Fast, Reliable Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration Across Highlands
Fire and smoke damage in Highlands, TX needs a different playbook than the rest of Harris County. Homes here sit in the San Jacinto River floodplain, downstream of the San Jacinto River Waste Pits Superfund site. That changes what we test, what we dispose, and how we clean. If you had a fire off Sheldon Road, along Wallisville, or anywhere in the 77562, call Wade at (888) 534-8116. He answers his own phone and we can have a crew at your door the same day.
Why Wade’s Restoration of Houston Is Highlands’s Preferred Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration Company
We’re not a national chain with a call center in another state. Wade Ferris started this company in 2007, put his name on the truck and his phone number in the book, and he still gets the call when a Highlands homeowner wakes up to a burned kitchen at 3 a.m. It’s an old-school arrangement: we work where we live, and we’ll run into you at the Brookshire Brothers or the hardware store, so we do the job right the first time.
Highlands customers know the drill around here. This is a tight community of working folks, many of them retired or on fixed incomes. They’ve been through Harvey, Tax Day 2016, Memorial Day 2015. They’ve seen contractors swoop in after a flood, take checks, and disappear. We’re the opposite of that. Wade hands you his cell number. He shows up. And every job carries our 90-Day Done Right Promise: if it’s not done right, we make it right, in writing. Ask anyone off Market Street or down near the river who they’d call.
Our Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration Services in Highlands
Smoke & Soot Removal
Smoke gets into everything in a Highlands house. Those older wood-frame homes from the 1940s through the 1970s soak up fine soot particles like a sponge, especially through wood paneling and single-layer drywall. We don’t just wipe surfaces. We use HEPA air scrubbers to pull airborne soot out, and we get into wall cavities and behind baseboards where smoke hides for months. The goal isn’t a surface clean. It’s a house that doesn’t smell like last month’s fire every time the humidity climbs.
Odor Removal & Deodorization
Older Highlands pier-and-beam homes trap smoke odor in the crawlspace, under subfloors, and inside original wood paneling. That’s why a quick repaint or spray deodorizer never works here long term. We use professional-grade Dri-Eaz and Injectidry equipment to pull contaminants from cavities and structural framing, not mask them. Highlands’s extreme Gulf Coast humidity makes stale smoke smell worse and linger longer, so we treat the source, not the symptom.
Emergency Board-Up & Tarping
After a fire, your home is open to weather, animals, and looters. We board up broken windows, tarp exposed roofs, and secure doors the same day we’re called. In Highlands’s hot, wet climate, this matters more than in drier parts of Texas. A tarp that sags or leaks lets rain into fire-damaged framing, compounding the damage. We use heavy-duty fasteners and B-Air blowers to keep air moving so we don’t trap moisture behind plastic.
Contents Cleaning & Pack-Out
Furniture, clothes, dishes, tools in the garage. Soot coats everything within hours. We inventory what can be cleaned on site, pack out what needs more intensive treatment, and store it safely while we restore the structure. For Highlands homeowners, that often includes workshop equipment, fishing gear, and keepsakes from a lifetime on the San Jacinto. We handle every item like it belongs to a neighbor, because it does.
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 Highlands
We are IICRC-certified and RIA-affiliated, which means our techs train to the industry standard and use equipment that belongs on a professional job site, not a rental counter. For Highlands jobs specifically, we run Injectidry vacuum panels for deep cavity drying and B-Air blowers for crawlspace air movement. We keep replacement materials and parts in stock that fit the older homes common along Wallisville Road and the side streets off Sheldon, so we’re not waiting on a warehouse in another county.
Common Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration Problems We See in Highlands Homes
- Soot penetrating 1950s-1970s wood framing. Those original studs and joists are dry enough after decades that soot burns into the grain. Surface cleaning won’t cut it. We inspect framing with moisture meters and remove char that could fail a structural inspection later.
- Odor rebound in pier-and-beam crawlspaces. Smoke drifts down through floorboards and hangs in that damp, dark space under the house. Paint the walls and it comes back in six weeks. We clean and deodorize the crawlspace itself, not just the rooms above.
- Flood sediment complicating fire cleanup. Many Highlands homes still carry silt from Harvey or Tax Day 2016 under the house. Combine that with soot and you’re dealing with a contaminant question that requires testing, not just a shop vac. See the section below on the Superfund issue.
- Rushed board-up trapping moisture. Some crews plastic-wrap a fire-damaged house too tight for our climate. That seals in humidity and grows mold behind walls within a week. We ventilate while we secure, so you get protection without creating a second problem.
