Smoke odor removal in New York City homes

NYC Fire Damage Restoration is an independent referral service, not a restoration company. When you send the form, your details go to an independent local restoration provider serving New York City, who can contact you, inspect and quote any work directly. You decide whether to hire them.

Why the smell stays

Put simply, the smell stays because residue stays. Smoke leaves a film that settles on and soaks into materials: paint, plaster, wood, insulation, carpet, upholstery, clothes, paper. While that residue is there, the smell keeps coming back. That is why, in general practice, odor work comes after the residue has been cleaned away, and why air fresheners or open windows alone may not solve it. No government or standards page opened for this site sets out a deodorizing method, so this guide describes the work only in general terms.

Where smoke smell hides in a New York apartment

• Inside walls and ceilings, especially where smoke came in around pipes, outlets and fixtures shared with a neighboring unit.
• Ductwork and vents, which can keep moving the smell around the home every time a system runs.
• Closets and cabinets, where clothes, linens and dry goods absorb it behind closed doors.
• Soft furnishings: mattresses, sofas, curtains and rugs.
• Radiator covers, baseboards and window tracks, where residue collects and is easy to miss.
• The hallway. In an apartment building, smell from a smoke-filled hallway can keep coming under the door until the building cleans the common areas.

Where odor work fits in the order

1. Inventory and photographs, before anything is moved, as NYC Emergency Management advises.
2. Drying any water from firefighting. See fire and water damage restoration.
3. Removing what cannot be saved.
4. Cleaning residue from surfaces and belongings. See soot cleaning.
5. Cleaning vents and ductwork where smoke went through them.
6. Deodorizing what remains, then sealing and repainting surfaces where needed.

What to ask about any treatment

Providers use a range of methods and machines to treat odor after a fire. This site does not name or recommend any of them, because no source opened for it describes their effects. What you can do is ask the right questions and get the answers in writing.

• What is the treatment, and what does it do?
• Do people, pets and plants need to be out of the home while it runs, and for how long afterward?
• What has to be cleaned first for it to work?
• Which rooms and items does it cover, and what happens if the smell comes back?
• Does it involve any chemical, and can I see its safety information?

While you wait

• Keep doors to unaffected rooms closed, and keep clothes you need in sealed bags once photographed.
• Do not run heating or cooling you know or suspect is contaminated with mold; the EPA advises against it.
• Do not mix cleaning products or add bleach to other chemicals, as the EPA warns.
• If you are insured, ask your insurer what it expects before odor work starts, as part of the instructions NYC Emergency Management advises you get.

Smoke smell from somewhere else in the building

If the smell comes from a fire in another unit, the common areas are the building’s responsibility, and the City Council’s guide says building management hires vendors for clean-up and remediation in a rental building. Tell the super or managing agent in writing that the smell is reaching your home. NYC Emergency Management’s advice for high-rise fires, to stay in your apartment if the fire is not in it rather than going into smoke-filled hallways, is a reminder of how far smoke travels in a building. The page on smoke damage restoration NYC covers the rest.

When you send the request, say where the smell is strongest, the borough and the building type. An independent local restoration provider can contact you, inspect and quote directly. Asking is free and you never have to hire anyone. For what you can try yourself first, read how to get rid of smoke smell.

Questions people ask