Free visual inspection and a written scope of work before any mitigation begins - photos, moisture readings, and drying logs go in your claim file
The scope we write is the scope we bill. Anything new gets shown to you, in writing, before we touch it.
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterFast, Reliable Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration Across Fort Lauderdale
Fire and smoke damage restoration in Fort Lauderdale typically runs $3,200-$8,500 for partial-home mitigation and $12,000-$35,000 for full-structure rebuilds, with emergency board-up and tarping starting at $450-$950. Our crews are dispatched from our Miami (South FL) office and can reach most Fort Lauderdale neighborhoods within 45-60 minutes. Call (786) 384-5591 - a live person answers, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, no voicemail trees.
We’ve restored fire-damaged homes from Rio Vista to Middle River Terrace to Coral Ridge. Fort Lauderdale’s mid-century concrete block construction, flat roofs, and canal-front exposure create a specific damage profile that crews from outside South Florida often misread. Our Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration team documents every job to IICRC, RIA, and IFA standards because we’ve seen what happens when sloppy documentation kills an insurance claim.
Why DryMark Restoration Miami Beach Is Fort Lauderdale’s Preferred Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration Company
Back to Dry Restoration, led by Alicia Brennan, has operated under The Haven Standard since 2011. We were founded by a former claims adjuster who built the company around the documentation gap that costs homeowners their claims. That origin shapes how we work in Fort Lauderdale today.
Our Fort Lauderdale customers leave reviews that mention the same thing: the written price arrived before anyone touched a tool, and the photo record showed up without asking. We’ve restored 12,000+ homes since 2011, every one with a written price before work started and a documented record when the crew left. Haven Standard, Clause 1: written price before work begins. No exceptions.
Response time to Fort Lauderdale averages under an hour for emergency calls. We know the local roads - Federal Highway, Broward Boulevard, Sunrise Boulevard - and we know which canal-front streets flood first during a heavy rain event. That local knowledge matters when we’re routing a board-up truck through standing water after a fire.
We’re independently owned and operated. No franchise structure. The technician who arrives at your Fort Lauderdale home is background-checked, uniformed, and licensed - and their license number is documented on your job file.
Our Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration Services in Fort Lauderdale
Emergency Board-Up & Tarping
Fort Lauderdale’s frequent heavy rains and hurricane-season storm surge make fast board-up non-negotiable. A fire-damaged roof or compromised window left exposed during a June afternoon thunderstorm can take on thousands of gallons in hours. We secure structures with impact-rated plywood and weatherproof tarps rated for South Florida wind loads, documented with timestamped photos for your adjuster. Typical board-up and tarping in Fort Lauderdale: $450-$950 for residential structures.
Structural Fire Repair
Fort Lauderdale’s 1950s-1970s CBS homes carry specific structural risks after fire exposure. Heat can compromise the tensile strength of rebar within block walls, and smoke can infiltrate the hollow cores that make up the building’s structural grid. Our structural assessments include core sampling and moisture mapping of block cavities - surface inspections miss what canal-proximity humidity hides. Structural repair pricing in Fort Lauderdale starts at $4,500 for localized rebuilds and ranges to $28,000+ for full-room reconstruction with code-compliant wind-load reinforcement.
Smoke & Soot Removal
Soot composition varies by what burned. Kitchen fires in Fort Lauderdale’s older homes often involve synthetic cabinetry and older electrical insulation that produces acidic, corrosive residue. We classify soot by type - dry, wet, protein, or fuel-oil - and match cleaning agents to the classification. Protein fires, common in kitchen grease incidents, leave a nearly invisible film that etches glass and metal within days. Soot removal and surface cleaning in Fort Lauderdale homes typically runs $1,800-$4,200 depending on affected square footage and material sensitivity.
Odor Removal & Deodorization
Fort Lauderdale’s 80%+ relative humidity traps odor molecules in porous materials - drywall, insulation, unfinished concrete - far more aggressively than drier climates. Surface cleaning alone fails; we deploy thermal fogging, ozone treatment, and hydroxyl generators to break odor compounds at the molecular level. Our XPOWER and Dri-Eaz air scrubbers run HEPA filtration during the process, with psychrometric data logged daily to prove vapor pressure differential is moving in the right direction. That’s the measured humidity balance that tells us whether odor sources are actually leaving the structure, not just being masked. Whole-home deodorization in Fort Lauderdale: $2,400-$6,500.
Contents Cleaning & Pack-Out
Canal-front homes in the Isles and Rio Vista often hold high-value contents vulnerable to both smoke and the humidity that follows any structural breach. We inventory, photograph, and pack out salvageable items to our climate-controlled facility, with each item’s condition documented for your insurance file. Non-salvageable items are separately inventoried with replacement-cost estimates. Pack-out and contents cleaning in Fort Lauderdale typically ranges $1,200-$3,800 depending on volume and specialty items.
Fire Damage Cleanup
Post-fire cleanup in Fort Lauderdale must account for the city’s unique secondary threats: water from firefighting efforts, storm-driven rain through compromised openings, and groundwater intrusion through slab cracks as saturated canal-adjacent soils press upward. Our cleanup protocol includes moisture mapping of block walls at the base course - the same hydrostatic pressure pattern we see after flooding events - because fire-hosed water follows the same path. Fire damage cleanup in Fort Lauderdale runs $3,200-$8,500 for partial-home mitigation.
