Fire & smoke cleanup
Water damage drying
Mold remediation
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Sewage cleanup
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AfterHow Much Does Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration Cost in Fort Lauderdale?
Fire and smoke damage restoration in Fort Lauderdale typically costs between $3,200 and $12,500 for a standard room-and-contents cleanup, with most homeowners paying around $6,800. Kitchen fires on the lower end can run $1,800 to $4,500, while whole-home smoke remediation after a larger fire commonly lands between $15,000 and $35,000. These numbers reflect the Fort Lauderdale market in 2026, where humidity, salt air, and older housing stock push drying and deodorization times longer than inland Florida cities.
If you’re standing in a home that smells like smoke right now, we’ll give you a written price before any work starts. Call (754) 354-1463 and we’ll walk you through what your specific situation will cost, based on square footage, what burned, and how far the smoke traveled.
Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration Cost Breakdown (2026)
Here’s what we see across Fort Lauderdale neighborhoods from Victoria Park to Plantation to Hollywood Lakes. These ranges reflect actual job pricing in the local market, not national averages, which trend lower because they include cheaper drying climates and lower labor costs.
| Service Line Item | Typical Cost Range (Fort Lauderdale, 2026) |
|---|---|
| Emergency board-up and tarping | $400 – $1,200 |
| Water extraction from firefighting | $800 – $3,000 |
| Soot and smoke residue cleaning (walls, ceilings, floors) | $1,500 – $6,000 |
| Thermal fogging / ozone odor treatment | $600 – $2,400 |
| HVAC duct cleaning after smoke damage | $500 – $1,800 |
| Dry cleaning / laundering of salvageable textiles | $300 – $1,200 |
| Content pack-out, inventory, and storage | $1,000 – $4,000 |
| Drywall and insulation replacement (per affected room) | $900 – $2,500 per room |
| Priming and sealing smoke-stained surfaces | $400 – $1,200 per room |
| Full repaint after seal (per room) | $350 – $900 per room |
A few things move these numbers up or down. A grease fire contained to the kitchen usually stays under $5,000 because the smoke didn’t spread far. An electrical fire that smoldered in a wall cavity pushes costs higher because we’re opening drywall, pulling insulation, and treating the framing itself. And in Fort Lauderdale specifically, the aftermath of firefighting water soaks into concrete block and plaster much slower than it does in dry-sheetrock homes up north, so drying time, and drying cost, stretches longer.
What Your Insurance Typically Covers
Most Florida homeowners policies cover fire and smoke restoration as a named peril, minus your deductible, which in Broward County typically runs $1,000 to $2,500. We work directly with your adjuster, document everything with photos you get by text, and bill using the same Xactimate line items your carrier expects. You should know your policy covers the restoration itself, but not usually upgrades: if smoke staining means your popcorn ceiling comes down and you want a smooth finish instead, that delta is on you.
What Affects Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration Pricing in Fort Lauderdale
- What actually burned. Synthetic materials like vinyl flooring, foam cushions, and PVC trim produce thick, oily smoke that bonds to surfaces and requires aggressive chemical cleaning. Natural wood and cotton smoke is lighter and lifts easier.
- How far the smoke traveled. Smoke follows airflow, so in a house with a running HVAC system, we’re often treating rooms far from the fire itself. In Fort Lauderdale ranch homes with central air returns near the ceiling, smoke migrates through the whole floor in under an hour.
- How much water the firefight left behind. Firefighters in Fort Lauderdale pull hydrant water at high volume. That water pools in low spots on tile-on-slab homes, soaks drywall, and in older Dania Beach and Melrose Park homes, gets behind baseboards and into plaster. Water extraction always comes before smoke work.
- Time before treatment starts. Soot is acidic. The longer it sits on metal fixtures, chrome plumbing, and appliance surfaces, the deeper it etches. A fire on Friday that doesn’t get treated until Monday will cost more to restore than one treated same-day.
- Building materials in your home. Fort Lauderdale’s older housing stock, especially 1950s-70s block-and-stucco homes in neighborhoods like Riverside Park and Sailboat Bend, often has plaster walls rather than drywall. Plaster holds smoke odor in its porous surface and needs multiple odor-seal passes.
- Contents restoration vs. replacement. We can often clean and deodorize solid wood furniture, but pressboard and particleboard pieces absorb smoke so deeply that replacement is cheaper. Electronics are a case-by-case call: soot inside a microwave is usually a replacement; soot on a laptop shell is a clean-and-test.
