Tips For Cleaning Up After A Home Renovation Project

Renovations have to be done from time to time, but what a mess they can make in the home.

Your home renovation project will take some time and leave at least part of your home unusable for that period.

Once it’s all finished, there is still work to be done. Your home will need to be tidied up, and there will likely be rooms that need to be cleaned beyond the one that was renovated.

You may feel overwhelmed when you look at all the cleanup there is to do, but we have a breakdown for you of all the steps you ought to take to tidy up after a home renovation.

Clean The Vents

You’ll want to get the ventilation system cleaned right near the start of the tidying up. This is a big deal because the air you breathe will affect how you feel and how healthy you are.

Renovation projects can greatly impact the air quality in your home, filling the airways with specks of dust, dirt, and tiny particles of all kinds.

You don’t want to be breathing these in, but as long as they are trapped in your air conditioning and ventilation system, then you will be.

Make sure you change out the air filters and clean out the ducts and vents (though you may need professional cleaning services to do that for you).

If you don’t take care of this issue, you will have dust and dirt spread throughout the entire house.

Remove Large Rubbish

There may be some larger items that have been left behind by the renovation crew. This could include chunks of walls, flooring, bricks and cinder blocks, wooden beams, glass, paper, and trash.

Some of these items can actually be dangerous, and of course you won’t be able to clean the rest of the area very well unless the larger items are out of the way.

You will want to have them hauled off first, and if they are too big for you, consider hiring a rubbish removal service to take care of that for you.

Many professional cleaning companies offer post-construction cleanup and rubbish removal in their services, so consider hiring professionals if you are unable to move the items yourself.

If you can’t get rid of the large stuff right away, then it can simply be set to the side so you can do the other cleaning you need to so, or better yet, it can be removed to rest somewhere outside your house.

Don’t hurt yourself trying to move large items. If they are going to give you trouble, just let someone else take care of this part of the cleanup.

Vacuum and Sweep

You will need to clean up the small dust particles from the renovated area next. These will make your cleanup job a lot bigger if you don’t take care of them fast.

Particles from the construction can easily spread throughout the house, dirtying other rooms, affecting your air quality, and making a bigger mess.

You’ll want to sweep to get the larger particles and then vacuum to get the rest of it. Use the different attachments that came with your vacuum cleaner to tidy up different kinds of surfaces and to get in the corners of the room so that you’re not missing anything.

You want to be really thorough as you clean the floors. If you’re leaving some of the dust behind, you will feel like you are cleaning up the same mess over and over again.

Make sure that you clean ahead of you and don’t step into the mess as you work. You don’t want to be tracking more dust and dirt across the parts of the floor that you have already cleaned.

Finish cleaning the floors by mopping, if necessary. This can make your floors really shine and help to kill germs and make the room much safer for you and your family.

Mopping also get rid of fine dust that could be stuck to the floor and will make hard floors very slippery.

You might think it makes sense to mop at the end of the cleanup, but we suggest mopping after you sweep and vacuum the floors and then mopping again at the end.

That way, you have clean, safe floors to stand on for the rest of the cleaning.

Clean The Walls and Windows

The dust and debris from the renovation will get everywhere in the room. You may love the way the new fixtures and other components look in your finished room.

But they will look even better once you clean off the fine layer of dust and paint specks on them.

You can wipe down most walls with a slightly damp cloth dipped in warm water.

If you are concerned about germs, then you can use a disinfectant cleaner first and then rinse that off by wiping the walls again with a damp cloth.

Depending on the kind of material the walls are made of, you may need to set up fans to speed up drying so you don’t damage the walls.

For sheetrock walls, you can dry dust, wiping down the walls with a long dust brush.

The windows come next, and you’ll want to use a streak-free window cleaner for them.

Wipe them dry first to get rid of the film of dust that is likely resting on them, and then use a window cleaning solution to give them a beautiful shine.

Be sure to wipe inside the windowsill as well to get rid of any dust that may have accumulated there.

Final Touches

Now it’s time to stand back and look at the room and see if it needs any additional work. You may need to mop once more to get rid of any dust that landed on the floor as you cleaned the walls.

You may also need to buff and repair any areas of the room where the construction crew left scratch marks and nicks as they worked.

There may be some fixtures or other features of the room that need special attention before you finish.

Electronics, mirrors, countertops, and other surfaces may require fine cleaning or special cleaning methods to make them look like new.

For paint spots in the room, you can remove them with a paint scraper or use a little paint thinner, if necessary.

You can also bring any furniture and decorations in after the room has been properly tidied, creating the look you want for the newly renovated space.

Closing Thoughts

The home renovation project may be one that you hired professionals for to ensure the job was done right. Then you have the cleanup after the project is done.

That can feel like a project of its own, and if it is too much work, you will want to bring in some professionals to handle it for you.

They can help you keep the mess localized so you aren’t cleaning all over the house, and they can allow you to sit back and relax while the tidying up is done.

Don’t get overwhelmed after the renovation has finished. Take the cleanup step by step and you will be fine.