Reopening a closed-up house in Freeland: the order that saves work

Walk through looking for water first

Before you clean anything, look for signs of a leak:

• Stains on ceilings, especially under bathrooms
• The cabinet floor under every sink
• Around the water heater, the washing machine and each toilet base
• Windowsills and the floor beneath windows
• Basement walls and floors, and any carpet down there
• Carpet edges along outside walls, pressed with your hand to feel for damp

Your nose helps too. A musty smell that's much stronger in one room is a clue.

If you find an active leak, standing water or carpet that's wet through to the pad, call a plumber and a water damage restoration company. Eco-Dry isn't a water damage restoration company, and cleaning isn't the right first step for a wet house.

Let the house breathe for a few days

Once the air can move, a closed-up house starts to smell better fairly quickly. Open windows on a dry day, run the HVAC with a new filter and switch on the ceiling fans. If the basement feels damp, run a dehumidifier.

Run water in every sink, tub and shower, and flush each toilet. A drain that hasn't been used in months can dry out and let sewer smell into the house, and a little water refills it.

Sort out what the smell is

After a few days of fresh air, pay attention to what's left:

• Stale, closed-up air fades on its own with airing.
• Musty or earthy usually means dampness somewhere. Keep looking for the source.
• Sewer smell often points to a dried-out drain.
• Pet or smoke odor lives in carpet, pad, furniture and walls, and it needs targeted work.

If one spot still smells strong after the rest of the house has aired out, find out why before you book cleaning for that room.

Dust from the top down

Dust falls, so work from high to low: ceiling fans and light fixtures, the tops of cabinets and door frames, shelves, blinds and windowsills, then the furniture and finally the floors.

If furniture sat under sheets, fold each sheet inward from the corners so the dust stays inside, then carry it outdoors to shake out. Vacuum the carpet slowly once the dusting is done, with a fresh bag or an emptied canister, since a house like this can fill one quickly.

Decide what stays before anything gets cleaned

For an estate, sort and remove what's leaving before the cleaning. Empty rooms can be cleaned edge to edge, and there's no point paying to clean a sofa that's headed for donation. Clean the pieces you or the family are keeping.

For a seasonal house, focus on the rooms you'll actually use. A guest room nobody sleeps in until July can wait.

When to schedule the cleaning

Book carpet and upholstery cleaning after any leak repairs, after the clear-out, after the dusting and after painters or other trades are finished. Cleaning first and then hauling boxes and furniture across the carpet just undoes the work.

Freeland is about 52 minutes from Forest Hill, so give yourself some lead time when you book. Rich Tobin or an Eco-Dry technician handles the visit, so plan who will be there to let them in.

Where cleaning stops being the answer

Steam cleaning, known in the trade as hot water extraction, removes settled dust, soil and most everyday odors from carpet. Upholstery cleaning freshens sofas and chairs that sat for months. Together they go a long way toward making a closed-up house feel lived in again.

Cleaning can't fix mold inside walls, a pad soaked by an old leak or damage from water that sat for weeks. Heavy pet urine or smoke may need more than one approach, and sometimes replacement makes more sense than cleaning.

Keeping it fresh after you leave

If the house will be closed up again, a few steps make the next opening easier. Leave interior doors open so air can move between rooms, and set the heat or air to keep the house from swinging between extremes. A dehumidifier that drains on its own is worth considering for a damp basement.

Ask a neighbor or relative to walk through now and then and run the taps. A quick look every few weeks can catch a leak before it reaches the carpet.

Booking from a distance

If you're handling the house from out of town, tell us how access will work and who we can reach on the day. Carpet costs $65 for each room of up to 200 square feet, with sofas at $150 and chairs at $65. Freeland visits have a $275 minimum, and the online booking shows the total up front, before you confirm.

See carpet cleaning in Freeland and upholstery cleaning in Freeland for the service details.