Restored with Premier Restoration of the Carolinas

From Soot to Fresh: How Pros Like Tim Rhoades Erase Disaster Smells

• Tim Rhoades • Episode 6

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How Do You Address Odors & Stenches In The Home Due To Disaster?  

The nose always knows—but it takes a pro to make the smell go. We sat down with Tim Rhoades of Premier Restoration of the Carolinas to unpack how stubborn odors actually work and what it really takes to get your home back to clean air after water, fire, or mystery funk. From musty basements to smoke-damaged living rooms, we break down the difference between masking a smell and fixing it at the source.

We start with the big offenders: humidity-driven mildew, smoke and soot, and animal-related contamination in crawl spaces and ducts. Tim explains how professional moisture control—think properly sized, continuous dehumidifiers paired with airflow and sealing—starves mildew so the musty odor fades for good. Then we dive into soot, where the odor lives in residue. You’ll hear how detailed cleaning, HEPA filtration, contents treatment, and odor-blocking primers team up to neutralize smoke smells that love to linger in porous surfaces and HVAC systems.

We also get practical about diagnostics and timelines. Moisture meters, hygrometers, and smart inspection routines help pinpoint the source fast, whether it’s a wet wall, a leaky crawl space, or something you really don’t want in your ductwork. Along the way, Tim shares straightforward prevention tips for pet owners and vacation home setups, plus why a quick “DIY” dehumidifier rarely solves a structural humidity problem.

Need expert help fast? Don’t Google, call the pros at 888-847-2214 or visit Premier Restoration of the Carolinas dot com. If this conversation helped you breathe easier, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a quick review so others can find it too.

To learn more about Premier Restoration of the Carolinas visit:
https://www.PremierRestorationoftheCarolinas.com
Premier Restoration of the Carolinas
888-847-2214

SPEAKER_00:

Welcome to Restore with Premier Restoration of the Carolinas, where we turn floods, fires, and moldy mayhem into clean slates and fresh starts. Hosted by Tim Rhodes, the guy who's been knee deep in disaster, so you don't have to be. If your home or business has been through it, don't panic. Tim's here to talk recovery, restoration, and everything in between. Let's get things restored.

SPEAKER_02:

Smoke, sewage, and mildew. When disaster strikes, the smell can linger long after the damage is gone. In this episode, we dive into how restoration pros tackle the toughest odors and bring home back bring homes back to fresh. Welcome back everybody. Skip Money here, co-host slash producer, back in the studio with Tim Rhodes, owner of Premier Restorations of the Carolina. Tim, how you doing? I'm doing good, Skip. How are you? Doing just fine. Glad to be here with you and ready to kick things off. So how Tim, how do you address odors and stenches in the home due to disaster?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, it depends on the odor. There's several different odors you can have in your home caused by animals, caused by mold, mildew, caused by soot, fire. You name it, it'll probably cause an odor. You just have to take each scenario and and and figure out the cause and remove the problem and then you know identify the easiest way to fix the problem with the homeowner.

SPEAKER_02:

So it depends on the situation, I guess, and what the source is. Well what I my I noticed in my basement, which I've got a lot of junk in my basement, but I I noticed I had kind of a musty smell. Could that be from from mildew or or mold?

SPEAKER_01:

It's it's probably moisture and mildew and in in your basement. That's a that's pretty common.

SPEAKER_02:

Is it is that something that you guys address?

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, we can address it. We can we can take care of that problem.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, what in your experience, Tim, what are the most common types of odors that you encounter after a disaster?

SPEAKER_01:

Mold, mildew. That's that's probably the most common odor we deal with, and you know that takes it takes getting control of the humidity, because you know, when the humidity's out of control, you know, mold will grow. So you have to get control of the humidity and and that after you control the humidity, you you more than likely will take care of it. That'll take care of it.

SPEAKER_02:

Well do you have to use like a dehumidifier for that?

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, sir. We we have we use dehumidifiers that we can install. They're it's a lot different from a DHU you buy from Lowe's, they're professional dehumidifiers and they they do a really good job.

