How to clean the interior of a new build?

Hi, our plumber is finished up tomorrow and basically, that as they say is that with regard to all major jobs, we have to start thinking of getting the place clean and ready to put carpet, etc into, thought I would never see this day come, alleluia!!

Can anyone give me advice please on where to start:-
1./ the walls and skylight sills are very dusty, do I wash these down with water & cloth or hoover them? Would this suffice, we only have a house vacuum cleaner? same with our concrete floors, they are filthy with some plaster and dust? Is it even necessary to clean them all, looking for a short cut. Will I just be basically chasing dust around the place because I fear when I come back the next day, as plede would say, "the dust would have settled"?
2./ our window sills have brown marks on them, which I can't seem to remove with sand paper,our own fault re not pre-varnishing, the sides of them have white paint on them. Do you recommend I get a sander in and just scape clean altogether, then do the whole varnish sand 3 times?
3./ Wooden floors, do I just get floor cleaner and bucket of water and rinse mop out really well and just get scrubbing or is there a product you would recommend for this, a better method.
4./ Kitchen, any product that would bring our wooden ivory kitchen back to spankin new, the dust!!!

Any other tips very much appreciated as our house interior is a shell of a buiding site and we want to be in by March 16th.

if your walls are not painted and your floors are just concrete,id say your wasting your time trying too clean it 100%,the dust will keep comming until you get the carpets down and walls painted,also if your woodwork has too be done,then there is a whole lot of dust involved in sanding the woodwork down too get it finished,

at the end of our self build we just had to get our sleeves rolled up and get stuck in. basically started with yard brushes (on the concrete floors), get all the heavy stuff up and then on to a normal sweeping brush, then a vacuum before the tiling/floor levelling etc

the dust seemed never ending, i remember just sweeping endlessly, but you'll get there, eventually.......




oh, and the vacuum we used eventually burnt out from all the strain. good luck!

Hi,

One piece of advice abbica, sweeping concrete with all that dust make sure to wear a dust mask - can damage your lungs and have plenty of ventilation. Start with the floors, then start on window cills and windows - walls not so sure on as you may need to put a sealer on the walls before you paint - you can spray the ceilings and walls now with undercoat which makes life easier as new plaster litterally drinks paint. Get all the dust out of the way before you start to paint, then paint and then once fully painted put on your floor coverings. Best of luck and enjoy your new home.

Angela59

Use a industrial vac if bad with cement dust or sawdust. It'll destroy standard vac.. Other than that have you considered getting a company in to bring it to standards. Sometime it pays as it free your time up for more important things..

*Derek* said:

Use a industrial vac if bad with cement dust or sawdust. It'll destroy standard vac...

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+1 Try one of the hire centres or use one the "ash-vac" attachments for cleaning ash and soot from fire-places.

mathepac said:

+1 Try one of the hire centres or use one the "ash-vac" attachments for cleaning ash and soot from fire-places.

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The Ash Vac will not do the job. Apart from the fact that it says on the box that it is unsuitable, it is not strong enough.

As far as I know the industrial hoovers are not any more powerful - just have bigger capacity and extra filters to cope with the fine dust. I hired one once - a waste of my money.

People are advised not to use a domestic hoover because it will be ruined by that same fine dust. However, a domestic hoover is exactly what you need. It has a narrow nozzle which allows you to suck all the dust from corners and edges, and a brush attachment to do your walls.

A hoover is not very expensive - use it to clean your house and dump it when it burns out.

If you are sweeping concrete, pick up the biggest bits of debris, sprinkle with water and sweep slowly with a kitchen brush. Then, paint or spray the floor with a mixture of polybond and water. This will help to seal the floor and keep the dust down.

Apart from the concrete floors, don't go anywhere with water, until you have most of the dust removed. If you wet the dust it will just turn it into dirt, and then you'll be scraping instead of dusting.

Above all WEAR A MASK. Get a good one, not one of those white ones that cost tenpence. I didn't, and I am now paying for it.

Thanks for all your advice, step one, good mask so. I did sweap out a lot of dirt one day a while ago and I couldn't see with the dust and coughed for a few days so this time I won't.
Our house is painted all ready, everything is done bar carpets and putting stuff in. So, I will just use the domestic hoover, I would be of the same thoughts, just use it and if it burns out, throw it out, but good tip about the brush for the walls. And I will get a good yard brush also, sweep the dust gently, then spray with a little water just to keep the dust down? Just carpet man is coming in 10 days so have to have the floors ready for him.
I suppose when it comes to cleaning the rest of the place like kitchen, bathrooms etc., you can't beat the cillet bang range. What about cleaning the wooden floors? I would fear that cillet bang would strip the colour as it is that strong!!

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