Fire & smoke cleanup
Water damage drying
Mold remediation
Storm response
Sewage cleanup
ReconstructionFree 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.
Get your free estimateRestoration work we handle
See the difference
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterHow Much Does Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration Cost in Austin?
Fire and smoke damage restoration in Austin typically costs between $3,200 and $8,500 for a moderate house fire affecting two to three rooms. Small kitchen fires with mostly smoke residue run $1,800 to $4,000, while whole-home fires with structural damage range from $12,000 to $35,000 or more. Call (325) 237-2088 for a written estimate before any work starts.
Every fire is different, and Austin’s mix of older bungalows in Hyde Park, 1990s suburban builds in Circle C, and newer construction in Mueller means restoration costs vary significantly by home age, materials, and how far smoke traveled through the HVAC system. We put prices in writing before we touch a single tool, so you’ll know your number up front.
Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration Cost Breakdown (2026)
These are the line-item ranges we see across Austin jobs in 2026. They reflect the local market, including labor rates, equipment availability, and the fact that Austin’s dry summers and humid shoulder seasons both affect drying timelines and smoke odor behavior.
| Service | Typical Austin Price Range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency board-up & tarping | $400 – $1,200 | Depends on window and door count; usually same-day |
| Soot & smoke residue cleaning (per room) | $300 – $900 | Walls, ceilings, trim; light vs. heavy residue |
| Content cleaning (furniture, clothing, textiles) | $800 – $3,500 | On-site vs. pack-out; ultrasonic cleaning costs more |
| Ozone treatment (odor removal) | $400 – $1,200 | Per treatment; often 2-3 treatments needed |
| Thermal fogging (deep odor neutralization) | $500 – $1,500 | Best for protein fires and stubborn smoke smell |
| HVAC duct cleaning after fire | $600 – $2,000 | Critical in Austin homes with central AC running year-round |
| Drywall replacement (per sheet installed) | $85 – $160 | Includes framing checks for heat damage |
| Ceiling repair or replacement | $700 – $3,000 | Higher if structural joists were compromised |
| Flooring replacement (per sq ft) | $6 – $22 | Laminate at the low end; hardwood and tile higher |
| Structural framing repair | $1,500 – $12,000+ | Depends on load-bearing damage and engineering sign-off |
| Full moderate fire restoration (2-3 rooms) | $3,200 – $8,500 | Most common job size in Austin |
| Whole-home restoration | $12,000 – $35,000+ | Major fires; full HVAC, structural, and content scope |
What drives these numbers up? Heat damage to electrical wiring in pre-1980 Austin homes with aluminum circuits. Water damage from the fire department that requires a separate home restoration scope. Smoke that infiltrated every room because the AC was running when the fire started, which is common during Austin’s nine-month cooling season. And whether your insurance adjuster approves the full IICRC protocol or pushes for a cosmetic clean-and-paint.
What drives them down? Small contained fires. Homes with hard flooring instead of carpet, since carpet holds smoke odor aggressively. Fires in newer homes where compartmentalized construction slowed smoke spread. And getting a restoration crew on site within 24 hours, before soot acids etch permanently into drywall, grout, and countertops.
What Affects Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration Pricing in Austin
- How far smoke traveled. Smoke doesn’t stay in the burn room. It follows airflow, which in Austin homes means the AC return ducts. If your HVAC was running during the fire, soot distribution doubles the cleaning scope. Homes in Steiner Ranch and Avery Ranch with multi-zone systems often need full duct remediation, not just room cleaning.
- Type of fire. Protein fires (kitchen grease, meat burned on the stove) produce less visible soot but a far more stubborn odor that requires thermal fogging and surface sealing. Synthetic fires (mattresses, furniture foam, electronics) create thick, acidic black soot that etches surfaces within 48 hours. Wood fires sit in the middle. Each affects both process and price.
- Home age and materials. Austin’s stock ranges from 1920s pier-and-beam homes in Travis Heights and Bouldin Creek to modern slab builds in Easton Park. Older homes often have plaster walls, which absorb smoke differently than drywall and can cost 20-30% more to clean properly. Galvanized ductwork in pre-1990 homes corrodes faster under soot acidity.
- Water damage from extinguishing. The fire department puts out the fire with water, sometimes hundreds of gallons. That water saturates drywall, framing, and subfloor before restoration even begins. You pay for both fire restoration and the resulting Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration in Austin scope, including psychrometric drying (tracking the air’s moisture level so we know when your home is truly dry, not just surface-dry).
- Furniture and contents. A fire in an empty room is cheap to restore. A fire in a furnished living room means every couch cushion, throw pillow, curtain, and rug needs ultrasonic cleaning or replacement. Pack-out services, where contents are inventoried and taken to a cleaning facility, add $1,000 to $4,000 but often save more in replacement costs.
- Insurance scope versus reality. This is the biggest variable we see in Austin. Some adjusters write scopes that miss smoke damage in adjacent rooms or skip HVAC remediation. Others approve everything. The gap can swing your out-of-pocket cost by thousands. We write our scope to the IICRC standard and walk through line items with your adjuster.
How to Save on Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration
Saving money on fire restoration is about acting fast and making smart scope decisions, not cutting corners. Here’s what actually reduces cost without risking your home’s safety or resale value.
- Start cleaning within 48 hours. Soot is acidic. It begins etching glass, metal, ceramic, and drywall almost immediately. Waiting a week in Austin’s summer heat drives those chemical reactions faster and turns a cleanable surface into a replacement. A $3,500 job becomes an $8,000 job.
