Contents Restoration & Cleaning

Contents restoration is the process of inventorying, cleaning, deodorizing, repairing, and returning personal property and business inventory damaged by a covered loss such as fire, smoke, water, mold, or biohazard exposure. It is a separate scope from structural restoration and is tracked separately on the insurance claim. The work covers everything from clothing and furniture to electronics, documents, photos, art, and specialty items like instruments or collectibles, using cleaning methods matched to each category.

Most standard homeowners and renters policies include a contents (or personal property) coverage limit, typically a percentage of the dwelling coverage on a homeowners policy or a separate stated limit on a renters policy. Contents coverage applies to the same covered perils as the structure — fire, smoke, certain water losses, theft, vandalism, etc. — and pays either Actual Cash Value (ACV) or Replacement Cost Value (RCV) depending on the policy. Some valuable items (jewelry, fine art, firearms, collectibles) may have sub-limits or need a rider; review the declarations page with your agent.

A pack-out is the structured process of removing salvageable personal property from a loss site, transporting it to a controlled-environment cleaning facility, and storing it there while the structure is rebuilt. The crew creates a numbered or barcoded inventory, photographs each item, packs into labeled cartons by room and category, and tracks every item from pack-out through cleaning, storage, and re-pack at the property. Pack-outs are used when the loss is severe, the rebuild is long, or the items would be at risk from ongoing construction.

Most soft goods and hard goods affected by smoke can be deodorized and returned to pre-loss condition with the right cleaning method matched to the contamination type. Light smoke residue cleans by wiping, laundering, or dry cleaning. Heavy smoke and protein-fire residue need ozone, hydroxyl, thermal fogging, or ultrasonic cleaning depending on the material. Some items — porous insulation in upholstery, particle board with deep smoke penetration, mattresses with embedded soot — are not economical to restore and are documented as total losses on the claim instead.

Electronics damaged by smoke residue or water require specialty cleaning by a technician trained for circuit-level work. Smoke residue is acidic and corrodes solder joints, contacts, and PCB traces over weeks if not removed; rapid response after a fire materially improves the salvage rate. Water-damaged electronics need to be powered off, disassembled, dried in a controlled environment, and tested before return to service. Many electronics are salvageable when handled within the first 72 hours; data on internal drives is often recoverable even when the device itself is a total loss.

Documents and photos are stabilized first — wet paper is freeze-dried to halt mold growth and prevent further damage. Stabilized items go through specialty cleaning matched to the contamination: gentle aspiration for soot, freeze-drying for water, conservator coordination for one-of-a-kind family photos or heirloom documents. Most can be returned in usable form. For irreplaceable items, we coordinate with paper conservators who handle archival-grade restoration. Digital scanning before return is offered for any document or photo at risk of future loss.

SteraMist is an EPA-registered ionized hydrogen peroxide (iHP) disinfection system used to kill bacteria, viruses, mold, and other pathogens on hard surfaces and in air. It applies a fine mist that contacts every exposed surface, including hard-to-reach interior spaces, then breaks down to oxygen and water vapor with no chemical residue. We use SteraMist on biohazard scenes, mold remediation finals, post-sewage cleanup, and any scope where surface and air-side pathogen reduction is required. It is one of several tools in the contents and structure cleaning workflow, not a universal replacement for mechanical cleaning.

Verify three things before signing a contents contract: the company carries adequate commercial liability and contents-care insurance specific to off-site storage, they have a controlled-environment cleaning facility (rather than subcontracting to a third party without your knowledge), and they will provide a numbered or barcoded inventory with photographs as part of the standard scope. Ask for references on losses of similar size and category mix. Avoid any contractor who pressures you into signing an Assignment of Benefits (AOB) on the spot, or who quotes a full pack-out without a documented in-person walk-through of the affected rooms.