What a nightmare. We had an electrical fire in our unfinished basement 6 months after moving into our forever home. Though the fire damage was luckily contained to the basement, smoke and soot damage throughout the house. We have to replace wood floors on first level and carpet on others.
We are trying to sort through options to deal with the unfinished basement. What we understand from the restoration company is that they'd typically encapsulate with some sort of sealant after structure clean. However, this would mean painting concrete floors and walls, and perhaps the other exposed stuff. We also have two kids under age 5 and are extremely cautious about VOCs etc. Can anyone help educate us about potential options here that will be effective in containing toxins/odors, not add additional toxins to the air we breath, and not look awful? I've been researching but I'm having a hard time finding the right info and the more I read the more panicked I get about having done permanent irreversible damage to our home and health.
On a positive note, we seem to have great insurance. The restoration company seemed very competent so far, except when we started talking with the PM about the basement restoration. Many thanks in advance for any guidance.