House move of horrors - how to make it liveable

[misstiggiwinkle]

Completed on our property purchase yesterday only to arrive with our lorries to a vendor who had not even packed let alone moved out. Apparently she assumed she could move out casually over the weekend . Awful day of our movers literally moving her out onto the street so we could get in. She finally left at midnight and left behind pets, chickens and a car! Needless to say we just want it all gone and are assured she'll collect it today...we'll wait and see!

Interestingly the big name estate agent in charge of her sale said it was nothing to do with them and ignored our calls all day. Lawyers very much involved and police threatened but it didn't improve the fact that she just wasn't even packed.

Anyway, now we are in the property we can see the level of grime and filth is horrendous. I'm desperately scrubbing everything so we can start to unpack for our kids but it is utterly awful.

I need your best tips for getting this house habitable. We have decamped to my parents for the next few days as it's frankly a health hazard and my kids are young but we need to get this sorted asap. What will really help me? Think carpets are unsalvageable but how do I get 20 years of grease off the kitchen?!

Pink Stuff paste and a Scrub Daddy sponge. Amazing for grease. B&M sell both, you can buy tubs of the paste.

You need to prioritise a couple of rooms, I would go:

1. kitchen
2. toilet/bathrooms
3. living room
4. kids bedroom
5. your bedroom

Get to a supermarket and stock up on: Couple of buckets, washing up gloves, white vinegar, bleach, washing up liquid, loads of sponges/cloths/scrubbers, bin bags, sweeping brush, mop.

Then just attack it.

Bleach in all the toilets and down plug holes in the plug holes first of all, then let that work while you are cleaning the other rooms.

Sweep any debris onto the floor, hot water with washing up liquid in it to cut through grease, and get all the surfaces wet. Give it a couple of minutes to soften the dirt then start scrubbing, throw the cloths away as you go.

Water with vinegar in for windows, sinks and hob top.
Once walls and surfaces are all clean, use hot bleach water for the floors.

You can’t bill the vendor for cleaning.

You need a team of professionals.

The elbow grease pot is great, as a previous poster said scrub on and leave then wipe

If you keep any carpets, place these around the place, I had to live with horrible cat stained carpets for a year and these helped take smells away

Best homemade degreaser is a mixture of bio washing powder and fairy liquid with hot water.