Where the heck do I start?

[OhDrBeeching]

Feeling very overwhelmed

I picked up the keys to my new house earlier and oh my God, where the bloody hell do I begin. Firstly it's fucking filthy. Not just dirty behind beds filthy but disgustingly gross. I opened the bathroom door and the smell of urine hit me. Every surface from skirting boards to light switches has a layer of dirt on it. And don't get me started on the kitchen

Anyway, besides all that, it also needs new carpets, decorating throughout and odd jobs doing like wobbly shelves, ill fitting cupboard doors etc

Luckily I'm in a rental property at the moment so no immediate rush but Jesus, I just don't even know where to begin!

I'm purposely didn't want a doer upper but somehow have ended up here. It honestly didn't seem that bad when I viewed it but well here I am. Can anyone offer any advice to someone with no clue?

Full professional clean. But if the urine's gone into the floor boards they may need replacing. Then plan a room by room redecoration and fix anything none-urgent, like shelves, when you get to that room.

If money's tight how about a cleaning, pizza and wine party?!

Good luck.

Rip up the carpets if they need replacing (& if it's that dirty you won't want them anyway).

Open all the windows

Bleach down toilets, get a good bathroom/kitchen cleaning spray and spray it everywhere in the bathroom/kitchen. Go back to it in an hour and it might be easier to clean then.

Clean the windows. Remove any curtains and throw away/wash if you need to keep them for now.

Get buckets of soapy water and wash down the woodwork (and walls/floors if necessary) in every room. Replace light bulbs/shades just with clean bulbs for now.

Clean and bleach all kitchen cupboards/worktops. Get someone in to clean the oven if it's bad. Or replace.

Get some kind of nice house spray/candles to get rid of cleaning smells.

Good luck!

If it’s a rental it should have been cleaned before you moved in? When I rented years ago we had to pay for a professional clean on leaving so it was immaculate (it had been done before we moved in). My next plan said it had been cleaned, but hadn’t so I cleaned to my standards.

We are buying soon and the first thing I’ll be doing is having a company in to do the deep clean before we get in, so we know it’s clean.

Clean it. Can you get any help or are you going solo? If it's just you, one room at a time, thoroughly. Sugar soap is effective, washing up liquid will do, I'd bung in some disinfectant too. I like cream cleanser on hard surfaces like kitchen units and windowsills but something kitchen cleaner would avoid the need to rinse.

Do each room from top to bottom, systematically clockwise or anticlockwise. Afterwards, a Rugdoctor machine will work wonders on any carpets you're keeping (£20 ish a day plus the carpet shampoo they sell or Persil Small and Mighty apparently).

Either buy a job lot of cleaning cloths or dig out a pile of old t-shirts/ PJs/ bedding and cut up for rags. Don't keep washing out the same cloth, it'll take all day. Just grab another when it's dirty and machine wash the whole lot on hot in the evening. Have at least 2 buckets. Dirty water can go down the loo.

Once you have kitchen, bathroom and one room clean it'll start to feel like it's yours.