As a general contractor, your primary focus is on making a project come to life. Unfortunately, whether you’re renovating someone’s dream home or building the next big local business, there’s always a huge mess afterward.
It can be a bit overwhelming, and it’s probably not your favorite part of the job, but we have a 3-step cleaning strategy that can help you take care of post-construction cleanup as efficiently as possible.
1. The Rough Cleaning Phase
First, it’s best to get as much space cleared as possible right off the bat. You start seeing results faster, and you can start to organize your cleaning process without it getting overwhelming.
The best way to do that is to immediately clear all the big stuff.
You’ll likely already have your tools and smaller items packed up upon completion of the project, but make sure you get any workstations you set up out of the way first. You’ll have a much easier time with the next part of this phase if you don’t have to work around your table saws and similar items that you don’t want to damage.
Then, start grabbing all the large pieces of junk. You’ll likely have plenty of drywall sheets, demolition debris, and similar junk lying around. Those large pieces make the space look a lot more overwhelming than it really is, and they prevent you from moving around properly. Ignore all the smaller stuff for now.
2. The Main Cleaning Phase
Once you have all the big debris and your workstations out of the area, you’ll have a much more manageable space to deal with. There’s still a ton of work, but you can start organizing your cleaning process a bit.
This part will likely take the longest. You’ll need to remove any of the smaller debris that is left behind, and then the project starts to look more like traditional cleaning.
It’s best to work from the top to the bottom. That means starting with the walls and elevated surfaces such as cabinetry, countertops, shelves, etc. The reason you want to work downward from the top is to minimize how much you clean the floors.
Every time you clean a new surface, you’re going to get dust and debris on whatever surface is lower than it. You don’t want to start by sweeping and mopping the floors just to knock a bunch of debris off a countertop and have to do the floor again.
Most of this process will include sweeping, mopping, spraying, and wiping surfaces, all while following best practices to avoid issues like cross-contamination and other general cleaning tasks. However, you should put as much time and attention to detail into this part of the process as you can, because it will make the last step a lot easier.
3. Fine Detail Cleaning
By now, your project should look pretty clean. You’ve gotten all the debris and trash out, removed practically all the dust, and cleaned up all the surfaces. However, the small details count. This level of detail is especially important for move-in and move-out cleaning situations, where first impressions matter most.
If you do a great job on phase 2, you’ll have an easier time with this.
First, go around and make sure you remove dust and gunk from small crevices, including areas where lingering smells can develop if not properly addressed with professional odor removal techniques. Even if you did a great job cleaning your surfaces, it’s easy for dirt to hide between tiles, seams, and other places, and those details are noticeable when someone comes in to inspect everything on a finer level.
Once you’ve done that, the process is fairly quick. You mostly want to polish and buff surfaces. You just installed a bunch of brand-new stuff, and your goal should be to give the client that new car vibe. It enhances the perception of your work’s quality, and it makes the difference between a satisfied client and one that’s blown away by your service.
You Can Skip This Process
We might be able to condense this process into 3 main steps, but it’s a lot of work. Especially when you just completed a laborious construction project, your team has put in a lot of overtime to get it done, and you’re all just ready to move on or take a day off.
Well, the good news is that you don’t have to handle this. You can hire a professional project-based cleaning service to take care of it for you.
You might have some reservations about that. You have a bottom line to take care of, and cleaning might seem like something your team can handle, but there are a lot of benefits to hiring a third-party cleaning service.
First, you can trust that the job will get done flawlessly. While your crew can be relied on to pick up after themselves, they’re not cleaners by trade. Putting resources into hiring a professional cleaning crew guarantees that your finished project looks stunning.
Another big benefit is that a commercial cleaning crew has access to better equipment. Commercial-grade cleaners are much more effective at removing things like adhesives that got on surfaces they shouldn’t have, stains from dirtier materials used during construction, and similar things. This ensures better results and faster project completion. Tools such as commercial-grade wet vacs, floor buffers, surface polishers, and more ensure you get better results.
However, one of the best benefits is that your team can focus on what it does best. Cleanup might be part of every project, but that’s not where your team’s skillset is the strongest. They sign up to build the structures communities rely on, and cleanup takes away from their productivity.
By hiring a commercial cleaning service to handle your post-construction cleanup, you can move on to the next project faster. At Oracle Cleaning Solutions, we specialize in fast, reliable post–construction cleaning that keeps your workflow moving without delays. You finish up a project, call in the cleaning crew, and by the time they get there, you’re already framing another project while you wait for everything to be ready for your client.
You do need to pick the right commercial cleaning service, though. You need a team you can trust to elevate your finished project to showroom quality. Contact us today to schedule your post-construction cleaning and keep your projects on track.