If you plan to move into a new home with some issues, you will likely want to have them sorted out before moving in. After all, remodeling or renovations are messy and grueling construction works to live through. However, while you can dodge the discomfort of staying in a home under construction, you cannot avoid the cleanup work that follows. And, unless you want to hire professional cleaners, having a post-construction cleaning checklist is very helpful. So, we have prepared one for you!
Air out your home
Your post-construction cleaning checklist should start with the task of opening every window in your home. The inside of your house will likely not smell very nice. The paints, chemicals, and dust will all contribute to a nauseating combination that will make you want to rush out immediately. And that’s when construction work had been ongoing during summer or warm weather, and the crew could afford to leave windows open themselves. It will be mildly hazardous to your health during winter, particularly if you have allergies. These conditions are also the foremost reason you do not want to settle into you new home until construction work is over. Our advice is to look into deodorizing a room properly and act quickly to avoid compromising your furniture and your health.
Wipe down everything
We can’t stress this enough, but there will be dust everywhere in your home. And we do mean everywhere. Every available surface will be covered in it. So, you need to roll up your sleeves and give everything a good scrub. Or at least a wipedown. The most critical areas to cover are:
- Countertops
- Floors
- Widows
- Banisters and handrails
- Appliances
- Interior masonry
Note that you should be careful with how you treat each item. Some can handle more moisture, such as countertops of windows. However, it might be helpful to look up tips for cleaning hardwood floors if you have them since you can easily have problems with them if you expose them to too much water.
Collect all leftover packaging and trash
There will likely be some trash left in your home, no matter how conscientious the work crew may have been. So, to ensure a sew environment in which to clean, the next item on our post-construction cleaning checklist would be to throw such trash out. You might find cans of paint, wrapping plastic, boxes, or similar packaging material. Of course, if you see leftover packaging of chemicals or hazardous materials, you might be better off calling in professional cleaning. Or at least approach carefully with protective gloves and mask.
Clean the door frames
When it comes to post-construction cleaning, many people forget doors. The frames provide an excellent place for dust and debris to hide. If you check out the sides and tips of your door frames, you might be surprised how much dust is accumulated there. Typically, this would not present much of an issue. But with the amount of dust and debris construction causes, you want to get them off your doors. Otherwise, they might fall off when using the door and cause allergic reactions.
Dust the ceiling and lights
You can’t precisely wipe them down, but dust will find its way onto your ceiling and any lights you have in your room, too. So, you will be forced to do the old-fashioned dusting. This will cause all the dust to rise, or rather fall, so you will want to give it time to settle down afterward. Or you will be forced to clean everything else in the room again. This is why it is wise to do this part of the cleaning a few days ahead of most everything else and well before you move into your new home since it would just cause dust to settle over all your things.
Clean the toilets
Do not forget to give your toilets a thorough cleaning. Construction crews are only human, and they had likely been in a position to have to use your bathroom occasionally. Unfortunately, their work is hard and messy, and that mess may have found its way to your toilet bowl too. When you clean your old home after moving to leave it in decent condition to the new owners, you should also remember to pay special attention to the toilets there. No one likes moving in and discovering a mess left for them.
Clean cabinets, drawers, closets, and similar
Many people seem to think that dust and debris particles cannot find their way in just because they had closed their drawers, closets, cabinets, and similar. Unfortunately, this is not true. Such allergens are extraordinarily tiny and airborne. Does air find its way into such places? Of course! So there’s no reason to believe dust can’t, either. If you want to allergy-proof your home, the biggest mistake you can make is disregard this. Since, if you do, you might just put on your clothes as you usually do only to find that the dust in the drawers had contaminated them. This would cause a quick rush for medication at best for a person with dust allergies.
Check your lawn for debris
As the final item on our post-construction cleaning checklist, remember to comb your lawn for debris. How often have you dropped something and couldn’t find it? Well, such things can happen to construction workers, too. Except that debris leftover from construction can be significantly more dangerous. Pieces of glass, nails, wood chips, and similar could all be left on your lawn or yard. And if you have kids or pets, you can bet they would find such debris in the worst ways possible. Spare yourself the stress of dealing with injuries.
Some more advice
Having gone through our post-construction cleaning checklist, you should be better prepared for the task! Just remember to keep your kids well away from your new home until you are done. There is plenty in such a process that can jeopardize their health, and you do not want to deal with that stress.