kitchen fire and professional restoration - any experience? Please help - anxious!

[cabbageandgravy]

The other day I burned a pan of giblets in my kitchen. Unbelievably awful smell :( :( - kitchen unuseable at the moment, despite washing down as much as I can.

The insurers have sent out a professional restoration firm who say they will treat the house with "thermal fogging". Has anyone had experience of this? Is it any good? Does the house smel neutral afterwards, or does it smell chemical-y?

Unfortunately it is an old and rather 'porous' construction with gaps between floorboards, and old chimney stacks of soft stone, old timbers...cannot believe anything will get th smell out and feeling depressed so if anyone has any cheerful tales for me...or advice.

I don't think we have any alternative to accepting the chemical fogging really, but if someone can tell me what to expect, that would be very helpful!

Oh and I have tried coffee grounds - quite helpful in less pongy places as it fools your nose into thinking you can smell coffee, possibly! But I also tried boiling vinegar and the two smells combined were even more gag-making than either alone, so left that one!

Have just taken delivery of a tub of activated charcoal and have put that out in trays in a couple of places. But I know that isn't going to fix the stuff that's soaked into the woodwork, plaster and bare stone...

Well I know its very sad just to be talking to myself here but I'll keep up a commentary and bump myself again...

The charcoal (granules, intended for fish tanks) do serm to be helping, definitely less gag-making this afternoon but then also windows have been wide open all day and its been very breezy.

But if anyone knows what its like to be thermal fogged, please tell me!

Sorry I can't help but thought I would bump for you.

Thanks marmite!

I believe the solvents used may be similar for fogging for pest control. Anyone got experiece of this? (praps someone in a hot climates?)