We clean homes across Seminole

Older Seminole houses need closer cleaning

Much of Seminole was built in the sixties and seventies, and you can see it in the houses. Many are single-story concrete block homes with a Florida room or a screened lanai out back. Plenty still have their original floors, and a lot of them have terrazzo, either exposed or hidden under old carpet. Jalousie windows with rows of glass slats are still common too. An older house like this holds dust in more places than a newer one, and a quick wipe misses most of them.

Terrazzo is a good example. It is chips of marble set in cement, and it looks great when it is clean. Vinegar and other acidic cleaners etch the marble and leave dull patches, so we mop terrazzo with a neutral cleaner and keep the water fresh. Older tile has a different problem. The grout lines are wide, and years of mopping with dirty water turn them darker than the tile. On a deep clean we scrub those lines, and the floor usually looks brighter afterward.

Attention to detail is what our Google reviewers mention most. Ron Kroll wrote about Terry, the owner: "He finds dirt I didn't even know I had." In an older Seminole house, that means wiping each jalousie slat on both sides. It means vacuuming the grit out of sliding door tracks so the door stops dragging. Baseboards get wiped by hand, and ceiling fans get dusted before the floors, so nothing lands on a clean floor.

• Terrazzo mopped with a neutral cleaner
• Dark grout lines scrubbed on older tile
• Jalousie slats wiped on both sides
• Sand vacuumed out of slider tracks
• Baseboards wiped by hand in every room

Seminole humidity brings mildew indoors

Seminole sits between Lake Seminole and the Intracoastal, close to the Gulf beaches, and the air stays damp for most of the year. In summer the afternoon storms roll through and the air conditioner runs from morning to night. Moisture collects on the coolest surfaces in the house, and that is where mildew starts. You usually spot it first as dark specks on shower caulk or around the ceiling vents. Left alone, it spreads into the grout and the corners of the bathroom ceiling.

Regular cleaning keeps mildew from spreading. On each visit we clean the shower and tub and leave the glass and corners dry, because standing water is what mildew needs. Vent covers get dusted too, before dust and damp turn into a gray film. On a deep clean we work further into the grout lines. If mildew has soaked deep into old caulk, cleaning will lighten it, but the caulk may need replacing.

Living this close to the beaches means sand comes home in shoes and beach bags. It gathers in entryways and in the tracks of sliding doors. In spring the oaks drop a yellow-green pollen that settles on the window sills facing the yard. Salt air off the Gulf leaves a light film on sliding glass doors, and a dry rag only smears it around. Inside, we vacuum the tracks and wipe down the sills. The glass on the sliders gets cleaned so you can see the yard again.

Book regular visits or one deep clean

Regular cleaning is for a house that is already in good shape and needs to stay there. Some of our Google reviewers have us in weekly, others every other week. A few of them have dogs and small children at home. Dog hair builds up fast on tile and terrazzo, where it drifts into corners instead of sinking into carpet. Amanda Chumbley, who has Terry clean her home every other week, wrote: "Even my dogs and baby love seeing him!"

A deep clean is for a house that needs a reset. In Seminole that might be a home that sat closed up all summer while its owners were up north, or a rental between tenants. Moving-related cleaning is on our Google listing as well. Heather Wickliff hired Terry to deep clean the apartment she and her husband moved out of. She wrote: "He made the apartment look like no one ever lived there."

We clean offices and workplaces too, and Seminole has plenty of them along Seminole Boulevard and Park Boulevard. "He even cleaned our garbage cans!" wrote Jerrold Slutzky, who has Terry clean his office. Whether it is a home or an office, tell us what matters most to you. That is where we start. Sharon Toston put it this way: "He is a good communicator and always listens to what is important to me."

Getting a price in Seminole

Call us at (727) 748-9665 Monday through Friday, from nine in the morning to five in the afternoon. You can also send your details through the form on this page. Tell us the size of the house and how many bathrooms it has. Let us know if you want regular visits or a single deep clean. Point out anything that needs extra work, like a shedding dog or a mildewed shower. You get a free quote before any cleaning starts. Katie Vaux, one of our Google reviewers, wrote: "His prices are very fair, and he goes above and beyond to make sure customers are satisfied."