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 San Jose
A kitchen grease fire in Willow Glen. An electrical short from an aging fuse box in Berryessa. A candle left too close to drapes in a 1960s tract home. Fire damage in San Jose never looks the same twice, which is why our Fire Damage Restoration team treats every job as its own diagnosis. We show up in a named window, document everything, and dry, clean, and repair with the same standard of care whether the loss is two rooms or two floors. If you’re standing in a smoke-filled house right now, call (669) 770-7417. A live person answers, day or night.
Why Dryden Restoration San Jose Is San Jose’s Preferred Fire Damage Restoration Company
We’re not a franchise dispatched from another state. Dryden is an independently owned and operated Kingswell company, and crews serving San Jose are background-checked, uniformed, and trained to IICRC, RIA, and IFA standards. That matters when a stranger is inside your home at 2 a.m. with an air scrubber and a moisture meter.
San Jose homeowners tell us the same things: their last contractor no-showed, or the price changed at the door, or the repair failed three weeks later. The Kingswell Way exists because of that. We put a written price in your hand before any tool is touched. We show up in the window we gave you. We leave the job site cleaner than we found it. And every repair carries a 365-Day Done Right Promise, in writing. If it fails within a year, we come back and fix it at no charge. That’s not a slogan. It’s the guarantee Carl Brandt signs on every job.
Restoration work we handle






Smoke Damage Restoration in San Jose
Smoke Damage Restoration in San Jose means more than wiping down walls. Smoke is acidic, oily, and microscopic. It settles into drywall pores, HVAC ductwork, grout, and every soft surface in the house. In newer open-plan homes around Berryessa and Evergreen, synthetic furnishings burn hot and fast, producing fine, sticky soot that standard household cleaners just smear around. In older tract homes, that same soot works its way into original wood trim and plaster. A proper job requires HEPA vacuuming, chemical sponges on surfaces, thermal fogging or ozone treatment for odor, and duct cleaning when the HVAC ran during the fire. San Jose homeowners should expect smoke damage restoration to run $1,500 to $6,500 depending on square footage, contents affected, and whether the ductwork was involved.
Soot Removal for Walls, Ceilings, and Surfaces
Soot bonds to paint and varnish quickly. Within 72 hours, it can etch permanently. Our crews use dry chemical sponges first, not water, because water pushes soot deeper into porous material. For heavy deposits on ceilings or around door headers, we follow with degreasing agents rated for fire residue.
Smoke Odor Removal from HVAC and Soft Goods
If your blower ran during the fire, smoke odor is now in the supply and return plenums. We inspect and clean ducts, replace filters, and may run hydroxyl or ozone treatment depending on whether the home is occupied. Upholstered furniture, bedding, and clothing often need pack-out and off-site cleaning at an Esporta or similar wash system.
Fire Damage Repair in San Jose
Fire Damage Repair in San Jose starts after the extinguisher is empty and the adjuster has been called. It can mean anything from replacing charred drywall and insulation to trimming burned framing and sealing beams. Structural repair in San Jose typically runs $2,800 to $18,000, and the spread is real: a small kitchen fire in a 1970s Cambrian home might only need new drywall, cabinets, and paint, while a garage fire in Almaden Valley can compromise roof trusses and require engineering sign-off before rebuild. We work with your insurance adjuster directly, providing photo documentation and a written scope before we start, so the claim moves without guesswork.
Structural Fire Repair and Rebuild
Burned framing gets evaluated inch by inch. We remove charred material, sand blast or wire brush salvageable lumber, and sister new framing where needed. Drywall replacement, insulation, texture, and paint follow. Every step is documented for your carrier.
Water Damage from Firefighting
Firefighters put out the fire, but they also soak your floors, walls, and insulation. Water from firefighting is rarely category 1. We dry with Dri-Eaz and Phoenix air movers and dehumidifiers, and we map moisture in the slab before we ever think about rebuilding. In San Jose’s slab-on-grade tract homes, trapped moisture under flooring will feed odor and mold for months if skipped.
