Water damage drying
Fire & smoke cleanup
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 estimateFast, Reliable Fire Damage Restoration Across St. Petersburg
Fire damage cleanup and repair in St. Petersburg usually costs between $3,200 and $8,400 for a typical kitchen fire in an older bungalow, and most jobs can start the same day you call. The bigger variable in this city is not the fire itself. It’s what the salt air and 50+ inches of annual rain do to a home in the weeks after the flames are out. Our crew knows St. Petersburg’s housing stock, from the 1920s wood-framed bungalows in Crescent Lake to the mid-century block homes in Shore Acres. Call (850) 828-8896 and a live person answers, any hour.
Why Tidemark Water Damage Tampa Is St. Petersburg’s Preferred Fire Damage Restoration Company
Rick Sumner leads our St. Petersburg crews, and he’s been restoring Tampa Bay homes since 2006. We are part of the Cedarwell Care Promise network, independently owned and operated here in Florida, and our technicians carry IICRC, RIA, and IFA credentials. St. Petersburg homeowners deal with a specific problem after most fires: hidden moisture that turns into mold within two days in our humidity, plus soot that has been sitting in coastal salt air and starts corroding metal before the first adjuster even arrives.
We answer the phone 24/7, and we show up in background-checked uniforms with shoe covers on at the door and drop cloths covering the floor before the first piece of equipment comes through. You get a written price before any work starts, every time. That’s not a promotion, it is how we have always operated.
Restoration work we handle






Fire Damage Repair in St. Petersburg
Fire Damage Repair in St. Petersburg focuses on structural recovery: removing charred framing, replacing damaged drywall and insulation, repairing or rebuilding roof sections, and restoring electrical that has been compromised. In this city, the repair phase often uncovers older construction issues that the fire revealed, like missing fire-stopping in pre-1950s wall cavities or original knob-and-tube wiring in a 1930s bungalow.
Structural Framing and Roof Repair
Many St. Petersburg homes built before modern wind codes use original wood-framed roofs with galvanized fasteners that have spent decades in coastal air. After a fire, those fasteners fail faster. We replace them with stainless hardware when we rebuild, because anything else corrodes within a season near the bay.
Electrical and Mechanical Restoration
Firefighting water gets into walls and crawlspaces, and in St. Pete the salt ride it picks up along the way attacks connections and devices. We inspect, rinse where needed, and replace anything that cannot be brought back to a safe condition. The repair scope is written and agreed before we start.
Fire Damage Cleanup in St. Petersburg
Fire Damage Cleanup in St. Petersburg means removing soot, char, water, and odor before the repair work starts. It is the busiest phase in older St. Pete homes, because 1920s plaster and lath plus decades of humidity create a lot of layered material for soot to cling to. A basic cleanup in a single room typically runs $1,400 to $3,800. A whole-home soot and smoke odor cleanup can run $6,000 to $12,000 depending on square footage and how far the smoke traveled.
Soot and Residue Removal
Soot from a house fire is not just dust. It is acidic. Left on surfaces in humid air for more than a few days, it etches glass, corrodes hinges, and discolors paint permanently. We clean surfaces in the first 48 hours where possible. That timing matters more in St. Petersburg than it does inland, because the moisture in the air accelerates every chemical reaction soot causes.
Smoke Odor Elimination
Smoke odor in St. Pete’s older bungalows gets trapped in uninsulated crawlspaces, behind plaster walls, and inside ductwork that was never designed for the modern equipment. We use hydroxyl generators and thermal fogging where appropriate, then we verify with a final walkthrough so you can smell the difference before we bring in drop cloths for the repair phase.
Trusted Brands We Service in St. Petersburg
Our St. Petersburg technicians work with Dri-Eaz dehumidifiers and air movers, which matter after firefighting water has soaked into original wood-framed roof sheathing. Fast structural drying is the only thing that prevents mold from starting in a St. Pete attic within 48 hours. We also keep stainless fasteners, corrosion-control rinse solutions, and replacement garage-door hardware stocked on our trucks for the post-fire inspections we perform on salt-exposed homes. That means fewer return trips and a faster mitigation schedule for St. Petersburg homeowners.
