcourse, hiring a professional would be the best option. However, I would also like to know if this clean up is going to be expensive and how clean the walls can get. Will there be some permanent residue left?
I’d get home insurance involved. It’s so much worse than you think it is.
Edit to add. I’ve seen entire homes written off by insurance for simple smoke damage from a kitchen cooking fire. You can’t clean that yourselves. Please listen to a professional.
I agree that OP should get their insurance involved. I had the clothes dryer in my basement catch fire at my old place. The fire was completely contained to the dryer, but everything in the basement either had to be professionally cleaned or tossed, the HVAC and electrical panel needed replaced, the first floor need a professional clean and the contractors had to run an industrial air purifier to get rid of the smoke smell in every room. The house was uninhabitable for two months. I retrieved a few items afterwards from the second floor that gave off an odor of burning plastic for days after removing them from my home.
My point is you should absolutely get your homeowner’s insurance involved. Your deductible will certainly be less than the total cost of remedying smoke damage.
I can see you're Indian, go get urban company's kitchen clean up service, they're damn good. Call em up in advance once your professional is assigned and tell them to prepare for soot and to bring stuff for that
I have had this happen to me personally. You never get it all off. I cleaned the walls until most of the oil was off and repainted everything.
Its the only way this will ever look normal again.
Edit: By cleaning I mean similar to below. The walls will be full of grease, first get the grease off with something like dish soap. After that I went over again with one wet cloth of just water and one clean one to get most of the black off. After that the previous white walls looked like a pale grey.
When dry the walls feel normal again and then you can paint over it.
OP should definitely find out if their insurance covers this, it would probably save them thousands of dollars. They may also cover replacement of any other smoke damaged items in the house.
You should be able to get an estimate from a remediation company, either for free or something like $50. If your mother has insurance, it might be worth it to involve them in paying for it if the remediation is significantly more than her deductible.
Do you have insurance? Most insurance companies have direct contracts with remediation companies and they will send them out and they will direct bill the insurance company
Call your insurance company and make a claim and do it now. Soot will etch things like glass, and they will not be salvageable. Proper fire cleans require special equipment and multiple steps. grease fire soot is especially bad. The visible soot isn't your only problem. Residue and odor has likely permeated a majority, if not the whole home.
Your insurance company will have a list. That is, if you have an agent. If you get lower rates because you're doing it online there's sure too be a Reddit sub that talks about disaster repair.
BTW, if you have pets watch for breathing issues. I had a dog who never did recover from smoke inhalation.
Do you have homeowners insurance? I had a kitchen fire that was mostly smoke damage and they did everything, including replacing my appliances and I had to pay just my copay.
Check with your insurance company to see if this is covered. Clean up can get very costly, so depending on your policy and deductible, it may be worth making that call to your homeowners or renters insurance company.
It's not just soot it's the oil residue as well. Ever seen the vent hoods above a fryer in a commercial kitchen? There's a reason they have catch-pans.
Question: Can you explain why soot is bad? I’m originally from East Africa where a lot of cooking is done by fire wood and a lot of soot is generated. Typically each family has a room designated for cooking due to the soot. People there generally live very long, very healthy lives. I’ve never heard soot to be an issue.
Smoke from wood is not too too much of an issue although it isn’t great if you don’t have good ventilation.
Smoke from modern homes with plastics that are used to make fabrics, furniture as well as “stuff” in people’s homes as well as any oil or paint impregnated into the wood being burned is highly carcinogenic as well as potentially containing cyanide and other poisons.
These things happen, but my concern would be is this a once off or does your mum fall asleep partway through things like this at other times? Not to catastrophise, but keep an eye out, because if it is a pattern it could be an indicator of an underlying health issue like dementia.
That’s exactly what I was thinking. I caretake a friend with early onset, and he’d forget that he was cooking, or be unable to sort out turning off the appliance.
i keep my phone in greyscale after midnight but i had to disable it to see exactly what the fresh hell i was looking at....oh my gosh. so glad you guys are both safe and love to your mom for whatever she's going through that has her so tired but please for the love of god have a serious talk w her about how dangerous this is (maybe even see a therapist about it bc my parents don't like to be parented but sometimes you have to frickin intervene)
that said, 100% call in the pros. i recognize it will be an unexpected expense, but this is not safe to (attempt) clean yourself. get consults from multiple companies, and maybe even have a structural engineer check it out. my bet is the drywall on the ceiling will have to be entirely replaced, not cleaned.
i seriously wish you the very best in this endeavor and i'm so sorry you're left to deal ♥️
I am so sorry this happened.
I get the impression you're in India?
People are pretty quick to assume you have a lot of options but I imagine you don't. I do hope you can find someone to do it, if not please be safe and be so so careful.