SPEAKER_02:

So don't try it yourself, which you know I'm guilty of of trying to do it yourself everything. I was just working on my my shower the other day thinking, what what on earth am I doing? I need to call a professional. Well, how Tim, how do you determine the source of a of a smell when you first go in? Is it just something that comes to you or how do you identify that? Do you have to use special equipment?

SPEAKER_01:

We we have a lot of special equipment. We do, we uh have a lot of moisture meters. We can we can check and see what the humidity is in the house, and then sometimes your nose will tell you exactly what it is if it's if it's a dead animal. It it's not hard to figure it out.

SPEAKER_02:

Does that happen pretty often?

SPEAKER_01:

It it true it truly it does. People get dead animals on in their crawl spaces or in their air ducts, and you know, especially vacation homes, if they've not been there in a while and they come back and they turn the the heating unit on or the air conditioning unit on and something's laying in the air duct lines, it creates a pretty bad smell.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, I think I had a friend who had a nest of squirrels get in somewhere in their house and got stuck in there, and it was a bunch of them and they died, and yeah, it was horrible. Are there I would imagine that there's some health risks with that, or do do you know of health risks that are associated with smells if if you if you don't do anything about it?

SPEAKER_01:

I mean, I don't I don't know of any. It's it's just very uncomfortable to smell. I don't know of health health risks, but you know, I'm not a health professional, so I know it's very uncomfortable to smell, and homeowners don't like it.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, yeah. I could I could see that. Well, what how long does it take? Well, I guess it depends on what it is, but let's say you had soot and you had a fire, but it wasn't a big fire, but it was enough to make the whole house smell like soot and smoke. How long does it take typically to to remediate that?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, a soot job's a little bigger than a you know an odor smell. Soot jobs, you know, we it it involves, you know, a lot of cleaning, a lot of prep work, a lot of painting. Soot jobs are pretty detailed.

SPEAKER_02:

So what about like uh you were talking about moisture in in somebody's basement, if it was really funky smelling? How long when you're using the dehumidifiers professional equipment like you guys have, how long typically does that take to clear that up?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, and and there again it goes back to you know how bad the problem it is and and you know what uh what we have to do to fix it, and if the homeowner wants uh wants a DHU and we install a DHU in their house, because installing a DHU is is is the way to get control of the humidity in their in their crawlspace or or the the problem area. So, you know, it just depends on the situation, the house, the environment. We try to get it done as quick as we can, but you know, we're only at the mercy of the situation.

SPEAKER_02:

Absolutely. Well, do you do you have any advice for homeowners like me that you know to prevent odors? Let's say you have an an incident, whether it's water, smoke, whatever, and you guys come in, do a bang up job, get the smell cleaned up and and everything cleaned up. Do you have any advice for for folks like us who to to what to do after you guys leave, after the professionals leave to prevent odors from returning?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, I mean, there's really not really room for advice right there because, you know, if they have a disaster, that's normally what brings it on. And if we fix the problem, then they shouldn't have a problem after we leave. They should just be able to go back to their quality of life that they're used to. Um, you know, people with animals, you know, if their animals are inside all the time, I've seen, you know, certain animals like to urinate down in in vents for air ducts, and and it's in the line. So, you know, people with animals, it's it's a little worse, but you know, if it's a disaster, you know, hopefully the restoration company you choose to come in and take care of the problem when you're done, it's problems over.

SPEAKER_02:

It's done. It's done. Yeah, I and that's a whole nother subject, but I've I've got a cat. My wife has a cat. I'm not much of a cat fan, but she has a cat that occasionally will use the bathroom in one of the vents, and buddy, I know exactly what you're talking about. So you can't cover it up. You just got to keep the cat away from the vent, I guess. Anyway, yeah, well, yeah, keep keep the cat away from the vent. Well, Tim, thank you so much for walking us through that. Good, good to know. And we'll see you next time for more restoration insights.

SPEAKER_01:

All right, thank you, Skip.

SPEAKER_00:

Thanks for tuning in to Restore with Premier Restoration of the Carolinas. If disaster strikes, don't Google, call the pros. You can reach Tim at 888 847 2214. Or visit us online at Premier Restoration of the Carolinas.com. We'll bring the tools, the team, and maybe even the shop back. Because when things go wrong, we make it right.