Fast, Reliable Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration Across Santa Monica
Fire and smoke damage in Santa Monica moves fast, and so do we. Wade Ferris answers his own phone at (855) 915-0646, day or night, and he can have a crew at your door in Santa Monica within the hour. A kitchen fire in a 1920s bungalow north of Montana, a smoldering electrical short in a Wilshire corridor apartment, a grease fire in Ocean Park: each one leaves smoke that keeps working its way into plaster, wood, and ductwork long after the flames are out. Our Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration team knows exactly what Santa Monica’s coastal air does to a fire-damaged structure, and we adjust our process accordingly. Call now and Wade will walk you through the first hour over the phone before he even gets in the truck.
Why Wade’s Restoration of California Is Santa Monica’s Preferred Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration Company
Wade Ferris founded this company in 2007 after watching too many homeowners get bounced between a national hotline, a subcontractor they never met, and an adjuster who never called back. He does not run it that way. When you call Santa Monica, you get Wade. He publishes his name, his address, and his license number, and he will be the one answering questions when the job is finished. Our standing offer of a free second opinion on any written estimate means you can show us what another company quoted and we will tell you straight whether you need it all. Ask anyone on your street: neighbors in Santa Monica know the difference between a crew that treats your house like a claim number and a local owner who runs into you again at the Saturday farmers market.
Wade’s crews are background-checked and uniformed, and every one of them carries IICRC and RIA credentials. The equipment is professional-grade: Dri-Eaz dehumidifiers and air scrubbers, Phoenix axial fans, and hydroxyl generators that knock down smoke odor without leaving chemical residue behind. Every fire and smoke job in Santa Monica gets our 90-Day Done Right Promise in writing. If something is not done right, Wade comes back and makes it right. No wriggling, no fine print.
Our Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration Services in Santa Monica
Fire Damage Cleanup
We start by securing the structure and then remove charred debris, damaged drywall, and compromised insulation. In Santa Monica’s older housing stock, that often means working around original horsehair plaster and lath construction that cannot simply be torn out and replaced the way modern drywall can. We document everything with photos, including the salt-air corrosion on exposed fasteners and framing that a less experienced crew would miss, and we hand that documentation directly to your adjuster.
Smoke & Soot Removal
Smoke and soot in Santa Monica do not just sit on surfaces. The marine layer pushes morning humidity up to 80-95% most days, which means soot binds to moisture in the air and works deeper into porous materials like plaster, wood, and fabric. Our crews run higher air changes per hour on our HEPA air scrubbers and use dry-ice blasting on metal fasteners and studs where salt air has already started pitting the steel. A typical smoke and soot removal package in Santa Monica runs $1,800 to $4,500 depending on square footage and how far the smoke traveled through wall and ceiling cavities.
Odor Removal & Deodorization
Smoke odor in Santa Monica homes hangs on longer than it does five miles inland. Water vapor in the coastal air re-releases odor molecules from plaster and lath, so standard thermal fogging and hydroxyl cycles often fall short. We run extended dwell times and frequently need two hydroxyl generator cycles where one would suffice in Culver City or West LA. Odor removal and deodorization for a typical Santa Monica room runs $800 to $2,200 per affected area, and we stand behind the result with our 90-Day Done Right Promise.
Contents Cleaning & Pack-Out
If your home in Santa Monica needs contents cleaned after a fire, we inventory, pack, and transport items to our cleaning facility, where they are processed with ultrasonic cleaning for hard goods and ozone or hydroxyl treatment for soft goods and fabrics. We track every item with a photo log, so you know exactly what left the house and what came back. Contents cleaning and pack-out in Santa Monica typically runs $1,500 to $6,000 depending on volume and the severity of smoke exposure, and we work with your insurance adjuster directly on the claim.
What happens when you call
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A real person answersNo phone trees - you reach a local pro.
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You get an upfront price rangeHonest numbers before anyone is dispatched.
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A background-checked tech heads outLicensed & insured, dispatched right away.
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You approve before work beginsNothing starts until you say go.
Trusted Brands We Service in Santa Monica
Our crews are trained and certified through the IICRC, RIA, and IFA, and we run Dri-Eaz dehumidifiers, air scrubbers, and Phoenix fans on every Santa Monica job. That matters because the equipment has to work harder here than it does inland: ocean humidity clings to the air, and undersized or poorly placed drying equipment simply will not get the job done. We maintain a full stock of replacement filters, belts, and desiccant media so we are not waiting on a supplier when your house needs another day of drying before the odor treatment can be finished.
Common Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration Problems We See in Santa Monica Homes
- Salt-air corrosion hiding behind visible char. A kitchen fire that looks contained can leave pitted steel connectors and HVAC components underneath, especially in blocks west of Lincoln Boulevard. The salt-laden coastal air accelerates corrosion to the point where a “minor” fire turns into a structural issue months later. We assess and document corrosion separately from the burn damage so your insurance claim includes it the first time.