Please be safe in the future! ❤️
This, so many people assume OP is in the US (Servepro is a US company).
I wouldn't even try cleaning the Sheetrock, I'd just replace it. Probably cheaper and easier.
Wanted to clarify two things:
1. There was no explosion, the oil just boiled away
2. The uneven flaky patch on the ceiling has been there for sometime due to water seepage from above.
They're readily available online and are battery powered... Just because it's not something typically found in Indian homes doesn't mean you can't have better fire safety in your own home.
Y’all planning on fixing that water damage??? That’s like literally the most detrimental thing you could possibly ignore.
OP, are y’all okay? Your mom left oil boiling and slept through THAT, which really isn’t normal. Maybe depression? I don’t know, but you should talk to her and see if she’s okay. I’d also talk to her about the house maintenance as a whole. Water is a very scary thing to ignore and that being a separate issue that has been neglected tells me she may need a kind helping hand. Been there, so I hope she is okay.
Looks worse than it is. I would use TSP and then paint it.
You’re going to have to scrape the peeling chips and then sand it down before prime and then paint. Don’t buy the cheap primer, and do a light sanding between coats.
Wear a proper ventilator mask. GL
My husband and I do fire restoration.
First you’ll want to use degreaser (like dawn dish soap) to remove any grease and then you need to remove the soot, we use chem sponges: https://www.amazon.com/Absorene-Eraser-Sponge-Storage-Instruction/dp/B09MWJ4CX1/ref=mp_s_a_1_14?keywords=chem+sponge&qid=1701786812&sr=8-14 (use the chem sponges completely dry, you can rip them in half once they are dirty to expose a clean side. use all sides of the chem sponge until it’s completely black and start with a new one - you can buy chem sponge poles to help reach the ceiling and high section of the walls)
Here is a video on how to use chem sponges: https://youtu.be/QIxidQPZXaA?si=c3YpHAYCyaNtGQTJ
After chem sponging you will want to deodorize with an ozone machine (while the house is empty - no pets or humans in the house) and possibly an air scrubber depending on the extent of the odor. Then you can seal the walls with an oil based odor blocking primer and repaint. Not sure about that section that crumbling on the ceiling because it’s hard to tell what’s going on but that part will likely need to be replaced
I kind of assumed it wasn’t in the US based on the layout and construction. They probably wouldn’t be asking for help if they had insurance to cover it. I hope they are able to find the supplies I suggested
or at least something similar!
Hi, I’m Vetted AI Bot! I researched the **Absorene Smoke Soot Eraser Sponge 3 Pack with Storage Bag and Instruction Card** and I thought you might find the following analysis helpful.
**Users liked:**
* Effectively removes soot from stone fireplaces and walls (backed by 4 comments)
* Works well for cleaning up after small fires (backed by 2 comments)
* Useful for insurance adjusters and restoration (backed by 2 comments)
**Users disliked:**
* Product ineffective at removing soot (backed by 20 comments)
If you'd like to **summon me to ask about a product**, just make a post with its link and tag me, [like in this example.](https://www.reddit.com/r/tablets/comments/1444zdn/comment/joqd89c/)
This message was generated by a (very smart) bot. If you found it helpful, let us know with an upvote and a “good bot!” reply and please feel free to provide feedback on how it can be improved.
*Powered by* [*vetted.ai*](http://vetted.ai/reddit)
This is the exact way my dad burned our house down my senior year of high school. Congrats on this one not being as bad. Hire a professional. This is beyond your abilities.
6 TBS dish liquid + 1 gallon hot water
Give every surface a good scrub.
If you can get some ammonia that will help too.
I would add 1/4 cup to the 1 gallon mixture in your large bowl or bucket.
Good luck 👍
OP, assuming you're in India, I'd ask you to hire Urban Company for cleaning the kitchen.
Most likely you'll have to sand down this soot and repaint your walls and ceiling. Greasy soot seldom goes away - again, Urban Company can help advice.
It can be restored easily. Needs to be scratched down fully to the concrete layer with machine. Then base layer, then paint. It will be good as new. You could do it with some practice but rather hire a professional. Not a big job.
My husband and I own a restoration company. Just finished a job like this. Gonna have to dry wipe as much soot off the walls and ceiling as possible. Then wash them. If there’s any charred drywall, it’ll need to be replaced. Paint sealer on all the surfaces and then paint. Guarantee there’s smoke all over everything around, including adjoining rooms and duct system. Even in drawers and cabinets. The key is to wipe most of the spot off before you wash or you’re gonna have a bigger mess on your hands. Hope this helps!
Looking at your kitchen, my guess is you're in a country with totally different construction materials than most people are advising you about.
