Cleaning advise on relatives house

pixie12_2

To make this brief and simple, my grand father died a couple of weeks ago and wasn't found for around two weeks. We are currently cleaning the house out and we cannot seem to get rid of the smell.

If anyone has any suggestions on what we could do it will be a great help!

heuchera

I guess you've tried the obvious things like opening all the windows and giving the place a good airing.

One of the tenants here moved out but didn't empty his fridge freezer before he went. I'd guess the place was empty for a good few weeks. The smell was absolutely awful, there were rats and flies in there and the flat was in a terrible state.

They had to get professional cleaners in, who I think cleaned the place from top to bottom with an industrial strength cleaning product. I don't know which ones they used but the HG range are pretty good. You can get them in most hardware stores.

Hopefully a thorough clean and airing the place will do the trick, but if not it might be worth getting the professionals in.

pixie12_2

Yes we have aired the house out for over a week now. All the carpets have been removed and we are looking into a cleaner coming to do the furniture ect. The problem is that it smells like its attached to everything in the house.

VfM4meplse

I'd be interested in hearing answers to this one.

A friend bought a flat months ago, but the previous owners were smokers. It was gutted, I cleaned it thoroughly, it was painted top to bottom and has had new hardwood flooring installed. Yet when I walked in yesterday it still reeked of smoke (to me, but I've got a nose like a bloodhound).

onlyroz

How much would it cost to get the pros in?

pixie12_2

My father has had different quotes from different services quoting from £400 up to £1000 without hearing the full details of the house as well. I think I'll give a ring around tomorrow and see what I can find, just hard as it's in the middle of no where.

heuchera

It might be worth contacting the environmental health people? Sometimes if a building has been exposed to bad odours and dirt over a long period of time it can get into the walls and the smell lingers even when the place has been cleaned.

dragonette

Sugar soap for the hard surfaces, but fabrics etc will prob need specialist cleaning. Maybe steam cleaning would help?

Condolences for your loss, and I hope the cleaning out process has as little stress as possible.

jrtfan

Oh, I'm so sorry for your loss.

I found an article online which is relevant to the situation you describe and was very clinical in what it described. To sum it up, the odour-causing compound can permeate most materials and get into crawl spaces etc so the recommendation was to at least seek advice from bio cleansing experts, who will be able to explain where to look and how to clean. Then I suppose take it from there. I hope you have some success soon anyway.

All the best.

jrtfan

VfM4meplse wrote: »

I'd be interested in hearing answers to this one.

A friend bought a flat months ago, but the previous owners were smokers. It was gutted, I cleaned it thoroughly, it was painted top to bottom and has had new hardwood flooring installed. Yet when I walked in yesterday it still reeked of smoke (to me, but I've got a nose like a bloodhound).

I think the 2 odours probably would have to be treated in different ways because the odour-causing compounds would be very unalike. Some people recommend placing little bowls of vinegar strategically around the house:
http://www.thriftyfun.com/Removing-Cigarette-Smoke-Odors-From-a-House.html

VfM4meplse

jrtfan wrote: »

I think the 2 odours probably would have to be treated in different ways because the odour-causing compounds would be very unalike. Some people recommend placing little bowls of vinegar strategically around the house:
http://www.thriftyfun.com/Removing-Cigarette-Smoke-Odors-From-a-House.html

Thanks but it didn't work