We have a board and beam great room ceiling. My daughter set a candle on the woodstove metal cabinet and it got so hot the glass and wax exploded causing a fire that was shortly put out, but the heat caused the ceiling above the fireplace to turn black. It won't clean off. Any suggestions on how to get it back to looking like the rest of the ceiling?

Hi, kapon!

I'm not quite sure about what happened by the description that you gave. Are you meaning that the ceiling is black because of smoke or that the ceiling was actually damaged by being on fire or so close to the fire that that it was almost on fire, please?

If it's just smoke damage, what have you used to try to clean it?

I may be incorrect, but I don't know that heat would cause the ceiling to go black from just intense heat - smoke damage yes, I've seen that, but not heat. But, maybe someone else knows more about that, though.

What kind of wood and finish is on the ceiling?

Thanks!

Get a brush attachment for your wet/dry vac and vacume the soot off everything before you even attempt to clean with water and cleaner. For the cleaner I suggest ZEP Orange Cleaner and Degreaser and a microfiber cloth. Start at the top and work your way down. I had a fire in my kitchen and had to prime and repaint the ceiling but the other ceilings I was able to clean by just vacuming with the brush attachment.

That's excellent advice above, given that certain conditions are met concerning what the surface areas are on which they're used.

However, what's used to clean it, if merely cleaning it will do the job, will depend on what kind of wood it is and also the kind of finish there is on it, if there is even a finish on it.

It could also be that some fine steel wool with mineral spirits or even water used as a lubricant might do the job. Best to test in small, not as noticeable areas first before using any kind of liquids or even abrasives.

We don't know what kind of wood is on the ceiling nor if there's even a finish on it...