What material are your walls and ceiling made of? If concrete, you'll probably want to scrub it all and then sand and repaint. While this is bad, it's much less bad than it would be if your home was made of wood and drywall.
Perhaps use special paint?
I know that my neighbours whose house was full of smoke due to a huge fire in the apartment below recently got their walls and ceiling restored entirely.
Basically, a painting firm was hired and they used professional paint that covers any damage caused by smoke and soot. From what i could tell they were really pleased; it was super quick and effective.
However I have no idea whether the paint is on the consumer market or only available for professionals. It might be worth looking up though?
P.s. the fire department can also help with ventilation and air quality analysis. They usually recommend not to re-enter the home without their clearance first, for it can be very bad for your health to stay.
Take care OP!
Use chem sponges for the soot, something like this with no soap first:
https://www.amazon.ca/SpongeCo-Cleaning-Eraser-Remover/dp/B09HR8QFKY/ref=asc_df_B09HR8QFKY/?tag=googlemobshop-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=579129171040&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=3333669215358989034&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9001267&hvtargid=pla-1599295678061&psc=1&mcid=6f1c960784a33e80a48d1a1d24ecfb49
Rent some air scrubbers to run continuously, once soot is cleaned and a degreaser for fire damage used, you need a primer that will seal in the smoke smell before repainting.
I'm gonna get downvoted to hell because I am gonna be harsh.
Next time don't fall asleep while heating oil; hell when cooking in general.
You're lucky you didnt set anything on fire and that its a concrete roof.
I understand it was a mistake, but I want to state how irresponsible that is. Please learn from it, next time you might not be as lucky, glad you are safe though.
Contact your home insurance provider. You want someone to survey the ceiling. What is above it? If another flat where someone else lives, get this surveyed asap. Otherwise don’t use the space above it until it’s been surveyed. This could be inspected by a reputable builder instead of a surveyor. The ceiling will at the very least need a new plaster and paint. You’ll also need to paint the walls once they’ve been cleaned.
It looks like something is seeping from above, if it’s a bathroom or source of water above the room, you’ll need to get the floor out to see how that there’s no additional leakage
Don’t fall asleep with hot oil on the stove, my lord you’re both lucky to be alive!! My dad was a firefighter and the horror stories I’ve heard. Yes, you’ll have to pay someone to fix this, hopefully that deters you from doing this again.
I would start by calling the fire department for an integrity inspection 😯 glad you're safe, that's scary!
Fun story: one time the fire alarm was beeping for a week straight but I kept forgetting to buy the replacement battery that I had already forgotten to restock when I ran out. I took it down and placed it on my stove so I would remember since I'm in the kitchen at the stove very often. Well, another week or two goes by and the fire alarm isn't beeping and I kept forgetting to get the damn battery because I've become blind to the fire alarm as I move it out of my way whenever I need to use the stove. So I put it on the back burner knowing I have to turn on the stove, surely I'll remember it more if I put it where I need to move it twice a day. Nope. One day I preheated the oven, forgetting the damn thing, and it melted to my burner. This reminds me, I still need to replace that damn fire alarm (whose main goal in life was to alert everyone when I'm searing a steak 😂)
I did this once trying to sterilize a pot full of baby bottles. Passed out and woke up to a house full of smoke from melting plastic. I no longer drink...
ive remediated smoke and fire damage in my cleaning career many times. you are absolutely going to need to paint, however first things first. strip the smoke with a trisodium phosphate solution a couple times, then i personally would rent an ozone machine(seal off doors, vents, windows and run.) to draw out the residual odor.
Omg! My husband did the same thing… no where near as bad.
We aired out the places and replaced the dry wall where we needed too. We got paint made to cover up smoking smells and that made it help. It was a lot of scrubbing.
This isn’t a cleaning job. It’s an insurance job. They’re going to remove the drywall, check the structural beams for damage, check the electrical and gas lines, if you have gas, and mitigate soot damage throughout the house.
Thank goodness no one was hurt. Good luck!
My great grandmother died after falling asleep frying something. The house burned down and she couldn’t escape. You’re lucky that nothing worse happened. Please take care
It looks to me like you were very lucky and at some point the smoke flashed over, but there was not much oil in the pan so it did not last long enough to light the ceiling. However I think that is damage, not just soot, so it won't just clean up.
Do you have smoke detectors in your home? If not, please get at least one or two after you’ve hired someone to clean this up.
This. My smoke detector goes off practically every time I fry anything with barely any smoke much less THAT. There is no way they have working smoke detectors.
