Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
downeastwaves

Room Five Done!

downeastwaves
15 years ago

Dining Room got finished today, a lot of work went into cleaning this room. I'm sure glad it is in the done column...

Leasa

Here is a link that might be useful: Room 5 Done

Comments (4)

  • johnmari
    15 years ago

    Wow, you are just cranking right along, aren't you? I LOVE that floor! I've moved into a couple of apartments that were almost that bad and spent many days scrubbing other people's dirt off every surface (I'm sure you are now all too well acquainted with the joy of scrubbing ceilings with dirty water dripping into your eyes) so you have my sympathies; the neighbors tell us our current house was nearly as nasty when PO bought it to flip. How did yours get so filthy? Some of that looks like nicotine, which is just the worst to get rid of.

  • scryn
    15 years ago

    I was going to ask the same question! It seems that every room you redo is just so dirty! I wonder how that happened.

    The transformations are just amazing! I love seeing all the pictures your post. The house is going to be SO beautiful when you are done!

    -renee

  • kimkitchy
    15 years ago

    "You go girl!" Your energy is remarkable! And your results are terrific. You must be so proud of your old house! I too am following all of your posts with interest. Thanks for sharing the progress. -Kim

  • downeastwaves
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Hi Folks,

    Thanks for taking a peek and offering your words of encouragement!

    Yes the entire house was THAT bad! A combination of things, 4 packs of unfiltered smokes a day by the PO who lived there for 17 years and a damper that did not open and filled the house with smoke from burning stuff in the fireplace.....

    I posted asking for advice on cleaning the mess and thru that advice and my trial and error I came up with the following:

    Posted by leasa (My Page) on Sat, Jun 16, 07 at 7:39
    Hi Folks! Just thought I post an update on the cleaning process.
    I've tried lots of products and lots of methods. For me, what works best is: Greased Lightning, lots of rinsing and wiping with paper towels.

    Here's what I do. I have two buckets of HOT water, loads of dish cloths, sponge scrubbers--the kind with the nylon netting around them, two scrub brushes and lots of paper towels.

    I "pre-wipe" the wall with a sponge and a spot (really a tiny bit) of Joy. I keep it so dry enough so it does not drip and make circles. It takes of the loose surface grime. I start at the bottom and work my way up--thanks to advice I gained on the cleaning forum.

    Next, I use the Greased Lightning. Again I start at the bottom and work up--trying to keep the drips under control. I squirt it on the wall, scrub it with a scrub brush--vigorously! Doing an arms length patch.

    After the scrub brush I use a cloth form the clean water and wipe the area just cleaned--I keep this water the clean water and never dip into it--unless I have a DAH moment!

    Next, I wipe it down with the paper towel--gross!

    Then, I do it again using the nylon covered sponge scrubbing the GL covered wall and wipe it down with a fresh cloth, depending on how bad it is says how many time I have to do this.

    I noticed if I just let the water sit on there after the GL and wipe it with the clean cloth side ways and up and down, I always get more grime.

    The paper towels seem to take off a lot of what the wet cloths loosen.

    This process is slow but works great, you can see from the link what it looks like.

    If you go to the more recent update of 6-14-07 you can see another room being done.

    Hope this helps the next person with filth like I have.....

    Leasa

    PS the cleaning in the kitchen was just a waste of time since we gutted the kitchen right down to the outside walls and the dirt in the crawl space...

    Here is a link that might be useful: Cleaning Process