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After Remodeling...Best Way to Clean?

I

IngridN

TUG Member
Joined
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Location
San Francisco Bay Area
Resorts Owned
Marriotts: Aruba Surf Club, Grand Chateau, Shadow Ridge
HELP! Our Phase I remodeling (gutted the upstairs master bath, hall bath and downstairs laundry room) is pretty much complete and I'm at a loss as to the best way to clean up. I dust, but the layer is almost as bad the next day. I assume that construction dust contains grease/oil/lubricants and needs more deep cleaning. I need to clean all the newly installed cabinetry, etc.

It's been suggested to me, to use a professional cleaning service, however, I'd prefer to do it myself. Any experience with this and what products did you use?

Thank you.

Ingrid
 
Swifters work pretty good for dust.
 
You may want to consider having your ducts cleaned by a professional company. That will cut down on the dust, after that try using a micro fibre cloth. I have lived through three major gut jobs and some things can not be cleaned without special equipment. good luck!
 
dterkkila said:
You may want to consider having your ducts cleaned by a professional company. That will cut down on the dust, after that try using a micro fibre cloth. I have lived through three major gut jobs and some things can not be cleaned without special equipment. good luck!
Click to expand...

Not quite sure why you would recommend duct cleaning. Because of the reno? Our ducts were replaced 3 years ago when we replaced the furnaces so they are pretty clean. Also, upstairs furnace was not turned on during the reno... Fortunately, we're having nice weather!

I guess I'm trying to find the best product to clean wood furniture. I don't like using wax products and have never done any more furniture cleaning than dusting and the damp paper towel for spills. The rest can be cleaned with the steam cleaner and specific products for the natural stone. I dust with the swiffer and the furniture still has a grey tint to it :bawl:.

We're gutting the downstairs in about 2 weeks, so other than the furniture, everything will be replaced. Also hoping to keep the dust from migrating upstairs.

Ingrid
 
The best way to clean (always) = housekeeper! :D
 
Maybe you should consider doing a little containment of your work area. Plastic sheeting works really good. Cleaning the job area daily is easy with plastic sheeting.

Bill
 
IngridN said:
Not quite sure why you would recommend duct cleaning. Because of the reno? Our ducts were replaced 3 years ago when we replaced the furnaces so they are pretty clean. Also, upstairs furnace was not turned on during the reno... Fortunately, we're having nice weather!

.....
Ingrid
Click to expand...

YOU just did 40 years worth of air blowing by doing a "gut" job. Those ducts ain't clean no more.

Construction dust (gutting esp plaster) gets EVERYWHERES including your dresser drawers, closests, china cabinets, etc. ANdD nice weather is great but a negative draw on the having open windows would have used the weather to YOUR advantage (that is where BIG FANS sucked the dust out of the demo rooms directly outside.. not allowing it to a large degree to just float thru your house ... with taped off rooms, all vents TAPED OFF, etc.

I bet the contractor's contract WARNED OF MINOR DUST? Now you know his definition of MINOR dust.
 
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We just completed remodeling two bathrooms and believe me you have dusts in your duct work. You will need your ducts cleaned by a professional and your carpet and maybe some painting done. Good luck.
 
I was always amazed how dusty everything was a few hours later after cleaning when renovating. Cleaning the ducts did help. I also had furnace on non stop during the renos. We did them in winter. Minus 20. I used Norwex cleaning products. Still do. Glad I have no up coming renos inside. Building a deck this summer. Love the look of a new space. Enjoy our day.
 
easyrider said:
Maybe you should consider doing a little containment of your work area. Plastic sheeting works really good. Cleaning the job area daily is easy with plastic sheeting.

Bill
Click to expand...

Yes we did and no it doesn't. I'm NOT talking about the job area...GC and crew were wonderful with daily cleanup there. I'm talking about the rest of the house.

Ingrid
 
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pedro47 said:
We just completed remodeling two bathrooms and believe me you have dusts in your duct work. You will need your ducts cleaned by a professional and your carpet and maybe some painting done. Good luck.
Click to expand...

Looks like we'll be getting the ducts cleaned after Phase 2 is complete in 3 mos. All carpets are being replaced with hardwood flooring and everything is being repainted. I'm already planning on washing all of our clothes.