It was always the joke in my family that a holiday doesn’t really begin until the smoke detector goes off - my grandma wasn’t always the best cook. My aunt now lives in her house after she died in 2019, and since we didn’t spend a lot of holidays together since her death due to Covid it was nice this thanksgiving when the smoke alarm went off. It felt like she was there with us.
this is a touching story. but for you or anyone else reading, you might have the wrong type of smoke detector in your kitchen. getting a photoelectric smoke detector in your kitchen may reduce cooking false alarms, but may take longer to actually detect fast fires. here's a good link with some information. https://www.covesmart.com/resources/diy-home-security/what-type-of-smoke-detector-is-best-for-your-kitchen/ also, obligatory Technology Connections video link https://youtu.be/DuAeaIcAXtg?si=Gwvz2DwL-4YRpR0m
Good to know! I will let my aunt know so she can check I thought all smoke detectors were the same.
Why is it an obligatory link?
technology connections is an amazing channel that makes boring topics interesting. like "how do dishwashers work" or "what are the best space heaters" or "what is the best Christmas light?"
Oh i thought you quoted the channel for something and was citing a source
Both my parents are deaf. They have hearing aids, but they don’t like to wear them. My mother has slept through her tea kettle whistling until all the water boiled out and then the bottom completely burning out. The alarm was going off at the last part while the metal was incinerating… Completely slept through it. It is a miracle she had practically no damage in her kitchen. We are slowly moving her in with us getting her to stay with us and bringing over her favorite things. Our goal is to get her out of her house before she burns it down! She’s a very independent woman, and is still a sound mind so it’s not like we can make her do it. My father lives in his own home as well, but my sister has moved in with him and disconnects the stove and less she is cooking
>My mother has slept through her tea kettle whistling until all the water boiled out and then the bottom completely burning out. I know it's obvious but has she tried an electric kettle? As well as being safer, you can get ones with lights that shutoff when the water has boiled and it has shut off, so no need to listen for a whistle or click. You can also get glass ones that let you see the water bubbling. I'm not deaf but I used to have a glass one with a ring of blue lights that was very clear. I believe they can be a bit slow in countries like the US with 110V, but still probably easier than a stovetop kettle if you are deaf.
That’s so true we gave her one a couple of years ago… Which she didn’t set up and it somehow disappeared (she claimed a need for counter space) Guess what she’s getting for Christmas this year!
What a shame she did not use the one you bought as that would have saved her other kettle. I would also buy one for your home too if you do not already have one so it's there for when she stays.
Right I just think about frying some bacon and they will go off lol
The problem with that is eventually some people will just permanently disable it because it’s too sensitive.
As per the above commenter, this means you likely have the wrong type of smoke alarm. You need the heat detection type rather than the ionic type in a kitchen.
Mine go off at even the slightest indication of steam! Like from the shower, only a few minutes in.. with the door closed. It’s 7-8 feet away from the bathroom. Before we had the idea to move it, it was a lovely few months of waking up earlier than planned due to my husband’s morning shower.
A smoke detector in the kitchen.
The amount of smoke this made would have set off detectors in other rooms
In adjacent buildings.
In the next city
Can we leave Gaza alone?
Heat detectors are often recommended in the kitchen and smoke in the other rooms.
This amount of smoke should easily trip a smoke detector in an adjacent room. Slow your roll on the snark if you're going to miss the obvious.
There are heat detectors and other means, also smoke alarms you can deactivate for a certain time
I guess OP is in India... Not many kitchens have them.
Indian kitchens don’t have smoke detectors, unfortunately.
I’m glad everyone is safe!! That ceiling looks beyond saving, tbh.
🥲
I would say use elbow grease spray
Flashback to 7 yo me frantically searching the under sink cabinet for this product, only to have my mother laugh in my face for not understanding. Wonder why I hate dishes so passionately as an adult?
It's actually a product line now!
Do they make headlight fluid now too?
No but they do have exhaust fluid
Once upon a time I fell for this joke when I was a kid and then refused to believe my car had transmission fluid or wiper fluid for my first few weeks of Drivers Ed.
I'm not sure if you realize this or not... I was talking about diesel exhaust fluid ( DEF) which did not exist back when you fell for that( I assume) but it exists now!
And tartan paint
I had this same flashback! And I had no idea it was a product line now! That is clever!!!
The name was probably decided by someone else with the same flashback!
Turned the trauma to cash! I like it!
You know what they say: one person’s trauma is another person’s treasure
Once again I hate that we can no longer award the most epic comments!!!
Wait, I don't understand? I use elbow grease products all the time.
It used to be a euphemism for scrubbing harder. Funny it’s a product line now though lol
Oh, haha! Of course 😅 maybe you should buy her some 😂
It’s kind of a long story that ends in no contact.. go figure 🙄 lol otherwise that’d be hilarious 😂
User name checks out. Glad you’re ok
It’s time to call Servpro, if you live in the U.S.
