Contents Restoration Program
With fast professional pack-out, up to 90% of your belongings can be saved — a fraction of the replacement cost and, for personal items, the only real way to get them back. Palm Build's contents restoration program handles everything: insurance-coordinated pack-out, facility-based cleaning, climate-controlled storage, and careful return placement.
Salvage
Up to 90%
Cost
$2.5K-$25K
Process
Barcoded
Coverage
FL · NC · SC
Professional pack-out isn't just moving boxes. It's a documented chain-of-custody workflow that protects your contents, your insurance claim, and the timeline of your restoration project.
Walk-through with homeowner and insurance adjuster. Each room is assessed for contents volume, contamination level, and high-value items requiring conservator involvement. Items are tagged: restorable, document-and-discard, or specialty conservation.
Every item photographed in place before movement. Wide shots of each room, close-ups of damaged items, and detail shots of high-value items. This documentation becomes the baseline for the insurance claim and the as-found condition reference.
Each item is assigned a barcode and logged into a database with room location, condition notes, and initial value estimate. Barcoded containers are loaded carefully to prevent additional damage during transport.
Climate-controlled trucks transport packed containers to the contents restoration facility. Chain-of-custody documentation accompanies every load. Items are checked in at the facility and cross-referenced against the pack-out inventory.
Each item is routed to the appropriate cleaning method based on material class. Electronics → ultrasonic. Textiles → ozone chamber and dry cleaning. Hard goods → chemical cleaning and polish. Documents → HEPA and freeze-drying if wet.
Cleaned items are stored in a temperature and humidity-controlled facility while the home undergoes structural restoration. Standard storage is 30-90 days. Major rebuilds may require 6+ months of storage.
Once the home is restored and deodorized, contents are returned and placed in their original rooms according to the pre-pack-out photography. A final walkthrough with the homeowner documents successful return to pre-loss condition.
Different materials respond to different cleaning methods. Electronics require ultrasonic. Textiles require ozone. Documents may need freeze-drying. Fine art requires conservators. Matching the method to the material is what produces professional results.
Salvage rate: 80-95%
Examples
Laptops, TVs, gaming consoles, audio equipment, printers, phones, cameras
Method
Ultrasonic cleaning at 40 kHz in pH-neutral solution → anti-corrosion treatment → functional testing
⏱ 5-7 days critical response window
Salvage rate: 75-90%
Examples
Wardrobes, bed linens, drapery, upholstery fabric, soft toys
Method
Ozone chamber pre-treatment → specialty dry cleaning → final ozone pass → pressing and hanging
⏱ 10-14 days for best results
Salvage rate: 70-95%
Examples
Personal libraries, photo albums, vital records, artwork on paper
Method
Dry items: HEPA vacuum → gentle page cleaning → ozone deodorization. Wet items: immediate freeze-drying
⏱ Wet items: 24-48 hours critical
Salvage rate: 60-95% item-specific
Examples
Paintings, sculptures, rare furniture, musical instruments, collectibles
Method
Museum-grade conservator involvement → controlled environment cleaning → varnish restoration
⏱ Project-specific; conservator schedule
Salvage rate: 90-98%
Examples
Cookware, dishware, small appliances, decorative items, hardware
Method
Ultrasonic cleaning → chemical rinse → polish → re-packaging
⏱ Less time-sensitive, can wait 1-2 weeks
Salvage rate: 0%
Examples
Pantry, refrigerator, medication, personal care
Method
NOT SALVAGED — all documented and discarded per safety protocols
⏱ Immediate documentation for insurance
Ultrasonic cleaning is the best technology currently available for saving smoke-damaged electronics. Here's what it actually does and why it works.
High-frequency sound waves (typically 40 kHz) are pulsed through a liquid cleaning solution. This creates microscopic cavitation bubbles that implode on the surface of items in the tank. The implosion mechanically removes soot, smoke residue, and particulate from every surface — including interior crevices, circuit boards, and complex geometries that hand-cleaning cannot reach.