One factor unique to South Florida: humidity. Smoke odor compounds bind and release differently at 75% relative humidity than at 40%. Our technicians use psychrometric drying (tracking the air’s moisture level so we know when your home is truly dry, not just surface-dry) and run dehumidifiers from Dri-Eaz and Phoenix during the entire smoke treatment process. Skipping this step in Fort Lauderdale means the smoke smell comes back the first humid week of June.
Can You Repair Smoke Damage on a Budget?
Yes, with limits. If the fire was small, contained, and no water from firefighting hit your structure, you can handle some surface-level soot removal yourself with a dry chemical sponge, a HEPA vacuum, and ventilation. What you cannot safely DIY is structural smoke remediation: the thermal fogging and ozone treatment that reaches wall cavities and HVAC systems, the removal of smoke-damaged insulation, and the sealing of charred framing. Those require professional equipment and a clear understanding of how smoke behaves in South Florida construction.
Here’s the honest number on DIY versus professional. A homeowner buying a soot sponge, a respirator, and a rented air scrubber might spend $300 to $600. But if the smoke has penetrated wall cavities, that $600 doesn’t solve it, and delay makes the odor harder to treat. In Coral Ridge and Poinsettia Heights, we regularly follow failed DIY attempts where the homeowner spent more on the first attempt plus our correction than they would have spent doing it properly the first time.
How to Save on Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration
Saving money on fire restoration isn’t about finding a cheaper contractor. It’s about acting fast and filing insurance correctly. Here’s what actually moves the bill.
- Call your insurer the same day. Mitigation is covered, but insurance companies look at delayed mitigation as negligence. The faster you file, the more of the job is covered, and the lower your out-of-pocket portion.
- Don’t throw anything away before an adjuster sees it. Every item you discard is a smaller contents claim. Keep damaged items in place or at least photograph them with a timestamp before disposal.
- Get the right fans and dehumidifiers running on day one. If water is involved, immediate drying prevents secondary damage. That’s what pushes jobs from $6,000 to $18,000: mold growing in wet drywall behind baseboards.
- Call a restoration company that gives you a written price first. Wendell puts the price in writing before any work starts, and a digital invoice is texted to you so you can pay from the link. The number on the screen is the number you pay. No surprises, no add-on fees, no “we’ll figure it out after drywall comes down.”
- Ask about what doesn’t need replacing. A good restoration company chases salvageability before replacement. We’ve saved entire kitchen cabinet sets in Fort Lauderdale homes with chemical cleaning and sealing that a replacement-bid contractor would have torn out and charged $8,000 to replace.
Free estimates are free. Call (754) 354-1463 and tell us what burned. We’ll give you an honest range on the phone and a written quote on site.
Our Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration Process in Fort Lauderdale
Here’s exactly how we work, step by step, so you know what to expect from the first call through the final walk-through. We follow IICRC, RIA, and IFA standards on every job, using professional restoration equipment from Dri-Eaz, Phoenix, XPOWER, B-Air, and Injectidry, the same certifications and brands used on large commercial loss sites.
Step-by-Step: The Relay Standard for Fire & Smoke Restoration
- You call (754) 354-1463 at any hour. A live person answers. Not a voicemail, not a callback queue. We take your address, ask what happened, and give you a realistic arrival window, usually within 90 minutes for emergencies anywhere in Fort Lauderdale.
- We arrive for a full assessment. A background-checked, uniformed technician walks the property, documents everything with photos (which you receive by text), and identifies what’s salvageable, what’s replaceable, and what needs structural work. You get a written price before any work starts.
- Emergency board-up and water extraction. If your home is exposed or waterlogged, we seal openings and pull standing water first. In Fort Lauderdale, this step cannot wait: rain and humidity compound every hour a structure stays open.
- Soot and residue cleaning begins. We clean walls, ceilings, floors, and fixtures with chemical agents matched to the specific burn material. Oily synthetic smoke requires different chemistry than dry wood smoke, and we adjust accordingly.
- Odor treatment: thermal fogging and/or ozone. Thermal fogging disperses a deodorizing vapor that penetrates the same wall cavities smoke did. Ozone treatment runs in unoccupied spaces and breaks down the remaining odor molecules. We decide which method (or combination) based on what burned and where the odor is strongest.
- Structural repair: drywall, insulation, paint. We cut out smoke-damaged drywall, replace insulation, seal the framing, and prime with a smoke-sealing primer before repainting. This is the step that makes the smell stay gone.