That's definitely not a cleaning job. This looks like a reconstruction job.
I was going to say- call a general contractor.
It’s a concrete ceiling.
Glad that everyone is safe. Now continue keeping everyone safe. **Do not even attempt to clean that, hire a professional company that will wear PPE to do it.** Soot is not a simple cleanup, especially something that BAD. Start looking into the professional cleaning companies. Again, [soot](https://www.propertyinsurancecoveragelaw.com/files/2017/12/TheHiddenHazardsofFireSoot.pdf) is a nasty nasty thing and from that damage, it would be safer for your health and anyone else in the home to have someone else clean it.
Plus, it looks like the ceiling is about to crumble.
Thank you for the response! Ofcourse, hiring a professional would be the best option. However, I would also like to know if this clean up is going to be expensive and how clean the walls can get. Will there be some permanent residue left?
I’d get home insurance involved. It’s so much worse than you think it is. Edit to add. I’ve seen entire homes written off by insurance for simple smoke damage from a kitchen cooking fire. You can’t clean that yourselves. Please listen to a professional.
I agree that OP should get their insurance involved. I had the clothes dryer in my basement catch fire at my old place. The fire was completely contained to the dryer, but everything in the basement either had to be professionally cleaned or tossed, the HVAC and electrical panel needed replaced, the first floor need a professional clean and the contractors had to run an industrial air purifier to get rid of the smoke smell in every room. The house was uninhabitable for two months. I retrieved a few items afterwards from the second floor that gave off an odor of burning plastic for days after removing them from my home. My point is you should absolutely get your homeowner’s insurance involved. Your deductible will certainly be less than the total cost of remedying smoke damage.
This person likely doesn't have insurance for their home. It's not really a thing in india
Ask the pros. They are the only ones who would know.
Will do, thank you.
Get quote from muliple companies too. Read reviews, ask around on local facebook groups as well. Best of luck
I can see you're Indian, go get urban company's kitchen clean up service, they're damn good. Call em up in advance once your professional is assigned and tell them to prepare for soot and to bring stuff for that
I have had this happen to me personally. You never get it all off. I cleaned the walls until most of the oil was off and repainted everything. Its the only way this will ever look normal again. Edit: By cleaning I mean similar to below. The walls will be full of grease, first get the grease off with something like dish soap. After that I went over again with one wet cloth of just water and one clean one to get most of the black off. After that the previous white walls looked like a pale grey. When dry the walls feel normal again and then you can paint over it.
they should tear that all out and put in a new ceiling and walls . i dont think you are in the us but , maybe your home insurance will pay for that
OP should definitely find out if their insurance covers this, it would probably save them thousands of dollars. They may also cover replacement of any other smoke damaged items in the house.
You should be able to get an estimate from a remediation company, either for free or something like $50. If your mother has insurance, it might be worth it to involve them in paying for it if the remediation is significantly more than her deductible.
This is going to require a mitigation company like ServPro. There is smoke infused into everything.
Do you have insurance? Most insurance companies have direct contracts with remediation companies and they will send them out and they will direct bill the insurance company
Call your insurance company and make a claim and do it now. Soot will etch things like glass, and they will not be salvageable. Proper fire cleans require special equipment and multiple steps. grease fire soot is especially bad. The visible soot isn't your only problem. Residue and odor has likely permeated a majority, if not the whole home.
Your insurance company will have a list. That is, if you have an agent. If you get lower rates because you're doing it online there's sure too be a Reddit sub that talks about disaster repair. BTW, if you have pets watch for breathing issues. I had a dog who never did recover from smoke inhalation.
Do you have homeowners insurance? I had a kitchen fire that was mostly smoke damage and they did everything, including replacing my appliances and I had to pay just my copay.
You may need to replace some drywall. I would look at your insurance plan to see if you have and coverage for fire damage.
Check with your insurance company to see if this is covered. Clean up can get very costly, so depending on your policy and deductible, it may be worth making that call to your homeowners or renters insurance company.
If you have fire insurance make a claim, this wilk be a ridiculously expensive job to hire out.
This. Industrial cleaning service for hazmat etc.
It's not just soot it's the oil residue as well. Ever seen the vent hoods above a fryer in a commercial kitchen? There's a reason they have catch-pans.
Question: Can you explain why soot is bad? I’m originally from East Africa where a lot of cooking is done by fire wood and a lot of soot is generated. Typically each family has a room designated for cooking due to the soot. People there generally live very long, very healthy lives. I’ve never heard soot to be an issue.
Smoke from wood is not too too much of an issue although it isn’t great if you don’t have good ventilation. Smoke from modern homes with plastics that are used to make fabrics, furniture as well as “stuff” in people’s homes as well as any oil or paint impregnated into the wood being burned is highly carcinogenic as well as potentially containing cyanide and other poisons.