- Don’t run your HVAC before it’s inspected. Turning on the AC to clear smoke smell pushes soot deeper into ducts and spreads particles to every room. Run it, and you’ll pay for whole-home duct replacement instead of a targeted cleaning. We tell every Austin client to keep the system off until we assess it.
- Separate salvageable from unsalvageable contents early. Solid wood furniture usually cleans. MDF or particleboard usually does not. Knowing the difference before a pack-out means you’re not paying per-item cleaning fees for items that should be written off under your contents coverage.
- Get a written scope and price before signing anything. Wendell Restoration Austin puts the price in writing before any work starts. A digital invoice is texted to you so you can pay from the link. The number on the screen is the number you pay. No adjuster surprises. No “we found more damage” mid-job price hikes.
- Ask about the 365-Day Done Right Promise. If it’s not done right, we make it right. That’s stated in writing on every job, and it means you won’t pay twice for the same repair. We also include a free second visit if the repair fails. For fire restoration specifically, that means odor returning within a year, soot ghosting on walls, or any surface we sealed not holding up.
For an exact number on your Austin fire or smoke damage job, call (325) 237-2088. Estimates are free, and a live person answers every call, 24/7. Fire damage doesn’t keep business hours, and neither does Wendell.
Step-by-Step: How Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration Pricing Works at Wendell
Here’s exactly how you get from “my house has fire damage” to “I know what it costs and when the crew arrives.” This is the Relay Standard: book in a tap, live arrival time, photo updates, price in writing, text invoice.
1. Call and talk to a live person
Dial (325) 237-2088. No voicemail, no callback queue, no phone tree. A real person answers and asks about the fire: what burned, how many rooms, whether the fire department responded, and whether your HVAC was running. That conversation gives us enough to set the right response priority, whether it’s emergency board-up tonight or a next-morning assessment.
2. On-site assessment with a written scope
A background-checked, uniformed technician arrives with a live arrival time you can track, not a vague four-hour window. They inspect the burn area, check smoke travel patterns through the HVAC, test soot pH on surfaces, and document everything with photos. You’ll get a written scope and price before any work starts.
3. Board-up, mitigation, and emergency cleaning
If the fire left openings, we board up immediately at the rates shown above. Then we begin soot removal, emergency content triage, and, if water was used in suppression, psychrometric drying with Dri-Eaz, Phoenix, or XPOWER equipment. We deploy professional-grade drying equipment under IICRC, RIA, and IFA standards, the same certifications and brands used on large commercial loss sites.
4. Odor removal and deep cleaning
Ozone treatment and thermal fogging tackle smoke particles that settled in porous surfaces. We don’t cover the smell with air fresheners. We neutralize it at the source, track the result with air sampling, and send before-and-after photos by text so you see exactly what changed.
5. Repair and finish work
Drywall, paint, flooring, cabinetry, and any structural work. The written repair estimate you received is what you pay. With the 365-Day Done Right Promise, every repair includes a written guarantee. If the repair fails within a year, we come back and make it right. Free.
6. Final walkthrough and digital invoice
You get a digital invoice texted to your phone. You pay from the link. No paper, no surprises, no price that changed from the estimate. Done right, documented, guaranteed.
FAQs – Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration Cost in Austin
How much does fire damage restoration cost per square foot in Austin?
Expect $3 to $8 per square foot for light smoke cleanup and $15 to $35 per square foot for full restoration including drywall, painting, and HVAC remediation. A 1,500 sq ft Austin home with moderate fire damage typically lands between $5,000 and $18,000 based on the scope. Call (325) 237-2088 for a written per-square-foot breakdown for your specific home.
Does homeowners insurance cover fire and smoke damage restoration?
Yes, most standard Texas homeowners policies cover fire and smoke damage, including soot removal, structural repair, and content cleaning, minus your deductible. Austin deductibles commonly run $1,000 to $5,000, with some 1% or 2% policy deductibles on homes valued over $500,000 in areas like Westlake or Tarrytown. We work directly with your adjuster and write our scope to the IICRC standard so nothing gets overlooked in the claim. Call (325) 237-2088 and we’ll walk through your policy language with you.
How long does fire and smoke damage restoration take in Austin?
Light smoke cleanup in one or two rooms takes 3 to 5 days. Moderate restoration of a kitchen fire takes 7 to 14 days including drywall and paint. Whole-home restoration runs 3 to 8 weeks, longer if structural engineering and city permits are involved. Austin’s permitting timeline for structural repair varies by scope, but minor interior work usually moves quickly. We give you a timeline in writing before work starts.
Can you come today for a fire damage emergency in Austin?
Yes. Wendell Restoration Austin answers calls 24/7 with a live person and can typically have a technician on site the same day for board-up, emergency soot mitigation, or water extraction from fire suppression. Call (325) 237-2088 and we’ll give you a live arrival time you can track.
Is it cheaper to clean smoke damage or replace what was damaged?
Cleaning usually costs 30-50% less than replacing, but only if surfaces are still salvageable. Porcelain, glass, metal, and solid wood almost always clean. Carpet, upholstered furniture, and MDF furniture often absorb smoke to a point where replacement costs less than aggressive cleaning attempts. Our technicians test surfaces on site and give you a honest recommendation, not the one that maximizes the invoice.
Pricing reflects the Austin market as of 2026. Wendell Restoration Austin offers free estimates – call (325) 237-2088.
Written by Blake Sorensen, Owner at Wendell Restoration Austin, serving Austin since 2006.
What Our Customers Say
"Estimate was in the app with photos. Final bill matched."
- Beth A."Respectful crew, daily updates, and no surprises."
- Yasmin O."Mold removal in a basement corner after the leak. Retested clean."
- Gordon K.