- Standard drying timelines failing in coastal humidity. When the morning marine layer keeps relative humidity at 80-95%, structural drying runs longer than the IICRC S500 targets assume. Crews that pull their equipment on schedule in Santa Monica routinely leave enough residual moisture in plaster and lath that smoke odor re-releases within weeks. We build extra drying days into every estimate.
- Groundwater intrusion after fire suppression in Ocean Park. In the Ocean Park neighborhood and other blocks west of Lincoln Boulevard, the water table sits within a few feet of grade. All that water from the fire hose has to go somewhere, and if the slab has any crack, it goes toward the foundation. We assess sump conditions and groundwater before placing air movers, because running drying equipment on top of a groundwater problem only pushes moisture deeper.
- Original horsehair plaster absorbing smoke deep into the wall. Santa Monica’s 1920s and 1930s bungalows north of Montana Avenue and along the Wilshire corridor are full of horsehair plaster, which soaks up smoke odor like a sponge and releases it slowly as the coastal humidity cycles. A standard thermal fogging pass will not touch it; these walls need longer hydroxyl exposure and often cavity treatment behind the plaster surface.
Pricing for Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration in Santa Monica, CA
Here is what fire and smoke restoration actually costs in Santa Monica. Fire damage cleanup runs $2,500 to $9,000 depending on the size of the burn and how much structural material gets removed. Smoke and soot removal on a typical one-story home runs $1,800 to $4,500. Odor removal and deodorization runs $800 to $2,200 per affected room, and contents cleaning with pack-out runs $1,500 to $6,000. Older homes with original plaster and lath usually land on the higher end because the material work is slower and more specialized. Every estimate from Wade’s Restoration of California is written, line-itemed, and agreed to before we start, and we offer a free second opinion on any written estimate you already have. Call (855) 915-0646 and we will walk the house with you, no charge for the trip inside our own county.
We Also Serve Cities Near Santa Monica
Our crews are in and out of Venice, Century City, Culver City, and Beverly Hills every week, so if you have family or a rental property in those neighborhoods, the same call covers it. We treat every job the same way: Wade answers the phone, a written scope comes before any work begins, and the 90-Day Done Right Promise stays in writing.
Serving Santa Monica, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Santa Monica area and know this community well. Use the map below to see our service coverage - if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
FAQs - Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration in Santa Monica
The marine layer in the 90403 ZIP code keeps relative humidity at 80-95% most mornings, which means structural drying runs one to three days longer than standard IICRC S500 targets and smoke odor requires longer hydroxyl exposure or two passes instead of one. Call (855) 915-0646 after a fire in a Wilshire corridor Spanish Colonial and we will build that extra time into your estimate honestly, not surprise you with it mid-job.
Yes, in most 1920s bungalows north of Montana Avenue in 90402 we can clean and deodorize original horsehair plaster without tearing it out, using HEPA vacuuming, dry-ice blasting on exposed metal, and extended hydroxyl cycles inside the wall cavities. It is slower and more expensive than gutting to studs, but it preserves the original character of the house. Wade will give you the straight number for both options so you can decide.
Before any air movers or dehumidifiers go down, the water table in Ocean Park needs to be checked and any pooled water against the slab needs to be extracted and the slab condition assessed for cracks. Placing drying equipment on top of groundwater intrusion pushes moisture deeper into the foundation and makes a bad situation worse. Wade’s crew handles that assessment first, then builds the drying plan around what we find.
Yes. The salt-laden coastal air in Santa Monica accelerates corrosion on HVAC coils, supply lines, and structural fasteners after a fire exposes them to soot and moisture, which means mid-century apartment units near the coast need a corrosion-specific inspection and cleaning pass that inland crews typically skip. We document the corrosion with photos for your adjuster so it is covered in the claim. Call (855) 915-0646 and we will put eyes on it before you sign anything.
The smoke smell returns because Santa Monica’s morning marine layer keeps re-moistening the plaster and lath in older Craftsman bungalows, and that moisture re-releases odor molecules that a surface-level cleaning never reached. The fix is cavity treatment behind the plaster plus extended hydroxyl exposure that accounts for the coastal humidity cycle, not another surface wipe-down. A typical deodorization for this problem in a 1940s bungalow runs $1,200 to $2,800 per affected room.
Call Wade’s Restoration of California for Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration in Santa Monica
If your Santa Monica home has fire or smoke damage right now, call (855) 915-0646. Wade Ferris answers, and he will tell you over the phone what to do in the next hour, what we will do when we arrive, and what it will cost before anyone shows up. No voicemail, no answering service, no runaround. The 90-Day Done Right Promise is in writing on every fire and smoke restoration job in Santa Monica, and the estimate is free. Call now.
Written by Wade Ferris, Owner at Wade’s Restoration of California, serving Santa Monica since 2007.