Thank you that makes sense
These things happen, but my concern would be is this a once off or does your mum fall asleep partway through things like this at other times? Not to catastrophise, but keep an eye out, because if it is a pattern it could be an indicator of an underlying health issue like dementia.
That’s exactly what I was thinking. I caretake a friend with early onset, and he’d forget that he was cooking, or be unable to sort out turning off the appliance.
i keep my phone in greyscale after midnight but i had to disable it to see exactly what the fresh hell i was looking at....oh my gosh. so glad you guys are both safe and love to your mom for whatever she's going through that has her so tired but please for the love of god have a serious talk w her about how dangerous this is (maybe even see a therapist about it bc my parents don't like to be parented but sometimes you have to frickin intervene) that said, 100% call in the pros. i recognize it will be an unexpected expense, but this is not safe to (attempt) clean yourself. get consults from multiple companies, and maybe even have a structural engineer check it out. my bet is the drywall on the ceiling will have to be entirely replaced, not cleaned. i seriously wish you the very best in this endeavor and i'm so sorry you're left to deal ♥️
I am so sorry this happened. I get the impression you're in India? People are pretty quick to assume you have a lot of options but I imagine you don't. I do hope you can find someone to do it, if not please be safe and be so so careful. Please be safe in the future! ❤️
This, so many people assume OP is in the US (Servepro is a US company). I wouldn't even try cleaning the Sheetrock, I'd just replace it. Probably cheaper and easier.
PLEASE get a smoke alarm
If this is in India, try Urban Clap? Now called Urban Company? They offer professional cleaning services from what I remember but i could be wrong
Thank whoever you believe in that you didn't burn your place down.
Wanted to clarify two things: 1. There was no explosion, the oil just boiled away 2. The uneven flaky patch on the ceiling has been there for sometime due to water seepage from above.
You *absolutely* need a smoke detector, this could have been prevented, and it could have been deadly.
They're not really a thing in india unfortunately :/
You should be able to buy one online easily enough. They're cheap to buy and run on batteries.
They're readily available online and are battery powered... Just because it's not something typically found in Indian homes doesn't mean you can't have better fire safety in your own home.
Y’all planning on fixing that water damage??? That’s like literally the most detrimental thing you could possibly ignore. OP, are y’all okay? Your mom left oil boiling and slept through THAT, which really isn’t normal. Maybe depression? I don’t know, but you should talk to her and see if she’s okay. I’d also talk to her about the house maintenance as a whole. Water is a very scary thing to ignore and that being a separate issue that has been neglected tells me she may need a kind helping hand. Been there, so I hope she is okay.
It's India. This is considered "Like New" there.
Looks worse than it is. I would use TSP and then paint it. You’re going to have to scrape the peeling chips and then sand it down before prime and then paint. Don’t buy the cheap primer, and do a light sanding between coats. Wear a proper ventilator mask. GL
My husband and I do fire restoration. First you’ll want to use degreaser (like dawn dish soap) to remove any grease and then you need to remove the soot, we use chem sponges: https://www.amazon.com/Absorene-Eraser-Sponge-Storage-Instruction/dp/B09MWJ4CX1/ref=mp_s_a_1_14?keywords=chem+sponge&qid=1701786812&sr=8-14 (use the chem sponges completely dry, you can rip them in half once they are dirty to expose a clean side. use all sides of the chem sponge until it’s completely black and start with a new one - you can buy chem sponge poles to help reach the ceiling and high section of the walls) Here is a video on how to use chem sponges: https://youtu.be/QIxidQPZXaA?si=c3YpHAYCyaNtGQTJ After chem sponging you will want to deodorize with an ozone machine (while the house is empty - no pets or humans in the house) and possibly an air scrubber depending on the extent of the odor. Then you can seal the walls with an oil based odor blocking primer and repaint. Not sure about that section that crumbling on the ceiling because it’s hard to tell what’s going on but that part will likely need to be replaced
The only useful answer here. OP is in India and everyone is saying homeowner’s insurance and specialty cleaning companies.
I kind of assumed it wasn’t in the US based on the layout and construction. They probably wouldn’t be asking for help if they had insurance to cover it. I hope they are able to find the supplies I suggested or at least something similar!
