After a full house rewire how to clean?

[mintchocchick]

We have just had our new house rewired and plastered. It is a complete mess, as we expected. Dust everywhere, mess on floors which are a mixture of old carpet and tatty wooden floors. We need to make it clean for a painter to come in next week and habitable for moving in the following week.

How best to clean it though? I've been looking on HSShire and Brandon tool hire websites and can't decide whether to hire a steam cleaner or vacuum (to save ours getting wrecked) or carpet shampoo tool. Problem is they are each £40 plus and I think we need several.

I'm just overwhelmed with what a state our once-lovely new home looks!

[PigletJohn]

start with a canister vacuum

you might consider buying a wet-and-dry from a DIY shed. You will need some extra filters.

They are not usually fitted with bags as the dust goes into the canister, but for some you can use a large disposable bag as an extra, which prevents the cartidge filter clogging up so quickly.

[mintchocchick]

OK I'll look for a canister vacuum. Thanks. Maybe we can hire one of those for a day? I'm trying to keep costs down as the rewiring was a surprise and has cost us a lot.

But I don't want to move into a dusty house!

[PigletJohn]

you can buy one fairly cheaply, if it has a good warranty you can take it back if it goes wrong so you will get a year's use out of it. Look in Aldi, B&Q, Homebase etc.

[mintchocchick]

What about a steam cleaner? The hire websites don't really give you much info about when to use them.

I have a usual vacuum cleaner but dont want to use it incase the chunks of plaster wrecks it. what is particularly good/suitable about a canister vacuum?

[PigletJohn]

a canister vac can take up the damaging plaster and cement dust, it can also take fragments of brick, plaster and concrete. Because of the way it works it is not easily clogged, although plaster dust will do it if you don't use a bag as well as the cartridge filter. The canister is probably twice the size of a bucket so it will hold a lot of dust and rubble. The suck is extremely powerful so it will pull dust from between floorboards, the corner of skirting and floor, out of the grain of flooring, the pile of carpet, etc. It will not be damaged by sucking up screws and nails. The wet and dry ones wil also suck water or other fluids off the floor or out of a drain or wet carpet.

You can clean the filter with a stiff brush, and if necessary wash in water. If you have two cartridges you can swap over when one is clogged. The dust is very unpleasant to breathe, so you should use a mask, and ear defenders as well since the big cleaners are noisy. I use an Aquvac but I don't think they are still marketed. the plastic canisters won't rust like steel one can.

[PigletJohn]

this is a very cheap one so make sure you keep the guarantee

this is an expensive one

and there are lots more

[mintchocchick]

Thank you so much that's really helpful piglet john

[PigletJohn]

p.s.

I see the really cheap one has a foam filter. That's no good, this kind of cleaner usually comes with a cartridge filter like this or very similar depending on brand replacement filters are usually about £12 but as I say you can clean them with a stiff brush into the bin (do it outdoors because of the dust) and if necessary wash them. They last for years, but plaster dust is very clogging so buy a few bags as well. The bags are not usually necessary except for plaster.

I reckon if you pay in the region of £50-£60 at Screwfix you'll be OK. One of the advantages of cheap power tools for DIYers is that if you buy them when you have a lot of heavy work to do, if they go wrong it'll be quite soon so you can get a replacement under guarantee. .