We clean Dunedin houses and condos

Dunedin's older homes need a detailed clean

Dunedin is one of the older towns on the Pinellas coast, and its houses show it. Near downtown and Main Street there are wood-frame cottages and bungalows on small lots under big oaks. Farther out, whole streets are lined with concrete block ranch houses from the middle of the last century. Many of those went up with terrazzo floors, and some of that terrazzo is still hiding under old carpet.

Older houses give dust more places to settle. Wood-frame cottages have wide window sills and old floorboards with small gaps, and both fill with fine grit. Block ranches tend to have a ceiling fan in most rooms, and dust on the blades flies across the room whenever the fan starts. Terrazzo looks clean from standing height, but loose grit sits on it and dulls the finish each time someone walks through.

That is why the order of work matters in an older house. Fans and high shelves get dusted first. Floors come last, so nothing drifts down onto a floor that is already clean. Baseboards and the corners behind doors get wiped instead of skipped. A customer whose office Terry cleans wrote that he does "a detailed, deep clean every time, not missing any nook or cranny."

• Ceiling fans and vents dusted before the floors
• Baseboards and door corners wiped in every room
• Beach sand cleared from entries and door tracks
• Mildew scrubbed from shower corners and grout
• Curtain and furniture cleaning added on request

Salt air and pollen reach Dunedin homes

Dunedin faces Saint Joseph Sound, with Honeymoon Island and Caladesi Island just across the water. Homes and condos along Edgewater Drive take the wind straight off the sound. Each time a sliding door opens, salty air comes in and leaves a thin film on glass tabletops and nearby tile. Dust sticks to that film, so those surfaces go dull and gray faster than the rest of the house.

Away from the water, the trouble is the oaks. Dunedin has plenty of old live oaks, and from late winter into spring they drop a yellow pollen that blows in through window screens. It settles on sills and cabinet tops, and a feather duster only moves it around. Pollen has to be picked up with a damp cloth, which is also better for anyone in the house with allergies.

Then there is the sand. Honeymoon Island has a beach where dogs are allowed, and plenty of that sand comes home on paws and beach towels. It collects in sliding door tracks and just inside the back door, and on tile or terrazzo it scratches like sandpaper underfoot. Summer brings heavy humidity and afternoon storms, and that feeds mildew in shower corners and in closets that stay shut.

Empty homes and rentals need a deep clean

Some Dunedin houses and condos sit closed up for months while the owners are away. The air conditioning gets turned up and nobody runs the water. The place comes back with a layer of dust and spots of mildew in the bathroom. A deep clean before the owners return means they walk into a home that is ready, instead of spending the first week scrubbing.

Move-outs are the other job that calls for a deep clean. When a Dunedin apartment or rental house changes tenants, it has to be clean enough for the next person to move straight in. That means the inside of the cabinets and the floor where the fridge used to sit. After a move-out, a Google reviewer wrote, "He made the apartment look like no one ever lived there."

Once a home is caught up, regular visits keep it that way. Reviewers mention weekly and biweekly cleaning. Dogs show up in more than one review, which matters in a town with a dog beach. Amanda Chumbley has Terry clean every other week. She wrote: "Even my dogs and baby love seeing him!" Ron Kroll, a customer for years, wrote: "He finds dirt I didn't even know I had."

Getting a price in Dunedin

Call (727) 748-9665 Monday through Friday during business hours, or send your details through the form on this page. Tell us how big the home is and whether you want a single deep clean or regular visits. Curtain or furniture cleaning can be added if you need it. You get a free quote before any work starts. Katie Vaux, a Google reviewer, wrote: "His prices are very fair, and he goes above and beyond to make sure customers are satisfied."