Trusted Brands We Service in San Jose
Our equipment trailer carries what the job needs: Dri-Eaz and Phoenix dehumidifiers for structural drying, XPOWER air movers for slab and cavity airflow, and Injectidry systems for hard-to-reach wall and floor assemblies. These are the same machines large commercial restoration firms use, and they’re calibrated for San Jose’s split housing stock, from 1950s stucco ranchers to 2010s multi-zone smart homes. Because we stock parts and consumables locally, we don’t wait on a distributor to finish your job.
See the difference
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After
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After
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AfterCommon Fire Damage Restoration Problems We See in San Jose Homes
- Slab foundations that hold water for weeks. In 1950s-70s Willow Glen and West San Jose tract homes, firefighting water soaks into the slab and baseboards. If structural drying doesn’t start within 48 hours, you’re looking at mold, warping, and smoke odor that won’t quit.
- Hidden plumbing failures feeding the problem. Berryessa’s copper supply lines are known for pinhole leaks from low-alkalinity water. A small leak behind the wall might have been there months before a fire. When we find it, we coordinate with a plumber so the pre-loss condition actually improves.
- HVAC systems spreading soot house-wide. Even in a small contained fire, the blower fan pulls smoke through the ducts. In newer sealed homes around North San Jose, we regularly find soot residue in supply registers two floors away from the fire source.
- Older wiring and fuse boxes compounding the loss. San Jose’s 1950s and 60s neighborhoods still carry original electrical panels in many homes. A small appliance fire is often the first visible symptom of a bigger electrical issue, and repair scope needs to account for that.
Pricing for Fire Damage Restoration in San Jose, CA
San Jose prices run higher than outlying areas because of labor, permit costs, and the age mix of the housing stock. A small kitchen fire with smoke cleanup typically runs $3,000 to $8,000. A whole-home fire with structural repair, duct cleaning, and contents restoration lands between $18,000 and $60,000 or more. The variables are square footage, how much water the firefighters used, whether the HVAC ran, and whether your home is a 1965 tract house or a 2015 open-plan build. We give you a written price before work starts. The estimate is free, and the price does not change at the door. Call (669) 770-7417 to schedule a walk-through.
We Also Serve Cities Near San Jose
Our crews dispatch locally to Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, Campbell, and Cupertino. Many of those homes share the same 1950s-70s building stock and fire response realities as San Jose, and the same Kingswell standards apply. If your home is in one of these nearby cities, we can usually be there within the same window, and we’ll tell you the price before we start. San Jose remains the center of our service area for fire, smoke, and water restoration work.
Serving San Jose, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the San Jose 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 San Jose
Within 48 hours. In slab-on-grade homes from the 1960s and 70s, water from firefighting saturates the concrete and baseboards faster than most homeowners realize. If drying starts later, you risk mold in the slab and smoke odor that keeps resurfacing. Call (669) 770-7417 and we’ll have moisture meters on site within hours, not days.
Berryessa homes, especially those built with 1970s copper supply lines, frequently carry hidden water damage from pinhole leaks. The low-alkalinity water chemistry corrodes copper from the inside, creating leaks behind walls that go unnoticed until a fire or electrical event exposes them. Restoration in Berryessa often means drying firefighting water, treating smoke residue, and addressing that legacy plumbing in the same scope.
Yes. Even in winter, when AC isn’t running, a furnace blower will circulate smoke residue through the ductwork if the fan engaged during the fire. In sealed newer homes around North San Jose and Evergreen, smoke odor can sit in the plenums and kick back every time the heat runs. Duct inspection and cleaning is part of a complete scope, not an upsell.
Absolutely. We see this regularly in 1950s-70s Willow Glen and Cambrian homes. The original galvanized supply lines have often been leaking for months before a fire starts. Our crews dry the structure, treat the smoke and soot, and coordinate with a licensed plumber to replace the old supply lines so the house is in better condition after the fire than before. That coordination is built into the written scope we give you before work starts.
Don’t wash it at home. Fine smoke particulate bonds to fabric and standard laundry just sets it. Upholstered furniture, bedding, curtains, and clothing need professional cleaning at a fire restoration textile facility, typically through an Esporta or similar wash system. We pack out and inventory soft goods, coordinate the cleaning, and return them in sealed bags. Call (669) 770-7417 and we’ll tell you what’s salvageable before anything leaves the house.
Written by Carl Brandt, Owner at Dryden Restoration San Jose, serving San Jose and the greater Bay Area since 2005.