The Highlands-Specific Challenge: Fire Restoration in Superfund Territory
Here’s what no generic restoration guide will tell you. Highlands sits directly downstream of the San Jacinto River Waste Pits Superfund site. When the river floods, and it floods here more than anywhere else in the metro, it carries dioxin-contaminated sediment into low-lying neighborhoods. That fine gray silt ends up in crawlspaces, under slabs, and inside walls. Now, after a fire, you’re not just cleaning soot. You’re potentially disturbing contaminated sediment that was already sitting in the house from a previous flood event.
That changes the job. We sample before we dispose. We follow EPA-compliant testing and handling protocols when sediment is present. We coordinate with your insurance adjuster and, if needed, environmental specialists. Standard fire restoration crews don’t do this. Most don’t even know it exists. But we work Highlands jobs every month, and this is part of the territory. On a pier-and-beam house off Sheldon Road, we responded to a garage fire that spread into the original 1960s wood-paneled kitchen. Our crew removed charred paneling and subfloor that had wicked smoke deep into the crawlspace, then used our Dri-Eaz HEPA 500 air scrubbers and Injectidry vacuum panels to pull soot from wall cavities while EPA sampling protocols confirmed no Superfund-related contamination before disposal. It takes longer. It costs a little more. It’s the only way to do this job here responsibly.
Pricing for Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration in Highlands, TX
A basic board-up and tarp job in Highlands typically runs $300-$700 depending on the number of windows and square footage. Smoke and soot removal for a single room starts around $800 and goes up from there. Full-house deodorization and contents cleaning on a 1,200-square-foot pier-and-beam home, the most common size around here, generally lands between $3,500 and $9,000. If we’re dealing with Superfund-related sediment testing or char removal in structural framing, add $500-$2,500 depending on scope. These are honest ranges, not phone quotes. We offer senior and veteran discounts of 10%, and we do free second opinions on any written estimate. Call (888) 534-8116 and Wade will come out and write you a firm number before any work starts.
We Also Serve Cities Near Highlands
Our Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration team covers Highlands and the surrounding communities, including Channelview, Baytown, Mont Belvieu, and Cloverleaf. If you’re just outside the 77562 and had a fire, call anyway. We’ll tell you straight if we can get there. For more about our Highlands coverage area, we keep a full page on the community and what makes restoration work here different.
Serving Highlands, TX - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Highlands 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 Highlands
Yes, when flood sediment from a previous event is present in or under the home, EPA-compliant testing and disposal protocols are required, not optional. The San Jacinto River Waste Pits are upstream of Highlands, and dioxin-contaminated silt from past floods, like Harvey and Tax Day 2016, is common in low-lying crawlspaces. A responsible restoration company will sample before disturbing that material. We do. Call (888) 534-8116 and we’ll tell you exactly what testing your job needs.
Because pier-and-beam construction creates a damp, dark cavity under the house where smoke particles settle and get absorbed into wood framing, which keeps releasing odor every time humidity rises. Highlands’s Gulf Coast climate makes this worse. The crawlspace has to be cleaned and deodorized as part of the job, or the smell comes back. That’s standard procedure for us on every older Highlands home we restore.
Often yes, if the paneling is structurally sound. We use professional-grade deodorizers and drying equipment to pull smoke residue from the wood grain and the wall cavity behind it. Replacement is a last resort, not the first pitch. For tight-grained vintage paneling that’s too far gone, we’ll show you what we found and talk options before we rip anything out. Free second opinions on any written estimate, call (888) 534-8116.
Board-up and tarping is a temporary measure, typically lasting 30 to 90 days, but in Highlands’s humidity it must be ventilated properly or you’ll grow mold behind the plastic. We secure the openings and keep airflow moving with B-Air blowers where needed. If your insurance claim or rebuild takes longer, we’ll come back and refresh the tarping as part of the job. We don’t leave you hanging.
Yes, absolutely. Homes here that took on floodwater in Harvey or Tax Day 2016 may still carry contaminated sediment under the subfloor. A fire restoration job that disturbs that material without testing creates a bigger problem than the one it solves. We check for sediment, test when required, and document everything for your adjuster. If your home flooded before the fire, tell us up front. It changes the job, and knowing it early saves everyone time.
Call Wade’s Restoration of Houston for Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration in Highlands
Your home’s been through enough. Don’t let a fire turn into a lingering smoke smell, a hidden structural failure, or an illegal disposal problem. Wade Ferris and his crew know Highlands, know the floodplain, know the Superfund question, and know how to do this job honestly. One call, a real person answers, and if it’s urgent, Wade’s on the road. Call (888) 534-8116 for a free estimate. No pressure, no scripts, and the price is in writing before anything starts.
Written by Wade Ferris, Owner at Wade’s Restoration of Houston, serving Highlands and the San Jacinto river communities.