re-using burnt timber

[pancake]

Hi

This is not really a DIY issue, but if hopefully someone here can help me. We lost the top floor of the house in a fire. The insurance building company are only replacing two of the roof trusses, leaving the others in place. These, along with the main supporting timber that holds the apex of the roof, are black from the fire. Whilst I can accept that they are still strong, instinctively I feel the builder should be shaving off the blackened exterior of the joists. I am worried that this charred wood dust will work its way into the children's bedrooms and affect their lungs. The bedrooms extend up to the roof space (although the beams will not be exposed). Whilst the new trusses are now in place and tiling is about to start, the place still stinks of the fire (which was 9 months ago).

What should the builder be doing, if anything, with regard to safety with these charred timbers?

Kind regards

 

[^woody^]

In the UK, cleaning of all smoke/char, and sealing of the material to prevent smells would be covered by the insurance. I don't know about Swiss policies though

The effect of any charring would be a matter for individual inspection and assessment. A little bit of char wont hurt

 

[Alastairreid]

We do a lot of fire and flood restoration.
On our jobs charred and smoke damaged trusses are soda blasted then checked for structural integrity by engineers before re-roofing.