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.
BeforeAfterTrusted Brands We Service in Fort Lauderdale
Our equipment inventory includes professional-grade drying systems from Dri-Eaz, Phoenix, and XPOWER, with Injectidry cavity-drying systems for Fort Lauderdale’s hollow-core CBS construction. We stock local replacement materials rated for South Florida’s wind-load requirements - impact-rated door assemblies, Miami-Dade County-approved window systems, and corrosion-resistant fasteners for salt-air exposure. That local inventory means faster turnaround on structural repairs, not weeks waiting for specialty orders.
Common Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration Problems We See in Fort Lauderdale Homes
- Overlooking wind-rated door and window failures during fire damage assessments. Storm-driven winds can compromise impact-rated doors and windows, creating entry points for water that sits undetected in block cavities. Our protocol includes wind-load inspection of all openings before we close out a mitigation - because secondary mold growth starts within 24-48 hours in Fort Lauderdale’s humidity, and insurers deny claims for mold they classify as preventable.
- Inadequate structural drying in CBS homes due to high humidity and canal proximity. Surface drying with standard air movers fails when moisture has wicked upward through hollow-core block construction. We deploy Injectidry systems to create negative pressure within wall cavities, pulling vapor out from the inside while Phoenix dehumidifiers manage the ambient load.
- Delayed emergency board-up leaving properties vulnerable to Fort Lauderdale’s frequent heavy rains. A fire-damaged roof exposed during a typical summer afternoon storm can take on water faster than the original fire caused damage. Our board-up trucks carry weatherproof tarps rated for sustained 50+ mph winds - standard blue tarps fail in South Florida conditions.
- Missing the hydrostatic pressure pattern in canal-adjacent neighborhoods. In the Isles and Middle River Terrace, we’ve seen fire-hosed water and firefighting runoff saturate soils that then push moisture upward through slab cracks. The walls read wet from the base course upward, mimicking a plumbing leak. Standard surface drying protocols fail until the external hydrostatic pressure recedes.
Pricing for Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration in Fort Lauderdale, FL
We publish ranges because Haven Standard, Clause 1 requires a written price before work starts - and that price should never arrive as a surprise.
| Service | Typical Range in Fort Lauderdale |
|---|---|
| Emergency board-up & tarping | $450 - $950 |
| Fire damage cleanup (partial home) | $3,200 - $8,500 |
| Smoke & soot removal | $1,800 - $4,200 |
| Odor removal & deodorization | $2,400 - $6,500 |
| Contents pack-out & cleaning | $1,200 - $3,800 |
| Structural fire repair (localized) | $4,500 - $28,000+ |
| Full-structure rebuild | $12,000 - $35,000+ |
What moves a Fort Lauderdale job toward the higher end: extensive smoke infiltration into HVAC ductwork (common in flat-roof homes with ceiling-mounted air handlers), structural compromise requiring engineered repair plans per Broward County code, and the need for specialized contents restoration for high-value items. Every estimate includes a written scope with line-item pricing, delivered before work begins - not after. Bring a competitor’s written estimate and we’ll review it at no charge.
We Also Serve Cities Near Fort Lauderdale
Our crews work throughout Broward County, including Fort Lauderdale, Plantation, Pompano Beach, Hollywood, and Margate. Dispatch and scheduling are coordinated from our Miami (South FL) office, with local crews deployed to each market.
Serving Fort Lauderdale, FL - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Fort Lauderdale 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 Fort Lauderdale
Hurricane season compresses every timeline. We prioritize emergency board-up within 2-4 hours because a named storm or even a strong afternoon system can re-damage a structure before primary mitigation is complete. Our crews carry hurricane-rated tarp materials and maintain standby protocols from June through November. Call (786) 384-5591 for current availability - estimates are free.
Document the failure with photos, then call us immediately for emergency board-up with wind-rated materials. Impact-rated door failure creates a code-compliance issue as well as a weather exposure - Broward County requires wind-load-rated replacement, not standard door assemblies. We inventory Miami-Dade County-approved replacements and can install temporary wind protection same-day in most cases.
Fort Lauderdale’s year-round 80%+ relative humidity and 60+ inches of annual rainfall give mold a 24-48 hour colonization window on wet materials - far less than drier markets. Firefighting water, storm-driven rain through compromised openings, and groundwater intrusion through slab cracks all introduce moisture that mold exploits. Our protocol includes antimicrobial treatment and daily moisture logging to prove materials are below mold-supporting thresholds before we close the job.
Yes - and it must. Firefighting water in Fort Lauderdale’s CBS homes typically pools at slab level and wicks upward through block cavities, a pattern we’ve documented hundreds of times in neighborhoods from Coral Ridge to Rio Vista. Our mitigation includes moisture mapping of base courses, Injectidry cavity drying, and psychrometric logging to prove the structure is dry before reconstruction begins. Surface drying alone fails in this construction type.
We assess heat exposure to rebar and the structural integrity of block walls, particularly in 1960s-era construction where concrete mix quality varies. Core sampling and load-path analysis determine whether localized repair or engineered reinforcement is required. All structural work meets current Broward County wind-load codes, which often exceed original construction standards. A written engineering report is provided when required by code - included in the scope, never added later.
Written by Alicia Brennan, Owner at Back to Dry Restoration, serving Fort Lauderdale since 2011.