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Dollhouse, Minis, and Fire, Any Suggestions?


Lynette Smith

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Haven't been on much for ages, been helping a friend with 1"=1" scale real estate for a couple of years and spending much of the time out of state with no internet. While I was 3.5 hours from home, I got a call from my niece. "Your neighbors called and said your house is on fire". 

"You're kidding, right?" Well no, she wasn't. Spontaneous combustion, starting in the bottom drawer in the kitchen where the tea towels, dish cloths, and other linens are kept. Fortunately my neighbor heard something explode (probably a can of food, I did find the top of a can bulged out), then saw smoke soon after and called 911, the fire department arrived quickly. Smoke was so thick they couldn't see anything and went in blind with respirators, with no clue where the fire was or what the layout of the house was. The fire was confined to the kitchen (though singed spots on the dining room curtains and linen cupboard in the hall shows the house was very close to being completely involved). I was having car troubles and didn't want to risk driving up and having the car die on me in the middle of nowhere with no cell phone at night. My friends said there was nothing I could do and to stay overnight, in my own room in my home away from home. I arrived back Sunday afternoon, found my cat Eowyn in the burned out house, surveyed the damage, and went to go to my friend's while I tried to figure out where to stay and what to do, only to discover that the car trouble wasn't remedied after all, and that my car, along with a lot of things in my house, were in need of replacement. 

After 3 weeks in a Hilton Home2 1 bedroom suite and driving my friend's vintage pickup, I moved into a 2 bedroom apartment, 2 miles from my house. The initial estimate by the adjuster for renovations was 4-6 months, but that was before he decided that everything except the living room would be stripped down to the studs so the wall interiors could be sealed to prevent the smoke smell from coming back, so I am guessing it will be more like 6-8 months. The structural renovations are calculated at $63,000. The damage to contents was calculated at $44,000, though there is an awful lot of stuff that isn't on the list, including a lot of the furniture, all the fabric, sewing machines, dolls, dishes, pots and pans, the number of books was underestimated, and my collections not taken into account, so I expect that figure to rise. Already I have had over $5000 in textile cleaning, alone, and I've done quite a few loads on my own of things I figure were a lost cause. 

The adjuster counted 4 dollhouses and said he'd put those as unsalvageable, though only one of them was heavily smoke damaged, the mining shack from the spring fling years ago. Not really happy with the value assigned to the dollhouses, though they are all higher than what I paid. I am inclined to send the mining shack off to be cleaned, though I fear it will cost far more than the theoretical replacement cost of $50. I've gotten pretty good at cleaning china, but a dollhouse, being made of wood, is quite a different proposition. I don't know how much of the soot on the surface I could remove, I suspect the professionals would be able to get more. The mining shack is supposed to be rather primitive and weathered, I'd just like it not to be quite so weathered, after all, it's supposed to be only a few years old, not 150+ like one in a ghost town. The pros will put it in an ozone chamber, which should remove all the smoke smell, too. But the kit collection under the bed (undiscovered by the adjuster) includes 2 Beacon Hills, a Willowcrest, Orchid, and Newberg, as well as a Linfield in another room, undoubtedly will have some smoke smell, though not as bad, since smoke rises.

Does anyone have any experience with cleaning dollhouses after a fire or getting the smoke smell out? A brainiac friend suggested mothballs for killing the smoke smell in books, but not sure the larger houses would fit in a plastic tub for treatment.

 

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Oh, Lynette, how heartbreaking!  My only go-to for smell removal is activated charcoal that you get by the large jar in the aquarium supplies of a big box pet shop.  You could also try the fabric softener sheets for the dryer.  Our son had half a live oak tree fall on his roof in January and poke a hole through his ceiling and do a number on some bearing walls, and his repairs took 6 1/2 months; but he lives in Tallahassee, FL, which is the state capital and the epitome of boondoggling.

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So glad to hear that you are safe and that the neighbor called before it got worse! You have a great attitude about everything - they say happy people don't go through less than everyone else, they just think about "problems" differently. It sounds like when you're on the other side of all this, you'll be one who sees all the blessings in it! I hope it goes as quick and smooth as possible for you!