Electronics have countless tiny surfaces inside — circuit boards, connectors, heat sinks, fan blades — that collect smoke residue and begin corroding within 72 hours. Ultrasonic cleaning reaches every one of these surfaces simultaneously. pH-neutral solution means no chemical damage to semiconductors or solder joints. Anti-corrosion treatment follows to neutralize any remaining residue.
Ultrasonic cleaning is not magic. It cannot restore items with heat-melted plastic, warped circuit boards, or broken solder joints. It cannot repair items beyond the cleaning stage. Its job is to remove soot and contamination so that functional items can be returned to service — items already damaged beyond cleaning are documented and replaced under insurance.
Acidic soot begins corroding circuit boards, connectors, and internal components within 72 hours of fire exposure. Within a week, many electronics that could have been restored become unrepairable due to progressive corrosion. The response window for electronics pack-out is the tightest of any contents category.
Fast response is everything. Do not power on fire-exposed electronics — moisture from suppression water combined with acidic soot can short circuits and cause permanent damage the moment power is applied. Disconnect at the wall, photograph items in place, and wait for the restoration company to pack them out. Your insurance covers both successful restoration and replacement of items beyond repair, so there's no downside to professional pack-out.
At the facility, electronics are opened, visually inspected for pre-existing damage, ultrasonically cleaned in pH-neutral solution, treated with anti-corrosion coating, dried, reassembled, and functionally tested. Items that pass functional testing are returned to your home. Items that fail are documented with failure reports for your insurance claim.
The items that matter most often can't be replaced at any price. Personal photos, family documents, artwork, and heirlooms require specialized conservation approaches that Palm Build coordinates through partnerships with museum-grade restoration specialists.
Dry documents are HEPA-vacuumed to remove loose soot, then treated with ozone to neutralize embedded smoke odor. Pages may be separated, cleaned, and dried individually.
Wet items are critical. If documents or photos got wet from firefighting suppression, they must be frozen within 24-48 hours to prevent further degradation. Freeze-drying in a vacuum chamber sublimates the moisture out without damaging the paper or image. This is a specialty service coordinated with archival restoration partners.
Oil paintings, watercolors, sculptures, antique furniture, and musical instruments require museum-grade conservation, not standard contents cleaning. Palm Build partners with licensed conservators for these items.
Your personal property coverage pays for items that were in the home at the time of the fire. The claim amount depends entirely on documentation. Here's what Palm Build's contents inventory process includes to maximize your recovery.
Room-by-room itemized lists with quantities, descriptions, and conditions
Pre-movement photography of every item and every room
Barcode tracking tied to each container and each item within
Value estimates based on pre-loss condition (separate from cleaning decision)
Damage descriptions: smoke level, soot penetration, water exposure
Restoration vs. replacement recommendations with rationale
Final photo documentation of cleaned items before return
Complete chain-of-custody log from pack-out through return
Every hour your contents stay in a smoke-damaged home, the salvage window narrows. Electronics have 5-7 days. Wet documents have 24-48 hours. Palm Build responds 24/7 across Florida, North Carolina, and South Carolina.
Related Fire & Smoke Services
Expert answers about pack-out, ultrasonic cleaning, ozone chambers, and what can be saved after a fire.
With professional pack-out within 48-72 hours, up to 90% of contents are typically salvageable. Hard goods (metal, ceramic, glass) have the highest salvage rate at 90-98%. Electronics cleaned within a week have 80-95% salvage rates. Textiles and clothing are 75-90% salvageable. Documents and photos depend on water involvement — dry items are 70-95% salvageable, wet items require immediate freeze-drying. The biggest variable is how fast pack-out begins.
Still have questions about contents restoration basics?
Every hour your contents sit in a smoke-damaged home, the salvage probability drops. Palm Build's contents restoration program uses facility-based cleaning, climate-controlled storage, and full insurance inventory documentation.
Barcoded inventory tracking
For electronics & hard goods
Textiles & upholstery
Full itemized documentation
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