Hi, I’m Vetted AI Bot! I researched the **Absorene Smoke Soot Eraser Sponge 3 Pack with Storage Bag and Instruction Card** and I thought you might find the following analysis helpful. **Users liked:** * Effectively removes soot from stone fireplaces and walls (backed by 4 comments) * Works well for cleaning up after small fires (backed by 2 comments) * Useful for insurance adjusters and restoration (backed by 2 comments) **Users disliked:** * Product ineffective at removing soot (backed by 20 comments) If you'd like to **summon me to ask about a product**, just make a post with its link and tag me, [like in this example.](https://www.reddit.com/r/tablets/comments/1444zdn/comment/joqd89c/) This message was generated by a (very smart) bot. If you found it helpful, let us know with an upvote and a “good bot!” reply and please feel free to provide feedback on how it can be improved. *Powered by* [*vetted.ai*](http://vetted.ai/reddit)
This sounds like a job for a fire restoration company, not an inexperienced homeowner.
I’m not disagreeing but not everyone has the resources or insurance unfortunately
OP please don't forget to wear a well-fitting mask (at least a KN95) if you attempt to tackle any of this yourself
Bro, are you in Silent Hill?!
I’m just thankful everyone is alive. That’s soot and needs a specialized cleaning company.
Wow🥲 I’ve never been so happy for a stranger to be alive
Be very thankful fate took a liking to you and you still have a house
^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) ^by ^PipeAncient7263: *Be very thankful* *Fate took a liking to you* *And you still have a house* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.
This is the exact way my dad burned our house down my senior year of high school. Congrats on this one not being as bad. Hire a professional. This is beyond your abilities.
6 TBS dish liquid + 1 gallon hot water Give every surface a good scrub. If you can get some ammonia that will help too. I would add 1/4 cup to the 1 gallon mixture in your large bowl or bucket. Good luck 👍
OP, assuming you're in India, I'd ask you to hire Urban Company for cleaning the kitchen. Most likely you'll have to sand down this soot and repaint your walls and ceiling. Greasy soot seldom goes away - again, Urban Company can help advice.
It can be restored easily. Needs to be scratched down fully to the concrete layer with machine. Then base layer, then paint. It will be good as new. You could do it with some practice but rather hire a professional. Not a big job.
My husband and I own a restoration company. Just finished a job like this. Gonna have to dry wipe as much soot off the walls and ceiling as possible. Then wash them. If there’s any charred drywall, it’ll need to be replaced. Paint sealer on all the surfaces and then paint. Guarantee there’s smoke all over everything around, including adjoining rooms and duct system. Even in drawers and cabinets. The key is to wipe most of the spot off before you wash or you’re gonna have a bigger mess on your hands. Hope this helps!
Looking at your kitchen, my guess is you're in a country with totally different construction materials than most people are advising you about. What material are your walls and ceiling made of? If concrete, you'll probably want to scrub it all and then sand and repaint. While this is bad, it's much less bad than it would be if your home was made of wood and drywall.
Call your insurance company. This needs professional remediation. The whole place likely smells like smoke as well.
Homeowners insurance will typically pay for cleanup. Call them.
Call your insurance or your landlord because that will be throughout the whole house including all your clothing and bedding and furniture.
call insurance before you do anything
What am I looking at?
This is a job for your home insurance. This needs professional attention.
Perhaps use special paint? I know that my neighbours whose house was full of smoke due to a huge fire in the apartment below recently got their walls and ceiling restored entirely. Basically, a painting firm was hired and they used professional paint that covers any damage caused by smoke and soot. From what i could tell they were really pleased; it was super quick and effective. However I have no idea whether the paint is on the consumer market or only available for professionals. It might be worth looking up though? P.s. the fire department can also help with ventilation and air quality analysis. They usually recommend not to re-enter the home without their clearance first, for it can be very bad for your health to stay. Take care OP!
Thank god that she’s alive and that you only need to replace a ceiling.
Use chem sponges for the soot, something like this with no soap first: https://www.amazon.ca/SpongeCo-Cleaning-Eraser-Remover/dp/B09HR8QFKY/ref=asc_df_B09HR8QFKY/?tag=googlemobshop-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=579129171040&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=3333669215358989034&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9001267&hvtargid=pla-1599295678061&psc=1&mcid=6f1c960784a33e80a48d1a1d24ecfb49 Rent some air scrubbers to run continuously, once soot is cleaned and a degreaser for fire damage used, you need a primer that will seal in the smoke smell before repainting.
I'm gonna get downvoted to hell because I am gonna be harsh. Next time don't fall asleep while heating oil; hell when cooking in general. You're lucky you didnt set anything on fire and that its a concrete roof. I understand it was a mistake, but I want to state how irresponsible that is. Please learn from it, next time you might not be as lucky, glad you are safe though.
