Fast, Reliable Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration Across Los Gatos
Fire and smoke damage in Los Gatos moves fast, and so do we. Smoke works its way into plaster, hardwood, and custom cabinetry within hours, not days. The longer soot sits on a surface, the deeper it penetrates, especially in the open-grain woods and period plaster common in Los Gatos homes. Wade’s Restoration of California answers calls live, 24/7, and Wade will be there himself, not a crew you’ve never met. Call (855) 915-0646 the moment the fire is out. We head out immediately, because in Los Gatos, the difference between a cleanup and a full restoration usually comes down to the first 48 hours.
Why Wade’s Restoration of California Is Los Gatos’s Preferred Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration Company
We’re the locally owned alternative to the national chains that quote one price on the phone and a different one at the door. Wade Ferris founded this company in 2007 and still answers his own phone. He’s the guy who shows up in Los Gatos at midnight, moisture meter in hand, and walks you through exactly what he sees before anything gets signed. That matters in this town, where homeowners have been burned before by outfits that treated Los Gatos as just another stop on a route.
Ask anyone on your street. Los Gatos homeowners know the difference between a contractor who works here and one who just passes through. We know the switchbacks above Summit Road. We know the Victorians downtown with original plaster and legacy framing. We know that a smoke call in 95030 and one in 95033 are two completely different jobs, even though they share a city name. Los Gatos deserves fire damage restoration from people who understand that.
Every job comes with our 90-Day Done Right Promise, in writing. If it’s not done right, we make it right. No fine print, no runaround. Wade also handles insurance adjusters directly, so you’re never the one relaying messages between two sides. That’s how we’ve built our reputation here, one smoke-damaged Victorian and one wildfire-impacted hillside estate at a time.
Our Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration Services in Los Gatos
Fire damage in Los Gatos isn’t one problem. It’s a stack of them: soot on surfaces, smoke in the air, odor in the walls, and contents that need cleaning or pack-out. Our Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration team handles each layer in the right order, with the right equipment. Here’s how we work through a Los Gatos home.
Smoke & Soot Removal
Soot is acidic. Left on custom cabinetry, hand-scraped hardwood, or stone tile, it etches and permanently bonds to the surface within days. In Los Gatos hillside estates where those finishes are everywhere, aggressive chemical sponges are the wrong tool; they smear open-grain wood and force soot deeper into the pores. We use dry-chem sponges, HEPA air scrubbers, and controlled agitation to lift soot without wrecking the surface underneath. That detail matters when a single custom entry door costs more than a standard interior remodel.
Odor Removal & Deodorization
Smoke odor in a downtown Los Gatos Victorian doesn’t come out with air freshener and a fan. Original plaster walls and period woodwork are porous. They hold smoke like a sponge. We run sealed containment with negative air pressure, then use thermal foggers to drive deodorizer into the same pores the smoke went into. For a 95030 home with lathe-and-plaster construction, this is the difference between a house that smells clean for a week and one that stays clean.
Contents Cleaning & Pack-Out
When smoke reaches closets, upholstery, drapes, and books, we pack out contents to our facility for ultrasonic cleaning and ozone treatment, then warehouse them until the structure is ready. For Los Gatos homeowners with wine collections, original artwork, or family heirlooms stored in hillside homes, we document everything with photographs and a written inventory. Your adjuster gets a copy. So do you. Nothing disappears into a black hole.
Emergency Board-Up & Tarping
After a fire, your Los Gatos home is exposed. A broken window off Summit Road invites more than weather; it invites animals, trespassers, and opportunistic theft. We board up and tarp within hours of the fire department clearing the scene, not days. That keeps your property secure while the restoration scope is written and approved.
What happens when you call
- 1
A real person answersNo phone trees - you reach a local pro.
- 2
You get an upfront price rangeHonest numbers before anyone is dispatched.
- 3
A background-checked tech heads outLicensed & insured, dispatched right away.
- 4
You approve before work beginsNothing starts until you say go.
Trusted Brands We Service in Los Gatos
We run Dri-Eaz and Phoenix equipment on Los Gatos jobs because that’s what the work demands. Dri-Eaz HEPA 700 air scrubbers pull smoke particles out of the air before they settle into another surface. Phoenix thermal foggers reach the odor that hides inside plaster and wood grain. We don’t rent whatever’s available and hope it works. Wade sends his crews out with professional-grade equipment, and our IICRC-certified technicians use it the way it was designed to be used. That’s the difference between a restoration that lasts and one that fades in a month.
Common Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration Problems We See in Los Gatos Homes
- Smoke trapped in original plaster and period woodwork. Downtown Los Gatos Victorians and Craftsman-era homes predate modern drywall. Their materials are beautiful and brutally porous. A kitchen fire that seems contained can leave odor embedded in every lathe-and-plaster wall, and only thermal fogging under sealed containment reaches it. Standard air scrubbers alone won’t do it.