Upstairs will be done in about 2 weeks. Painting left to be done as well as waiting on a redo of our shower glass as the glass company messed up on the edging and it has to be redone. Then final inspection and on to the downstairs!

I think I'll call a house cleaning company that specialized in construction cleaning and have them do some of the cleanup. My guess is that even though we're doing our best to contain with plastic zip sheeting, fans out the window, etc., I'm going to have a similar problem with Phase 2...some dust will migrate into our new, clean, upstairs and it won't be so after all is done :mad: and I'll have to go through this again.

We'll pretty much have a new house when everything is done.

Ingrid
 
Hang drop cloths up over every entranceway. Keep as many doors closed as you can. Open windows strategically if possible to let some air in and fumes out. Put remnant rugs and towels on the floors in strategic places where the workers go in and out. Clean living areas every day-vacuum and dust. Keep up on the bathrooms and kitchen- they are the most important. I have been putting up with this for going on 5 years and about to go through it again this spring

Essentially, when the work is over, I then just do one room at a time- top to bottom. I work full-time so this takes me quite a number of weekends but honestly it will get better.

Sure, some of the dust will resettle for quite some time but eventually things will get back to normal as you do your weekly/monthly cleaning or whatever your usual schedule is. Believe me, I am a clean freak so I know.

Gosh- I can't wait to get mine over with. Just started packing boxes and moving furniture for my floors to be refinished and painting done. I am getting too old for this stuff.
 
dterkkila said:
I was always amazed how dusty everything was a few hours later after cleaning when renovating. Cleaning the ducts did help. I also had furnace on non stop during the renos. We did them in winter. Minus 20. I used Norwex cleaning products. Still do. Glad I have no up coming renos inside. Building a deck this summer. Love the look of a new space. Enjoy our day.
Click to expand...

Yep, that's why I'm not even bothering to dust much...you can see the little kitty paw prints everywhere :hysterical:.

No work going on today. Going on a walk with the neighbor shortly, then fixing a nice b'fast for hubby who is not 'enjoying' this at all even though he's lucky to be at work all day while I'm stuck at home with the crew. Then shopping for materials for Phase 2...yuck. I am sooooo tired of decisions; had decided what I wanted but am now changing my mind.

Ingrid
 
mpumilia said:
Hang drop cloths up over every entranceway. Keep as many doors closed as you can. Open windows strategically if possible to let some air in and fumes out. Put remnant rugs and towels on the floors in strategic places where the workers go in and out. Clean living areas every day-vacuum and dust. Keep up on the bathrooms and kitchen- they are the most important. I have been putting up with this for going on 5 years and about to go through it again this spring

Essentially, when the work is over, I then just do one room at a time- top to bottom. I work full-time so this takes me quite a number of weekends but honestly it will get better.

Sure, some of the dust will resettle for quite some time but eventually things will get back to normal as you do your weekly/monthly cleaning or whatever your usual schedule is. Believe me, I am a clean freak so I know.

Gosh- I can't wait to get mine over with. Just started packing boxes and moving furniture for my floors to be refinished and painting done. I am getting too old for this stuff.
Click to expand...

Thanks Mary Ann. I actually was planning on cleaning each room top to bottom. Fortunately, I'm retired so can spend the time doing so. I'll hold off though, until the entire house is done, then get ducts cleaned and start room by room.

Ingrid
 
Thank you everyone for your input and suggestions. It has been very helpful. Unfortunately, we live in this hills on a blind corner, no sidewalks, or off street parking to speak of so getting one of those pods was out of the question as was moving all of the furniture and way too much stuff to a storage facility. In hindsight, we should have taken the trouble of moving most everything to an off-sight facility. Oh well, just lots more crap to clean!

Ingrid
 
When we were having some minor renovations done a few years ago I ruined my vacuum by vaccuming up drywall/sheetrock dust. It is so fine it passes right through the filters in the vaccume and plugged the motor up. The rest of the clean up was done with a shop vac.