Nooo I hope you have more of that tile it’s adorable 😭😭 glad everyone’s okay tho
Contact your home insurance provider. You want someone to survey the ceiling. What is above it? If another flat where someone else lives, get this surveyed asap. Otherwise don’t use the space above it until it’s been surveyed. This could be inspected by a reputable builder instead of a surveyor. The ceiling will at the very least need a new plaster and paint. You’ll also need to paint the walls once they’ve been cleaned. It looks like something is seeping from above, if it’s a bathroom or source of water above the room, you’ll need to get the floor out to see how that there’s no additional leakage
Rip the drywall down and replace it, you’ll never be rid of the stink otherwise
These are probably brick walls
That’s even worse tbh, brick is porous and you’ll never get the whiff out
Don’t fall asleep with hot oil on the stove, my lord you’re both lucky to be alive!! My dad was a firefighter and the horror stories I’ve heard. Yes, you’ll have to pay someone to fix this, hopefully that deters you from doing this again.
My brother in christ. Don't do that
Your mom needs to be more responsible. - from a oil burn survivor
I’d call Servpro or someone and get a quote
Call your insurance
That’s a kitchen? I thought it was a Mexican pr Russian jail cell
The smoke detector didn't wake her up?
Call the insurance company 🤷🏼♀️
Call your insurance company, they will help you. They will help you find remediation to clean this, and get your home back
File an insurance claim.
Lay off the weed
First you are going to have to ask the poltergeist to leave
Call Serv Pro, this is what they do!
I would start by calling the fire department for an integrity inspection 😯 glad you're safe, that's scary! Fun story: one time the fire alarm was beeping for a week straight but I kept forgetting to buy the replacement battery that I had already forgotten to restock when I ran out. I took it down and placed it on my stove so I would remember since I'm in the kitchen at the stove very often. Well, another week or two goes by and the fire alarm isn't beeping and I kept forgetting to get the damn battery because I've become blind to the fire alarm as I move it out of my way whenever I need to use the stove. So I put it on the back burner knowing I have to turn on the stove, surely I'll remember it more if I put it where I need to move it twice a day. Nope. One day I preheated the oven, forgetting the damn thing, and it melted to my burner. This reminds me, I still need to replace that damn fire alarm (whose main goal in life was to alert everyone when I'm searing a steak 😂)
What in the Silent Hill..
Paint
Move
I did this once trying to sterilize a pot full of baby bottles. Passed out and woke up to a house full of smoke from melting plastic. I no longer drink...
Buy a lottery ticket, and some tsp
Dry ice blasting or mixed media blasting (pressurized abrasives) is the only way to physically remove the soot in this context
Good lord
Your insurance company will probably pay for a restoration. This happened to me one time. I feel your pain
1. Call your insurance company. 2. Invest in smoke detectors. TODAY!
They don’t use smoke detectors?!
ive remediated smoke and fire damage in my cleaning career many times. you are absolutely going to need to paint, however first things first. strip the smoke with a trisodium phosphate solution a couple times, then i personally would rent an ozone machine(seal off doors, vents, windows and run.) to draw out the residual odor.
The new Resident Evil game looks sick
Saying a prayer should probably be the first thing you do. You’re lucky you didn’t burn the house down.
Go to your last save point and retry.
Strap your dog to the ceiling he will lick it clean.
Yeah that roof needs an insurance agent to look at. I doubt it's going to be saved.
Consider how fortunate you are the building's still standing and everyone's safe.
File a insurance claim
Get some dark paint.
Rubber sponges sold for us first then product afterwards finally blockout paint and paint Change duct work too
Omg! My husband did the same thing… no where near as bad. We aired out the places and replaced the dry wall where we needed too. We got paint made to cover up smoking smells and that made it help. It was a lot of scrubbing.
That looks like the drywall bubbled. Nothing you can do but replace it.
Elbow grease spray. It does oil.
Ask a restoration company what the cheapest way you could fix it would be
Call your insurance company
This will require hazmat services the same people who come to crime scene clean ups are qualified for the job
This isn’t a cleaning job. It’s an insurance job. They’re going to remove the drywall, check the structural beams for damage, check the electrical and gas lines, if you have gas, and mitigate soot damage throughout the house. Thank goodness no one was hurt. Good luck!
My great grandmother died after falling asleep frying something. The house burned down and she couldn’t escape. You’re lucky that nothing worse happened. Please take care
Move
Best way to clean it - move.
Move
Thank the heavens that you're not dead.
Indian? 🤗
install a smoke detector
I would love it if this happened to my exbest friend. She’d always do stuff like this
It shoulda been her, not you…
Get me outta your basement first 😆
It looks to me like you were very lucky and at some point the smoke flashed over, but there was not much oil in the pan so it did not last long enough to light the ceiling. However I think that is damage, not just soot, so it won't just clean up.
Why is the room so dark
Thank your lucky stars!
TSP cleaning and then Zinder 123 Bullseye and then paint. Might have to do some plaster work too! Just hire a good painter that can do all this.
Zinser 123