Home renovations can leave your space looking brand-new, but the cleanup afterward is hardly the thing anyone looks forward to. You might even consider it a whole different project. No matter how careful your contractors are, the super unwelcome consequences of tearing and rebuilding your house can still be here. This can include dust, debris, and leftover material finding their way into every corner. For that reason, it’s always good to do a few future checks before all is said and done. If you’re staring at the mess wondering how long it will take to restore a sense of normalcy to the space, you wouldn’t be the first one.
But how long does this take? Well, usually a renovation cleanup depends on the size of the project, how thorough you want to be, and whether you’re tackling it yourself or hiring help. In this post we’ll look into what to expect and a few tips to make it more manageable.
Small Projects: A Day Or Two
If you’ve just had a room painted or replaced some light fixtures, the cleanup shouldn’t take more than a day or two. Treat it like a usual clean but with some trash removal. Wiping down surfaces, vacuuming, and disposing of any packaging or minor debris is usually all that’s needed here, but remember that it’s worth giving everything a good once-over, because dust tends to travel further than you’d think.
Tools like a shop vacuum or a microfiber mop can help get rid of fine particles that your usual tools might miss. You can do most of this yourself of course, so there’s at least a little autonomy here.
Medium-Sized Renovations: A Few Days to A Week
If you’ve undergone a larger renovation such as a kitchen remodel or new flooring throughout your home, cleanup gets a little more involved. After all, you may have torn out older areas of the house. That means you’ll likely need a few days to sort out the mess, depending on how much furniture needs moving, how much debris there is, and whether materials like tile or plaster or drywall were involved.
This may require a step-by-step job such as dusting every surface, washing walls, and cleaning air vents for future breathability After all, it really is important to prevent leftover particles from circulating. If there’s a lot of debris, renting a dumpster or scheduling a junk removal service such as The Junkluggers can save you multiple trips to the landfill and a lot of frustration. It’s also the most ethical and sustainable way to go.
Large Renovations: One/Two Weeks
If you’ve fundamentally changed how the home looks and operates, such as a new addition or knocking through walls, they will of course come with a much bigger cleanup commitment. These projects often produce impressive amounts of debris, leftover materials, and a whole lot of dust on top of it all. Deep cleaning will likely take a week or more, you may need to do it professionally, and you may even need additions like pest control to deal with your house being “open” for a week or more.
After the prior advice is followed, you may also need to hire professionals for tasks like washing windows, cleaning inside cabinets, and even treating carpets or upholstery to remove stains or any impacts you didn’t expect. While this adds to the budget, it lets you get back to normal as quickly as possible.
With this advice, we hope you can better clean up correctly even after a home renovation.
