The clean after the contractors leave. Fine construction dust removed properly, so your new kitchen doesn’t come with a grey film on everything for the next month.
Why remodel dust is its own problem
Contractors clean up. They sweep, they haul debris, they leave the site tidy. That’s not the same as the house being clean.
Drywall and joint compound dust is extraordinarily fine. It stays airborne for days, travels through the whole house on the HVAC system, and settles onto every horizontal surface, including rooms nowhere near the work. Then, right when you think it’s done, more settles overnight.
Wiping it with a damp cloth turns it into a smear. Vacuuming with a household vacuum blows most of it back into the room. Getting it out takes the right sequence and the right equipment, and it takes more than one pass.
What we do
Top-down, in the right order. Ceilings, fixtures, and high surfaces first, then walls, then furniture level, then floors last. Cleaning floors first just means doing them again.
Every horizontal surface. Including the ones nobody thinks about: tops of door frames, window casings, ledges, the tops of cabinets, and inside light fixtures.
Film, stickers, and labels pulled. New appliances, windows, fixtures, and hardware all come with protective film and adhesive labels. Removing them is tedious and it’s what makes the space read as finished.
Cabinets and closets inside and out. Fine dust gets inside everything, including drawers that were never opened during the work.
Windows and tracks. Both sides, plus the sills and tracks where construction debris collects.
Paint, caulk, and joint compound spots removed from floors, glass, fixtures, and hardware.
Vents, returns, and fixtures. Dust in the HVAC returns is why the house keeps getting dusty after everything else is clean.
Floors. Vacuumed thoroughly, then scrubbed or mopped according to the surface. New floors need care about what they can take.
Carpet extraction where construction dust has settled into the pile. Vacuuming alone won’t get it out.
Timing
Book after the last trade is out, including punch list work. A remodel clean before the final touch-ups means doing it twice.
If you’re moving back in on a fixed date, tell us and we’ll work to it.
Whole house or just the work area?
Usually more of the house than people expect. Dust travels, so a kitchen remodel often means cleaning the adjacent living space and any room on the same HVAC zone. We’ll assess it on the walkthrough and tell you what actually needs doing rather than quoting the whole house by default.
FAQ
How is this different from move-out cleaning?
Move-out is empty-house deep cleaning. Post-remodel is dust removal, a different problem needing a different sequence and different equipment.
Do I need this if my contractor cleaned up?
Almost certainly. Contractors remove debris and sweep. That’s a different job from removing fine airborne dust from every surface in the house.
How long does it take?
Depends on scope and how much dust escaped the work area. A single-room remodel might be a half day; a whole-house renovation can be several days.
Related
Post-construction cleaning · Carpet cleaning · Window cleaning
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Serving Bend, Redmond, Sunriver, Prineville, Sisters, La Pine, Terrebonne and Tumalo.