Cleaning up after builders

feesh

Has anyone got any experience/tips of cleaning up after the builders have gone?

We've had a lot of very messy work done in every room in our house. A lot of knocking down of plaster, walls, replastering, even having a concrete floor dug out and re-laid.

So everything is FILTHY, even the kitchen, which wasn't touched, is properly dirty. Every surface is covered in thick, plastery, cakey dust.

Some of the carpets are a bit wrecked and we can't afford to replace them yet. The other rooms are wooden floorboards, which are currently covered in dust and sawdust/wood shavings.

ALL of our furniture is in storage, so there is literally nothing in the house.

Now I don't think the cleaning up process will actually be too bad, and I am looking forward to it...but Mr Feesh wants to get some professionals in.

I just wondered if anyone had any experience of cleaning up such a mess, and if its much worse than I'm imagining.

Also, how do you actually go about it? I am presuming:

• Wash all walls (and ceilings?) down with sugar soap ready for painting
• Clean windows and sills and any other "ledges" or room features (there are no skirting boards, they've all been temporarily removed for various reasons and we will be re-painting them before re-fitting them anyway).
• Hire industrial vacuum cleaner and do floors
• Clean kitchen and bathrooms from top to bottom

That's all I can think of that's involved - it can't be that hard, surely? I reckon I would find it quite satisfying, but Mr Feesh thinks I'm insane!

What kit do I need - I was thinking a steam cleaner, but not sure why!!!

Feesh
x

wallbash

Go for it

Looks like a well thought out list.
My first thought/problem ... what do you do first .
Wash walls . then vac . would that cause muck to be transfered to clean area's ??

So !! quick sweep and vac
wash
and be prepared to vac again?
I think it will be more a dust problem than anything else .

feesh

I was thinking I'd just do it systematically from room to room, starting upstairs at the back and sealing each room off as it's finished. But yes will probably have to vac twice. Woohoo!

robv_3

Don't use a dyson to vacuum up plaster / cement dust unless you want to by a new one.

wallbash

Trouble with any vac ( dyson/henry/hoover or wet/dry) the plaster /cement wont do it any favours.
If the vac has a bag/filter very quickly will block.
But the cost of you doing it, rather than paying someone else , might well pay for a new vac.

Murder your own vac and after the job be prepared to buy a replacement!

aliasojo

I bought a Henry to deal with our DIY fallout and the plaster dust chokes it within a very short space of time which means the bag needs changed and the filter banged to get some of the dust out during every session.

Having said that, I killed my Dyson with one go almost...the plaster dust is lethal.

Also be prepared to clean one room so you can see your face in the surfaces .......and then go back in half an hour and there will be a fine layer of dust again. :rolleyes: It hangs in the air and settles once there is no movement.

It's definitely do-able......get the marigolds out and put something upbeat on the stereo.

Edinburghlass_2

I had "professionals" in to clean my house before moving in after work had been done everywhere and I had to do it all myself again

After you have finished I'd get the money Mr Feesh would have paid and go treat yourself to something nice!

lifesuckssometimes

get the [EMAIL="bl@@dy"]bl@@dy[/EMAIL] builders to clean up their mess as a plasterer and decorator i cover all doors and flooring and clean up the mess after.

fellakel

having done a ton of refurbs, i would say as a builder, they should clean up (even just a bit!). Dust is the biggest enemy. Buy a cheap vac for £20 from currys and kill it. To reduce dust in the air, make sure the floorboards are mopped damp each night when the building works stop-this will help.

you will never stop dust and rubbish around the property - just do your best to reduce it.

feesh

wallbash wrote: »

Murder your own vac and after the job be prepared to buy a replacement!

Our vac is already murdered, I was thinking of hiring something to do it with. Just found out that nephew can get 99% discount for us (yes, 99%!!!) at Travis Perkins new hire shop as he is a trainee store manager :T

paddy's_mum

I've had to do exactly this when our home was substantially rebuilt after a catastrophic house fire. I found that doing one room at a time broke the job up into manageable chunks.

Use a broom as your first line of attack, sweeping rubble, plaster and other bits into a dustpan. Get a load of "dog towels" or old sheets from a charity shop. Tear them into dusters and use them slightly damp. That way, the dust sticks to the cloth rather than simply flying up and settling back down onto the surfaces again.

Use your vac only once the majority of the mess has been removed. You will almost certainly have to keep on with the damp dusting for several weeks as it is amazing how much dust seems to seep out of every nook and cranny. Good luck with it all.