See the difference
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After
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AfterCommon Fire Damage Restoration Problems We See in St. Petersburg Homes
- Smoldering embers in hidden cavities. Homes built before modern wind codes often lack fire-stopping in wall cavities, so embers can travel from a kitchen fire into an attic and sit there for days before rekindling. We check the full path, not just the room that burned.
- Corrosion from salt-laden soot. Soot that settles on metal in St. Petersburg picks up moisture and salt from the coastal air, which speeds corrosion on hinges, electrical connections, and even garage-door springs. A freshwater rinse and corrosion control is standard on our scopes.
- Mold starting inside wet framing. Firefighting water soaks into original roof sheathing and uninsulated crawlspaces. In 80% humidity, mold begins within 24 to 48 hours. We run Dri-Eaz equipment immediately, framing is dried before any rebuild starts.
- Hidden water in crawlspaces. Many 1920s-1950s bungalows have open, uninsulated crawlspaces that catch firefighting runoff and hold it against floor joists. We map the moisture with a hydrometer and dry past the tide mark, which is the line water leaves on a wall and the first thing we look for on every job.
Pricing for Fire Damage Restoration in St. Petersburg, FL
A typical fire damage restoration in St. Petersburg runs between $3,200 and $8,400 for a single-room kitchen fire. Whole-home smoke and soot work runs from $6,000 to $15,000 depending on the spread. Structural repairs, including roof sections or framing replacement, can push the total to $20,000 or more, but that is scoped and priced in writing before the first cut. What changes the number here is the age of the home: an original 1940s bungalow with no fire-stopping costs more to inspect and dry than a newer block home. Call (850) 828-8896 for a free, written estimate.
We Also Serve Cities Near St. Petersburg
Our crews work across the bay and inland, serving Tampa, Riverview, Plant City, and Wesley Chapel. If you are just outside St. Petersburg, the same team handles your Fire Damage Restoration with the same written-price-first policy. Read more about our work across the area on our St. Petersburg service page.
Serving St. Petersburg, FL - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the St. Petersburg 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 About Fire Damage Restoration in St. Petersburg
Salt air accelerates corrosion on any metal that soot touches, from garage-door springs to electrical connections to roof flashing. After a fire, we rinse salt residue from surfaces and hardware where possible, and we replace corroded fasteners with stainless steel so the repair does not start rusting within a season.
If you have fire damage near the water, call (850) 828-8896 and we will include corrosion control in your scope.
Older St. Petersburg bungalows have uninsulated crawlspaces and original wood-framed roofs that hold firefighting water. In our subtropical humidity, mold starts within 24 to 48 hours. Rapid structural drying is the only thing that stops it, which is why we set up Dri-Eaz dehumidifiers and air movers on the same visit, not days later.
Sometimes, yes. If a fire burns through roof sheathing or wall framing, the rebuild has to meet current Florida wind codes, which may mean adding clips, strapping, or secondary water resistance that the original 1940s build never had. We scope these items before work starts so you and your adjuster see the full picture in the written estimate.
We board up openings, shut off water and power where needed, map the moisture across the whole structure, and set up containment around the affected rooms. In Snell Isle, where many homes have original framing and salt-exposed hardware, we also begin a corrosion rinse on metals as part of the initial mitigation. Call (850) 828-8896 for a same-day response in Snell Isle.
Yes, you do. Pre-1950s homes often have no fire-stopping inside wall cavities, so an ember from a kitchen fire can travel upward through an unblocked chase and sit in an attic for days before flaring. Our crews check every cavity path and inspect attic spaces with thermal imaging before we consider the fire fully extinguished.
Written by Rick Sumner, Owner at Tidemark Water Damage Tampa, serving St. Petersburg and the surrounding bay area.