- Content cleaning and pack-back. If we packed out your belongings, we clean, deodorize, and return them once the structure is ready. Every item is inventoried and documented.
- Final walk-through and written guarantee. You walk the home with your technician. If anything isn’t right, we fix it on the spot or schedule the correction. Every job includes the 365-Day Done Right Promise in writing: if it’s not done right, we make it right, plus a free second visit if the repair fails.
FAQs: Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration Cost in Fort Lauderdale
How much does fire and smoke damage restoration cost in Fort Lauderdale?
Most Fort Lauderdale homeowners pay between $3,200 and $12,500 for standard fire and smoke restoration, with smaller contained kitchen fires running $1,800 to $4,500 and whole-home damage reaching $15,000 to $35,000. Call (754) 354-1463 for a free estimate and a written price before any work starts.
Is it cheaper to repair or replace smoke-damaged drywall?
It depends on the burn depth, but in Fort Lauderdale you should budget $900 to $2,500 per room for drywall replacement versus $400 to $1,200 for cleaning and resealing. Shallow smoke staining on intact drywall is usually repairable with chemical cleaning and a smoke-sealing primer. Charred or waterlogged drywall needs replacement. We’ll show you the difference during the assessment and put both options in writing.
Does homeowners insurance cover fire and smoke damage restoration?
Yes, almost all Florida homeowners policies cover fire and smoke as a named peril. You’ll pay your deductible (typically $1,000 to $2,500 in Broward County), and your policy covers the restoration. Wendell works directly with your adjuster and documents everything so your claim is approved faster. Call (754) 354-1463 and we’ll help you understand what your policy covers before you commit to anything.
How fast can you start fire and smoke cleanup in Fort Lauderdale?
Usually within 90 minutes for emergencies, and same-day for non-emergency assessments. Smoke damage gets more expensive every hour it sits untreated, because acidic soot keeps etching surfaces. Call (754) 354-1463 and a live person will tell you exactly when a technician will arrive. Not a window. An arrival time you can track.
Why is fire restoration more expensive in Fort Lauderdale than other cities?
It’s the humidity and the housing stock. Fort Lauderdale’s average relative humidity runs 70% to 80% year-round, which means water from firefighting doesn’t evaporate fast, and smoke odor compounds rebind as soon as moisture rises. Our equipment runs longer, and older block-and-stucco homes with plaster walls absorb smoke differently than modern drywall construction. It’s not padding; it’s physics. We show you the psychrometric readings so you can see exactly what the equipment is doing.
What does fire damage restoration cost per square foot in Fort Lauderdale?
You should budget $4 to $12 per square foot for the affected area of your home. A 1,000-square-foot kitchen and living room fire typically runs $4,000 to $12,000 on restoration, not counting full room rebuilds. The per-square-foot range tightens once we see what burned and how far smoke traveled. Call (754) 354-1463 and we’ll give you a per-square-foot estimate specific to your home.
Get Your Fort Lauderdale Fire & Smoke Restoration Estimate
If you’re dealing with fire or smoke damage in Fort Lauderdale, don’t wait. Soot etches deeper, water soaks further, and smoke odor sets in harder with every passing hour. Wendell Restoration Fort Lauderdale gives you the three things most restoration companies don’t: a written price before any work starts, a live arrival time you can track, and before-and-after photos by text so you can see the proof of the work without standing over a technician’s shoulder.
We’re part of the Relay Home Co. family, founded in 2006, and every job is held to The Relay Visibility Guarantee. You always know who is coming, when they will be there, and exactly what it costs. Every repair carries the 365-Day Done Right Promise in writing: if it’s not done right, we make it right.
Call (754) 354-1463 now. A live person answers, 24/7, and we’ll have a technician at your door with a written quote faster than you think. You can also learn more about our Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration in Fort Lauderdale services or head back to the home page to explore everything we do.
Pricing reflects the Fort Lauderdale market as of 2026. Wendell Restoration Fort Lauderdale offers free estimates – call (754) 354-1463.
Written by Blake Sorensen, Owner at Wendell Restoration Fort Lauderdale, serving Fort Lauderdale and Broward County since 2006.
What Our Customers Say
"Ceiling repaired, painted, and matched. The patch around the old water stain is invisible after painting."
- Clara T."Dishwasher leak went under the floor. They found the wet area with a camera and dried it without tearing it all out."
- Aaron D."Good drying job. Fans were loud, but the status texts explained each step."
- Pia S.