TL;DR: The best smoke damage restoration company in Sioux Falls holds IICRC certification, cleans and deodorizes to the ANSI/IICRC S700 standard rather than just masking odor, handles contents pack-out and cleaning in-house, documents the loss for your insurer, and can rebuild the damaged areas under the same contract. Crew Restoration & Construction is IICRC certified, rated 4.9 stars across 632 Google reviews, and answers 24/7 at (605) 965-2727.
If a grease fire left soot streaked across your kitchen cabinets, or a space heater fire filled your McKennan Park bungalow with smoke that’s settled into the drywall and ductwork, your insurance adjuster is already asking for a restoration contractor’s scope of work. You don’t have time to interview five companies. You need a short checklist that tells you whether the company on the phone can actually do the job, start to finish.
What IICRC certification actually means for a smoke damage job
IICRC certification means technicians were trained and tested against the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification’s standards for fire and smoke restoration, not just “restoration experience” in general. Ask specifically whether the company follows the ANSI/IICRC S700 Standard for Professional Fire and Smoke Damage Restoration, which governs how soot is classified, how surfaces are tested, and how a job is documented from start to finish.
This matters because smoke damage isn’t uniform. Protein smoke from a kitchen fire behaves differently than synthetic smoke from a burned mattress or electrical fire, and each calls for a different cleaning agent and sequence. A company working from the S700 standard will classify the type of residue before they start wiping anything down, which protects your walls, cabinetry, and contents from the wrong chemical on the wrong surface.
How do you know a company can remove the odor, not just cover it up
Real odor removal means the source of the smell, the soot particles embedded in porous materials, gets cleaned, sealed, or removed, not sprayed over with air freshener. A company that only fogs a space with scent and calls it done hasn’t actually solved the problem; the odor tends to return within days, especially in humid weather.
Ask what equipment they use: thermal fogging to neutralize odor molecules at the source, HEPA air scrubbers to pull soot particulate out of the air, and in some cases hydroxyl or ozone generators for unoccupied spaces. Porous materials that can’t be fully cleaned, like heavily charred carpet pad or insulation, usually get removed rather than deodorized around. Our guide to how professionals remove smoke odor walks through why DIY attempts with vinegar and baking soda rarely solve a whole-house smoke problem.
Does the company handle contents cleaning and pack-out, or do you need a second vendor
The strongest companies handle contents cleaning and pack-out themselves instead of handing you off to a separate vendor mid-claim. That means an inventory of smoke-damaged belongings, ultrasonic or manual cleaning for salvageable items, and secure off-site storage while the structure dries and rebuilds.
This is one of the most overlooked parts of a smoke damage claim. Furniture, electronics, clothing, and keepsakes in a home near All Saints or Whittier often carry more sentimental and financial value than the drywall around them. A company that offers contents restoration and storage under the same contract keeps your claim organized and your belongings accounted for, instead of juggling receipts from two or three different companies.
Who handles the insurance documentation for a smoke damage claim
The restoration company should document the loss for your insurer, not leave that work to you. That means photographing every affected room before cleanup starts, writing a detailed scope with the extent of soot and odor damage, and keeping that paper trail consistent with what the adjuster sees on-site.
A company used to working directly with South Dakota insurers knows what adjusters expect to see: room-by-room photos, a written scope broken out by task, and receipts for anything disposed of rather than cleaned. That documentation is what gets a claim approved without a second visit or a dispute over what was actually damaged.
Should the same contractor handle cleanup and reconstruction
Handling cleanup and reconstruction under one contractor means one point of accountability for the whole job, from the first soot wipe-down to the last coat of paint. You’re not managing a handoff between a cleanup crew and a separate general contractor, and nothing falls through the cracks between the two scopes.
Fire and smoke jobs often require more than cleaning: scorched drywall, damaged cabinetry, or a section of subfloor may need to be removed and rebuilt. A company offering both fire damage restoration and reconstruction can move from mitigation into rebuild without a new bid process or a new crew learning the job from scratch. For a full walkthrough of what that sequence looks like, see our fire damage restoration process guide.
Run any company you’re considering through these five points before you sign a scope of work. If you’re ready to get a written assessment started, request an estimate and a technician can walk the affected rooms with you.
About Crew Restoration & Construction
Crew Restoration & Construction is an IICRC-certified company (license #3814) serving Sioux Falls, SD since 2015. The business is rated 4.9 stars across 632 Google reviews and answers calls 24/7 at (605) 965-2727. Crew’s crews handle fire and smoke damage restoration, contents restoration, and reconstruction across the Sioux Falls metro, from McKennan Park and the Cathedral Historic District to the surrounding communities Crew serves.
Need help now? Call Crew Restoration & Construction at (605) 965-2727.