The majority of fire damage restoration companies rely heavily on chemical use. Total Environmental Restoration Solutions (TERS) is a chemical-free restoration and indoor air quality remediation company. TERS warns residential and commercial buildings alike to thoroughly research a restoration company before hiring.

"Using chemicals may fix the fire damage, but the chemicals could make the building uninhabitable," says TERS president, Gary Shaked.

TERS received a call from a multi-million dollar estate homeowner in central Conn., complaining of heavy chemical fumes after hiring another restoration company for a fire damage job. The homeowner did not move back into his home after restoration as he described the fumes to be intolerable.

TERS intervened and found the source of the chemicals almost immediately. "[Volatile organic compounds] can be found in the walls after a company uses chemicals to restore damage," says Shaked. "These chemicals slowly emit off-gas into the air."

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are very common after a restoration job done by a company that uses chemicals in its processes. VOCs are organic chemicals that have a very low boiling point, resulting in evaporation in room temperatures. VOCs are absorbed by the building’s structure, and evaporate into the air, leaving the indoor environment toxic to humans. In fact, children exposed to airborne VOCs have been found to have VOCs in their blood samples.

TERS ensures a chemical-free restoration process. With comprehensive expertise in indoor air quality, TERS eliminates VOCs left behind by other restoration companies. TERS sped up the VOC evaporation process in the Conn. home and used specialized equipment to filter the indoor air. The process took 10 days to complete, and the customer received free air quality monitoring and reports along the way. A residence of this value is estimated to have saved hundreds of thousands of dollars in building structure repairs.