If you read my get-go mail service, you lot know that the house we bought had been abandoned for nearly 12 years. When I called to schedule a pest control visit during escrow, they asked me what nosotros had.  I answered that I assumed we had it all.

We bought the business firm every bit-is, just that didn't mean we didn't have in a bevy of inspectors before closing. From our friends in construction, structural engineering science and architecture, to roofers, electricians, gardeners, pest command, etc., we called in dozens of people to requite us the worst news we could go so we would be prepared.

For the most part, that strategy has served u.s.a. well, the just unforeseen trouble being a gas leak (more than on that in another post).

Merely the entire time we were in escrow, we were dreaming of cleaning and restoring and what we would demand to do over. My husband said he idea a team would take two days to clean it. I said closer to ii weeks. These are some of the photos of how the business firm looked when we bought information technology (notation that there are entire walls and windows that are not visible due to all of the things piled in in that location, not to mention effectually lxx% of the lights weren't working):

The house smelled when we bought it. Emptying all the junk help the odor somewhat. But moving items that had been in in that location for years has another effect. Information technology uncovers mounds of dust balls, spider webs, trash, and more left behind when they were exposed from their hiding spaces.

In a perfect globe, I would say offset your logroller upper project by getting the lights on.  Just I take learned that that is non always so easy (and likewise not always that safe, run into upcoming post). In the meantime a couple of proficient clamp lights (use an LED seedling so information technology doesn't get too hot) and an extension cord will do the trick. Y'all practice demand to encounter to clean.

I highly recommend cleaning before you do any work. Why clean before working? Because things we idea we would need to tear out (like the kitchen cabinets), turned out to exist perfect. We had multiple wood-floor refinishing guys in during escrow.  Afterwards a thorough cleaning and polishing, we realized it wasn't necessary.

The outset week we were cleaning was disheartening even though I had an astonishing housekeeper on my team. This was just such a huge undertaking, you couldn't look at it the manner you look at almost cleaning projects. Information technology concluded up taking usa about 5 weeks to clean the inside of the house (with a daily team of least 3 and sometimes upwardly to 5 people).  Now when I mean clean, I mean no rock unturned, no surface non entirely disinfected. I could take shaved a week, mayhap even two, had I known how to approach a very neglected house.

If you are cleaning any fixer-upper or abased house, hither'south the order in which yous should tackle things:

  1. Empty the entire house of anything non built in or too big to move. Shop everything in a garage for example if possible. A storage POD you can rent and place in the driveway could work every bit well.
  2. Assemble your tools. Getting your deep cleaning arsenal correct is very important. You lot don't want to waste time constantly running out to the store. I take a post on 19 Must Have Deep Cleaning Tools for your fixer upper.
  3. Sweep, vacuum or a combination of the ii, the entire house. I like both sweeping and vacuuming and I found that with our rather extra dirty case business firm, sweeping and then post-obit with a vacuum is useful. We will become to the serious tools later simply at least yous volition have removed dirt that would inevitably just migrate around the firm and impede cleaning.
  4. At this signal and at this signal only, beginning cleaning from 1 stop of the house to the other. Or superlative to bottom if you have a two story firm (dirt does fall). For usa, we started at the cease of the business firm with the kitchen (our front door is in the middle of the house) because it was the worst. Nosotros had a loft on that side, so we started up there. In that location are two other things to consider in your cleaning order. One, is that getting the worst room out of the way makes you feel better and motivates you to keep going. 2, if the kitchen is not the worst room, you may still desire to consider moving it toward the front of the cleaning schedule since having a functional kitchen makes working much easier.
  5. Clean each room from top to bottom since gravity takes dust and dirt downward.You don't want to clean more than times than you need to. In a muddy firm, start with the ceiling.
  6. You may need to make clean the flooring multiple times for extremely bad cases.Stay tuned for an unabridged floor post.  Not all floors are created equal and at that place isn't just one way to clean them.
  7. Once yous have cleaned the unabridged business firm, be set to clean once more than.This cleaning will non be equally intense only it is equally of import since in a very dirty house dirt tends to migrate.

I will be sharing before and after photos and lots of detailed cleaning tips over the adjacent weeks and months. If y'all want to be alerted to a post, please send an e-mail to info@lovecleanrestore.com to become on the newsletter list or subscribe below: