Deep cleaning a house

Adam

Adam

Adam

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
9,221
One of the properties we like looked fantastic in the pictures but when we viewed it was let down by being a bit tatty. There were cracks in the plaster and it had generally been knocked about a bit. In addition, there isn't an extractor fan in the en suite and as such there is mould under the window in the main bedroom. We are confident this is all cosmetic and can be sorted in time.

However, another issue is that the house is dirty and feels a bit grubby. I like things to be clean, I also don't like other peoples stuff especially if I am moving or buying that item. For example, if I buy a car I'll give it a really good clean (I even took the seats out of my most recent purchase to shampoo the carpets).

How can I give the house a really good clean? I'm thinking more along the lines of the kitchen and bathrooms as I will be able to hoover and clean the other rooms. We will buy all the products we need, but I was thinking of also hiring a steam cleaner when we move in. Is this the best thing for the job?
 
First thing is get the windows open and give it a really good air!

Carpet shampooing is a great place to start, anything soft furnishing wise always holds a lot of the old smells and 'grubbyness'. Diluted sugar soap can work well on walls, however a quick lick of paint will give better results - especially if you are needing to fill cracks etc.

If you have mould etc. I would recommend giving the house a good air, possibly even a dehumidifier just to get the house dried out :)
 
I completely agree about getting the windows open!

Steam clean tiles and laminate/wood if the steamer is appropriate for it. I like using Flash w/bleach on tiles and kitchen cupboards and stuff which I find gets things looking very clean and removes grease in the kitchen.

Carpet cleaners tend to be ok but I've yet to find one that will lift serious stains - though the carpet will be clean afterwards. We rent one from Morrisons.

Stuff like mould is easy enough to treat provided there's not a serious underlying problem. For example, our house is concrete and in a few rooms we've had patches. Using damp-seal paint (having thoroughly cleaned as much of the damp away), we've found none of it has returned. In the bathroom we used very good quality bathroom paint too which has stopped all mould there and we did used to get very bad damp in parts of the bathroom.

Simply repainting ceilings and walls (if you can) can be done quite cheaply and stops the house feeling so 'rough'. I find it amazing when that first coat of matt goes on the ceiling - you don't realise how yellow the old paint went!
 
When we bought our current house we had the luxury of still owning our last house so didn't need to mess around moving stuff in too quick, we got the family and two labourers from site for a day and gutted and cleaned / bleached from ridge to doorstep in a day.

Just washed everything no matter of the finish as I was / have knocked the place to pieces now.

Felt much better then as the house was full of cats before.
 
Thanks everyone, I'll call in some favours from family and friends. We did something similar when I bought my first house but initial thoughts are that this one is much worse. Yuck!
 
All windows open
Elbow grease
Bleach
Steam cleaner
Carpet cleaner

Call in the favours, buy some pizza and a case of beer for the helpers, job done
 
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