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.
Fast, Reliable Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration Across Fullerton
Fire and smoke damage restoration in Fullerton typically costs between $3,200 and $14,500 depending on the extent of structural involvement, with emergency board-up and stabilization available within 60-90 minutes of your call. Most smoke and soot mitigation projects in Fullerton homes are completed in 3-7 days, while full structural rebuilds with our Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration team can extend to 4-12 weeks for severe losses.
We know Fullerton’s neighborhoods block by block. From the Craftsman bungalows along Chapman Avenue to the ranch homes tucked into Sunny Hills, our crews have documented fire and smoke losses in every corner of this city since 2011. Dispatch and scheduling are coordinated from our Los Angeles office, but the technicians who arrive at your door live and work in Orange County. They understand that a kitchen fire in a 1925 Spanish Revival near downtown demands a completely different approach than a garage fire in a 1972 tract home off Harbor Boulevard. That local material knowledge is what turns a restoration invoice into a claim your adjuster pays without a fight. Call (562) 600-5083 and a live person answers, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. No voicemail trees.
Why DryMark Restoration Cerritos Is Fullerton’s Preferred Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration Company
Back to Dry Restoration, led by Alicia Brennan, has restored more than 12,000 homes since 2011. Every single job started with a written price before any work began. Haven Standard, Clause 1. No exceptions.
Fullerton homeowners find us because they read the three-star reviews. They want to know how a company handles the job that went sideways, not just the five-star highlights. Our documentation-first approach is built for exactly that scrutiny. A photo record on every visit. Daily drying logs with psychrometric data - temperature, relative humidity, and vapor pressure differential, which is simply the force that drives moisture out of wet materials and into the drying air. Written scopes before the first tool comes off the truck.
Response time to Fullerton averages under 90 minutes for emergency calls. We have handled fire and smoke losses from the historic core near Fullerton College to the hillside homes above Bastanchury Road. Our technicians are background-checked, uniformed, and licensed, with license numbers documented on every work order. The 365-Day Done Right Promise, backed by The Haven Standard, is stamped on every contract - not a verbal assurance, a signed guarantee.
We also offer a Free Second Opinion on any competitor’s written estimate. Bring another restoration company’s scope to us and we will review it at no charge. Homeowners in Fullerton use this when an adjuster’s preferred vendor produces a one-page summary with no line-item breakdown.
Our Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration Services in Fullerton

Fire Damage Cleanup
Fire damage cleanup in Fullerton’s older neighborhoods often reveals construction layers no one expected. A kitchen fire in a 1930s Craftsman near Commonwealth Avenue may expose original plaster-and-lath walls, old-growth redwood framing, and galvanized supply lines that have been corroding in hard local water for 80 years. We do not guess at what is behind the visible damage. Our techs photo-document pre-loss condition, test materials for asbestos and lead where age warrants it, and deliver a written scope before demolition begins. Equipment from Dri-Eaz and Phoenix handles structural drying when fire suppression water has saturated framing. Every step is logged to IICRC and RIA standards.

Smoke & Soot Removal
Smoke and soot removal is where Fullerton’s housing stock creates the most complex restoration work we see in Orange County. Plaster-and-lath walls, common in the 1920s-1950s homes near downtown and the Raymond Hills area, trap soot in ways that modern drywall does not. The porous plaster surface and the gaps behind lath strips create reservoirs of acidic residue that will off-gas for months if not properly cleaned. Standard replacement is not always the answer - these walls are part of what makes a historic Fullerton home valuable. Our techs use dry-chemical sponges, HEPA vacuuming, and selective solvent cleaning to remove soot without destroying original plaster. For severe cases, we apply thermal fogging or ozone treatment, documented with before-and-after photo records.

Odor Removal & Deodorization
Odor removal in Fullerton requires understanding how smoke traveled through the structure. In 1960s-1970s ranch homes in Sunny Hills, original composition roofing and central HVAC systems act as distribution networks. A single-room fire can push smoke through every duct, into the attic space, and down through ceiling penetrations. We map the odor pathway with inspection cameras and smoke-particle testing, then deploy hydroxyl generators and activated carbon filtration from XPOWER systems. Vapor pressure differential monitoring tells us when the odor source is fully neutralized, not just masked. The Haven Standard requires we prove it with data, not just a sniff test.

Contents Cleaning & Pack-Out
Contents cleaning and pack-out protects what the fire did not destroy. In Fullerton’s historic homes, we regularly handle built-in cabinetry, vintage tile, and original hardware that cannot be replaced at any price. Our team inventories every item with photo documentation, packs contents in labeled, protective containers, and transports them to our cleaning facility. Ultrasonic cleaning restores smoke-damaged metal fixtures. Esporta washing systems handle textiles contaminated with soot and odor. The inventory record becomes part of your claim documentation. Nothing is discarded without written authorization and photographic evidence.

Emergency Board-Up & Tarping
Emergency board-up and tarping secures the structure against further damage and liability. After a fire on a Fullerton property, exposed openings invite weather intrusion, vandalism, and animal entry. We install structural plywood, roof tarps rated for wind exposure, and temporary security fencing where needed. All materials and labor are itemized in the written scope delivered before work starts.

Structural Fire Repair
Structural fire repair rebuilds what the fire consumed. In Fullerton’s pre-1950 homes, this often means matching original materials - plaster finishes, Douglas fir framing, clay tile drainage - or documenting why modern equivalents are necessary for code compliance. Our reconstruction scopes include line-item pricing for each trade, with no scope-creep additions once the crew is inside. Haven Standard, Clause 1.