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I would put each house in to a huge plastic bag and chuck and scatter in a box full of Bounce pads, but I would try and air them outside for some time first if you can. I had=ve had 2 house fires in my life, both very quickly contained so we managed to stay, both were in bedrooms. After the furniture was removed we opened the windows and closed the door, put fans on and the smell cleared quite a lot even before we had the builders in. I had an antique dresser in one that was not burned but was very smoky and we put it in an out side shed with the door open, the plan was to refinish it. I washed off any visible soot and then left it for later,. The smell eventually did go away on it's own so it was cleaned and polished and was fine,,some months later. Good Luck, it in an awful thing to go through and your was much worse than mine

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Jeanine, I had another small house fire 10 years ago when a log rolled out of the fireplace while I was getting something in another room. I had it 90% out before the police arrived, he put out the last bit with an extinguisher in his patrol car. There was nothing for the fire fighters to do when they arrived but open the windows and doors and place gigantic fans and blow out the smoke. That fire did about $100 damage. I guess I didn't do the experience of having a fire thoroughly enough for fate to cross it off my bucket list. I am thinking of removing a china hutch and storing it in my shed, rather than paying through the nose for the furniture restoration expert to do it, though it appears to be a lovely cabinet, it's actually particle board under the veneer and I paid about $130 for it years ago. I suspect I can find a much nicer one on the classifieds if I keep looking. I've brought several chairs to the apartment, they don't seem to smell noticeably of smoke, unlike my wicker laundry hamper. I might put that in a plastic bag with moth balls as an experiment. =) 

I suppose it wouldn't hurt to bring the mining shack over and put it in a tub with mothballs after a little experimental cleaning, just to see how it fairs... Someone recommended those white sponges at the dollar store and test them against chem sponges (what the pros use) from home depot.

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It's a worth a try. I often wonder about modern day "companies" who do such wonderful things for a price. Years ago we didn't have companies with fancy stuff and machinery to do things but stuff got fixed and restored anyway. I wouldn't chuck the little shack away. pop it in a shed and forget about it till next year, then take it on as a project. The same thing with your cabinet, I don't get too concerned with what things cost or are worth, it is what it worth to you, if it is a favorite item  then hold on to it. As a miniaturist you will be used to fixing and altering stuff, just pretend this is a beautiful damaged old piece of doll house furniture  that you love and you are going to save it. if you do .so you will be very proud of yourself and if you decide against it then you have made an educated decision after thinking it out. Be careful of the moth balls, they may kill the smoke but then you have to get rid of themLOL I am biased as I hate the smell of them

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I had a Princess Anne dollhouse caught in a house fire.  It was in a back bedroom so it didn't get burned, just heavy smoke damage. I washed the outside to remove all of the soot, and washed the inside too- removing all of the old wallpaper and carpets. Let it sit outside for days...maybe even a few weeks- I don't recall.  Once it moved inside I put it in a garbage bag with activated charcoal.  I think I also tried baking soda!  At any rate, the smell eventually dissipated. I covered the entire house, inside and out, with KILLS primer...and it worked!  I renovated that house and it was fine.  :) 

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We once acquired a perfectly great working refrigerator that unfortunately, had been full of meat,  when the breaker/power shut off. It wasn't discovered for over a week (the owner was away). Anyways, fridge smelled disgusting, like rotten meat, even after cleaning. We bought 2 bags of barbecue charcoal briquettes, one for fridge part, one for freezer part. Price was cheap. Worked like a charm, smell was totally gone within a few weeks. We used that fridge for another 10 years or so. Goodluck!

Edited by Denise Hanley
wrong word
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7 hours ago, Denise Hanley said:

We bought 2 bags of barbecue charcoal briquettes, one for fridge part, one for freezer part. Price was cheap. Worked like a charm, smell was totally gone within a few weeks.

Wow, this is a good thing to know. After Katrina, there were thousands of refrigerators carted to the dump. The ones that didn't go under water (like the one in our house), might have been rescued with this method.

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