- Smeared soot on open-grain hardwood and custom cabinetry. Hillside estates in Los Gatos run heavy on hand-scraped hardwood, custom built-ins, and premium wood finishes. Aggressive chemical sponges leave permanent smearing that requires full resurfacing. We see this after national chains do a quick “cleanup” and leave a worse problem behind. It is the most expensive avoidable mistake in this trade.
- Access and staging failures on Summit Road properties. A 95033 mountain home off Highway 17 can burn half a day just getting equipment, waste containers, and crew staged on narrow switchbacks. Contractors who don’t pre-plan staging and waste removal end up charging Los Gatos homeowners for hours of windshield time. We plan the route before we leave the shop.
- Hidden smoke damage behind cosmetic renovations. The Los Gatos Creek-adjacent homes near 95030 often command $3M+ and carry histories of prior water and smoke intrusion that someone patch-painted before a sale. When a new fire event hits, our post-fire assessments routinely uncover old smoke damage from a previous event that was never properly remediated. You need a contractor who recognizes the old damage from the new, especially when an insurance claim is involved.
Pricing for Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration in Los Gatos, CA
What you’ll pay depends on the size of the fire, where the smoke traveled, and what got damaged. But here are honest Los Gatos numbers. Smoke and soot removal on a single room typically runs $1,200 to $3,800. Whole-home odor removal with thermal fogging and sealed containment runs $4,500 to $12,000 for a standard 2,000-3,000 square foot house; larger hillside estates run higher. Contents cleaning and pack-out usually lands between $2,000 and $8,000 depending on how much gets packed and what needs ultrasonic or ozone work. If structural fire repair is required, that’s scoped and priced separately in writing, like a remodel. Call (855) 915-0646 for a free estimate. We’ll put it in writing before any work starts, and we won’t change the number at the door.
We Also Serve Cities Near Los Gatos
Our crews work regularly in Saratoga, Campbell, Communications Hill, and San Jose. Same response standards, same 90-Day Done Right Promise, same owner accountability. If you’re in one of those communities and need fire damage restoration, call (855) 915-0646 and Wade will head your way.
Serving Los Gatos, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Los Gatos 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 Los Gatos
Wildfire smoke in 95033 is pervasive and fine; it infiltrates every gap, vent, and seam in a mountain home, including attic spaces and crawl areas that a kitchen fire never reaches. The smoke is also often accompanied by ash and soot from burned vegetation, which carries different chemical properties than the soot from a cooking fire. A 95030 valley floor kitchen fire is typically more localized, with heavier soot in the kitchen and adjacent rooms and less of the fine-particulate penetration you see across an entire mountain estate. That’s why the access plan, scope, and drying profile for 95033 work is completely different from a valley call. Call (855) 915-0646 and we’ll walk you through what applies to your specific situation.
Yes, in most cases we can. Original plaster is surprisingly resilient to heat but it’s porous, so it hangs onto smoke odor long after the fire is out. We use controlled containment with negative air pressure, then thermal fogging to drive deodorizer deep into the plaster. Where soot has bonded to the surface, we clean with dry-chem methods rather than soaking the walls. Ripping out original plaster is a last resort, not a starting point. We’d rather preserve the character of a Los Gatos Victorian than replace it with drywall. Call (855) 915-0646 for an assessment before anyone tells you the walls have to go.
The roads. Summit Road and the connecting routes off Highway 17 are narrow, winding, and unforgiving for large vehicles. Staging equipment, waste containers, and crew vehicles requires planning that flatland contractors don’t have to do. A crew that underestimates access time burns half a day on switchbacks and leaves your smoke-impacted home sitting open. We plan the route, coordinate waste removal, and stage equipment so the work gets done without wasted time. If you’re in 95033, call (855) 915-0646 and we’ll come assess the access situation in person.
It depends on the smoke’s reach and the intensity of odor work. If the smoke stayed contained to one or two rooms, we can often seal off the work area and keep the rest of the house livable. If smoke traveled through the HVAC system or into every room of a large estate, especially one off Summit Road where we’re running thermal foggers and sealed containment for days, moving out is usually the smarter call. The work is faster, safer, and done right when we’re not working around your family’s schedule. We’ll tell you honestly after the assessment, and you’ll get a written scope before anything starts. Call (855) 915-0646 and we’ll help you decide.
We look for the old damage under the new paint. Los Gatos Creek-adjacent homes in 95030 have a habit of carrying hidden histories; prior water intrusion or smoke damage gets cosmetically patched before a sale, then a new fire event stirs up the old problem. Our crews use thermal imaging, moisture meters, and targeted wall inspections to find what’s behind the surface. When we find prior smoke that was never properly remediated, we document it separately from the current loss. That documentation matters for your insurance claim. Call (855) 915-0646 and we’ll help you figure out what’s new, what’s old, and what your adjuster needs to see.
Written by Wade Ferris, Owner at Wade’s Restoration of California, serving Los Gatos since 2007.