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.
Before
AfterTrusted Brands We Service in Fullerton
Our equipment inventory includes professional-grade drying and air quality systems from Dri-Eaz, Phoenix, and XPOWER, supplemented by Injectidry cavity-drying systems for the enclosed wall assemblies common in Fullerton’s older homes. We stock HEPA filtration, activated carbon media, and specialized soot-removal solvents locally, so there is no waiting for shipments when a Sunny Hills homeowner needs immediate smoke mitigation. All equipment deployment is documented to IFA standards, with daily logs that become part of your insurance submission. We do not rent mystery machines from a big-box store. Every piece of equipment on your job has a serial number, a maintenance record, and a specified performance rating.
Common Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration Problems We See in Fullerton Homes

- Soot trapped in plaster-and-lath walls. Fullerton’s historic Craftsman and Spanish Revival homes use plaster applied over wood lath strips, creating a porous, irregular surface that holds acidic soot far more tenaciously than modern drywall. Standard cleaning methods often smear residue deeper into the plaster pores.
- Galvanized supply lines failing after heat exposure. The original galvanized steel water lines in pre-1950 Fullerton homes corrode from the inside due to hard local water. Fire heat accelerates this corrosion, producing pinhole leaks that introduce Category 3 water into wall cavities days after the fire is out.
- HVAC systems distributing smoke throughout ranch homes. Central air conditioning and heating systems in 1960s-1970s Sunny Hills tract homes have flexible ductwork and single return designs that pull smoke from one room and deposit it in every other room within minutes of the fire starting.
- Santa Ana wind-driven ember intrusion. Fullerton’s position in the Santa Ana wind corridor means fall wildfire events can drive smoke and embers into attic vents and eave gaps even when the main fire is miles away in the Puente Hills wildland-urban interface, creating odor problems with no visible flame damage.
Pricing for Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration in Fullerton, CA
Fire and smoke damage restoration pricing in Fullerton reflects the complexity of the city’s housing stock and the documentation standards required for insurance claims. Emergency board-up and stabilization typically runs $800-$2,400 depending on the number of openings and roof area involved. Smoke and soot mitigation for a single room with standard drywall construction averages $2,800-$5,500. The same room in a historic Fullerton home with plaster-and-lath walls, requiring specialized cleaning and potential asbestos testing, ranges $4,200-$8,900.
Contents pack-out and cleaning for a typical 2,000-square-foot Fullerton home runs $3,500-$7,200, with ultrasonic and Esporta processing billed per item category. Structural repairs and reconstruction begin around $150 per square foot for standard finishes, escalating to $280+ per square foot where original material matching is required for historic properties near Fullerton College or in the Raymond Hills neighborhood.
What drives cost upward: hidden water damage from failed galvanized lines (adds $1,800-$4,500 for Category 3 mitigation), extensive HVAC duct cleaning and sealing ($1,200-$3,400), and lead or asbestos abatement in pre-1978 construction ($2,500-$8,000+ depending on square footage and material type). What does not drive cost upward: vague “administrative fees” or scope-creep additions after work begins. Haven Standard, Clause 1 requires a written price before any work starts, every time, with no exceptions.
We deliver free written estimates. Call (562) 600-5083 for an exact quote on your specific loss.
We Also Serve Cities Near Fullerton

Our crews respond throughout northern Orange County and the Gateway Cities region. We regularly handle fire and smoke restoration in Fullerton as well as Buena Park, La Palma, Cypress, and Cerritos. The same documentation standards, the same written-price guarantee, and the same 365-Day Done Right Promise apply in every city we serve.
Serving Fullerton, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Fullerton 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 Fullerton

Seismic activity along the Whittier Fault can fracture aging galvanized supply lines and clay drainage systems in Fullerton’s pre-1950 homes, creating hidden water intrusion that complicates fire restoration with secondary Category 3 contamination. After any significant seismic event, our techs moisture-map wall cavities even when the visible damage is purely from smoke. Call (562) 600-5083 if you suspect compounded damage - estimates are free.
Sunny Hills ranch homes built in the 1960s and 1970s have original composition roofing and central HVAC systems that rapidly distribute smoke through the entire structure, making a single-room fire into a whole-house odor and soot problem. The flexible ductwork and single-return designs common in this era pull smoke into the attic and redistribute it to every room. We typically scope duct cleaning, attic remediation, and multi-room deodorization for these properties. Call (562) 600-5083 for a written estimate.
Original galvanized steel supply lines in Fullerton’s 1920s-1950s bungalows corrode from decades of hard local water, then fail under the thermal stress of a nearby fire, producing pinhole leaks that introduce Category 3 water into wall cavities days after the fire is extinguished. Our field teams moisture-map with thermal imaging on every historic-property fire call, and we have documented cases where the water loss scope exceeded the fire damage scope by 200%. Call (562) 600-5083 - we will inspect for hidden water at no additional charge during the fire assessment.
Fullerton’s position in the Santa Ana wind corridor produces hot, dry fall wind events that drive wildfire smoke and embers from the Puente Hills wildland-urban interface toward the city’s northern neighborhoods, generating restoration calls for smoke odor and ash residue even when no local structure burned. These calls spike predictably between October and December. We maintain expanded equipment inventory and staffing during this period. Call (562) 600-5083 - we answer live 24/7.
Ensure personal safety first: do not re-enter until the fire department clears the structure, and avoid breathing soot-laden air without N95 or P100 respiratory protection. If safe to do so, shut off HVAC systems to prevent smoke distribution, and place towels at door bottoms to limit airflow. Do not attempt to wash walls or surfaces - improper cleaning can drive acidic soot deeper into porous materials and destroy evidence needed for your insurance claim. Document visible damage with photos from outside the structure only. Then call (562) 600-5083 - our live dispatch will guide you through immediate protective steps while a crew is en route.
Written by Alicia Brennan, Owner at Back to Dry Restoration, serving Fullerton since 2011.






Before
After
Before
After