The drywallers told me the best way to contain the dust was to hang damp sheets at the doorways. I ran a few old sheets through a rinse cycle in the washer and thumbtacked them over all the doorways. The dampness in the sheets trapped the dust a way better than the plastic the workmen had put up. I redampened the sheets when they stopped for lunch or breaks. The thumbtack holes were invisible after we painted.

~Diane
 
moonstone said:
When we were having some minor renovations done a few years ago I ruined my vacuum by vaccuming up drywall/sheetrock dust. It is so fine it passes right through the filters in the vaccume and plugged the motor up. The rest of the clean up was done with a shop vac.

The drywallers told me the best way to contain the dust was to hang damp sheets at the doorways. I ran a few old sheets through a rinse cycle in the washer and thumbtacked them over all the doorways. The dampness in the sheets trapped the dust a way better than the plastic the workmen had put up. I redampened the sheets when they stopped for lunch or breaks. The thumbtack holes were invisible after we painted.

~Diane
Click to expand...

Great idea about the damp sheets...will use it in Phase 2. Wrt to vacuuming, I'm using an old vacuum that I plan to get rid of. The new Dyson I got on sale at Costco won't come out of the box until everything is done!

Ingrid
 
If dust is blowing through out the house, the contractor did not do a good job of containment. With the new laws regarding lead, there can be a $30,000 fine if the containment is breached and lead is found.

Part of containment is to ensure no particles enter the duct work by creating a barrier between the ducts and work area even if no lead is present.

So if there was containment and particles are in your duct work you have an incompetent crew working on your home as this is a very basic and easy thing to do. There are filters that are used if the vent can not be contained with a solid material.

The damp sheet dealio is more for privacy from a bothersome home owner than it is about dust. It keeps the home owner busy and out of the way.

Bill
 
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IngridN said:
Not quite sure why you would recommend duct cleaning. Because of the reno? Our ducts were replaced 3 years ago when we replaced the furnaces so they are pretty clean. Also, upstairs furnace was not turned on during the reno... Fortunately, we're having nice weather!

I guess I'm trying to find the best product to clean wood furniture. I don't like using wax products and have never done any more furniture cleaning than dusting and the damp paper towel for spills. The rest can be cleaned with the steam cleaner and specific products for the natural stone. I dust with the swiffer and the furniture still has a grey tint to it :bawl:.

We're gutting the downstairs in about 2 weeks, so other than the furniture, everything will be replaced. Also hoping to keep the dust from migrating upstairs.

Ingrid
Click to expand...

Murphy's Oil Soap is very good for cleaning wood.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murphy_Oil_Soap
 
I was just about to recommend dusting with your vacuum cleaner, until I read about the clogging problem. Not sure how it would work in a major renovation, but our Dyson has an optional dusting brush that I just love. Instead of using cloths or even Swifters which just move the dust around, the Dyson sucks it up.

On a smaller scale for sure, but we replaced the shower pan in our walk-in tiled shower floor about a year ago. Dust everywhere, and I hadn't thought to close the closet doors adjoining the shower room. But the Dyson took care of it all with that dusting brush.

For wood furniture, I'm a fan of Method products (non-toxic, plant-based) and their wood polish works great.
 
Plastic covering...

IngridN said:
Yes we did and no it doesn't. I'm NOT talking about the job area...GC and crew were wonderful with daily cleanup there. I'm talking about the rest of the house.

Ingrid
Click to expand...

Agreed. We taped plastic sheeting over every doorway, the furniture, even the front of the china cabinet while our kitchen and den were being remodeled (Including hardwood floor light sanding and refinishing.) The dust got into everything. Cabinets, the furniture that was covered, the next rooms. What a mess. My floor man recommended a housekeeper to hire to clean it up (We had out of town relatives to entertain...outside.) We liked her so much she now comes every other week and my back is ever so much better not having to vacuum as often or mop! Best money spent!
 
We stored our furniture and it was worth the back & forth to the storage unit. Got the first month free w/o obligation.

This way, we just focused on the walls, floors and baseboards.


Repeating myself here, Swifters and tack cloths.



-
 
Our floor re-finisher covered every ac duct and smoke detector
 
We have two wood cleaner products in our laundry closet:
Murphy Oil Soap and Scott's Liquid Gold... Do a Google search.
Been there for years, so I don't know if they're sold anymore.

.
 
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