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

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

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:03):
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 guywho's been knee deep in
disaster, so you don't have tobe.
If your home or business hasbeen through it, don't panic.
Tim's here to talk recovery,restoration, and everything in

(00:26):
between.
Let's get things restored.

SPEAKER_02 (00:38):
Smoke, sewage, and mildew.
When disaster strikes, the smellcan linger long after the damage
is gone.
In this episode, we dive intohow restoration pros tackle the
toughest odors and bring homeback bring homes back to fresh.
Welcome back everybody.
Skip Money here, co-host slashproducer, back in the studio
with Tim Rhodes, owner ofPremier Restorations of the

(00:59):
Carolina.
Tim, how you doing?
I'm doing good, Skip.
How are you?
Doing just fine.
Glad to be here with you andready to kick things off.
So how Tim, how do you addressodors and stenches in the home
due to disaster?

SPEAKER_01 (01:16):
Well, it depends on the odor.
There's several different odorsyou can have in your home caused
by animals, caused by mold,mildew, caused by soot, fire.
You name it, it'll probablycause an odor.
You just have to take eachscenario and and and figure out
the cause and remove the problemand then you know identify the

(01:36):
easiest way to fix the problemwith the homeowner.

SPEAKER_02 (01:41):
So it depends on the situation, I guess, and what the
source is.
Well what I my I noticed in mybasement, which I've got a lot
of junk in my basement, but I Inoticed I had kind of a musty
smell.
Could that be from from mildewor or mold?

SPEAKER_01 (01:57):
It's it's probably moisture and mildew and in in
your basement.
That's a that's pretty common.

SPEAKER_02 (02:04):
Is it is that something that you guys address?

SPEAKER_01 (02:09):
Oh, we can address it.
We can we can take care of thatproblem.

SPEAKER_02 (02:13):
Well, what in your experience, Tim, what are the
most common types of odors thatyou encounter after a disaster?

SPEAKER_01 (02:23):
Mold, mildew.
That's that's probably the mostcommon odor we deal with, and
you know that takes it takesgetting control of the humidity,
because you know, when thehumidity's out of control, you
know, mold will grow.
So you have to get control ofthe humidity and and that after
you control the humidity, youyou more than likely will take

(02:45):
care of it.
That'll take care of it.

SPEAKER_02 (02:47):
Well do you have to use like a dehumidifier for
that?

SPEAKER_01 (02:53):
Yes, sir.
We we have we use dehumidifiersthat we can install.
They're it's a lot differentfrom a DHU you buy from Lowe's,
they're professionaldehumidifiers and they they do a
really good job.

SPEAKER_02 (03:05):
So don't try it yourself, which you know I'm
guilty of of trying to do ityourself everything.
I was just working on my myshower the other day thinking,
what what on earth am I doing?
I need to call a professional.
Well, how Tim, how do youdetermine the source of a of a
smell when you first go in?
Is it just something that comesto you or how do you identify

(03:25):
that?
Do you have to use specialequipment?

SPEAKER_01 (03:29):
We we have a lot of special equipment.
We do, we uh have a lot ofmoisture meters.
We can we can check and see whatthe humidity is in the house,
and then sometimes your nosewill tell you exactly what it is
if it's if it's a dead animal.
It it's not hard to figure itout.

SPEAKER_02 (03:48):
Does that happen pretty often?

SPEAKER_01 (03:52):
It it true it truly it does.
People get dead animals on intheir crawl spaces or in their
air ducts, and you know,especially vacation homes, if
they've not been there in awhile and they come back and
they turn the the heating uniton or the air conditioning unit
on and something's laying in theair duct lines, it creates a
pretty bad smell.

SPEAKER_02 (04:12):
Yeah, I think I had a friend who had a nest of
squirrels get in somewhere intheir house and got stuck in
there, and it was a bunch ofthem and they died, and yeah, it
was horrible.
Are there I would imagine thatthere's some health risks with
that, or do do you know ofhealth risks that are associated
with smells if if you if youdon't do anything about it?

SPEAKER_01 (04:34):
I mean, I don't I don't know of any.
It's it's just veryuncomfortable to smell.
I don't know of health healthrisks, but you know, I'm not a
health professional, so I knowit's very uncomfortable to
smell, and homeowners don't likeit.

SPEAKER_02 (04:48):
Yeah, yeah.
I could I could see that.
Well, what how long does ittake?
Well, I guess it depends on whatit is, but let's say you had
soot and you had a fire, but itwasn't a big fire, but it was
enough to make the whole housesmell like soot and smoke.
How long does it take typicallyto to remediate that?

SPEAKER_01 (05:09):
Well, a soot job's a little bigger than a you know an
odor smell.
Soot jobs, you know, we it itinvolves, you know, a lot of
cleaning, a lot of prep work, alot of painting.
Soot jobs are pretty detailed.

SPEAKER_02 (05:24):
So what about like uh you were talking about
moisture in in somebody'sbasement, if it was really funky
smelling?
How long when you're using thedehumidifiers professional
equipment like you guys have,how long typically does that
take to clear that up?

SPEAKER_01 (05:41):
Well, and and there again it goes back to you know
how bad the problem it is andand you know what uh what we
have to do to fix it, and if thehomeowner wants uh wants a DHU
and we install a DHU in theirhouse, because installing a DHU
is is is the way to get controlof the humidity in their in
their crawlspace or or the theproblem area.
So, you know, it just depends onthe situation, the house, the

(06:07):
environment.
We try to get it done as quickas we can, but you know, we're
only at the mercy of thesituation.

SPEAKER_02 (06:15):
Absolutely.
Well, do you do you have anyadvice for homeowners like me
that you know to prevent odors?
Let's say you have an anincident, whether it's water,
smoke, whatever, and you guyscome in, do a bang up job, get
the smell cleaned up and andeverything cleaned up.
Do you have any advice for forfolks like us who to to what to

(06:37):
do after you guys leave, afterthe professionals leave to
prevent odors from returning?

SPEAKER_01 (06:46):
Well, I mean, there's really not really room
for advice right there because,you know, if they have a
disaster, that's normally whatbrings it on.
And if we fix the problem, thenthey shouldn't have a problem
after we leave.
They should just be able to goback to their quality of life
that they're used to.
Um, you know, people withanimals, you know, if their

(07:06):
animals are inside all the time,I've seen, you know, certain
animals like to urinate down inin vents for air ducts, and and
it's in the line.
So, you know, people withanimals, it's it's a little
worse, but you know, if it's adisaster, you know, hopefully
the restoration company youchoose to come in and take care
of the problem when you're done,it's problems over.

SPEAKER_02 (07:27):
It's done.
It's done.
Yeah, I and that's a wholenother subject, but I've I've
got a cat.
My wife has a cat.
I'm not much of a cat fan, butshe has a cat that occasionally
will use the bathroom in one ofthe vents, and buddy, I know
exactly what you're talkingabout.
So you can't cover it up.
You just got to keep the cataway from the vent, I guess.

(07:48):
Anyway, yeah, well, yeah, keepkeep the cat away from the vent.
Well, Tim, thank you so much forwalking us through that.
Good, good to know.
And we'll see you next time formore restoration insights.

SPEAKER_01 (08:00):
All right, thank you, Skip.

SPEAKER_00 (08:06):
Thanks for tuning in to Restore with Premier
Restoration of the Carolinas.
If disaster strikes, don'tGoogle, call the pros.
You can reach Tim at 888 8472214.
Or visit us online at PremierRestoration of the
Carolinas.com.
We'll bring the tools, the team,and maybe even the shop back.

(08:29):
Because when things go wrong, wemake it right.