Biohazard and Crime Scene Cleanup in Gallatin, TN

Older houses near the square

Gallatin's historic downtown and the streets around it include homes that are many decades old. Older construction can hide contamination in places newer homes don't have:

• Tongue-and-groove or plank floors with gaps that let fluids run between boards and into the space below.
• Crawl spaces under the house, where material may drip onto joists, insulation or vapor barrier.
• Plaster and lath walls, which absorb differently from drywall and take more care to open up.
• Layers of flooring, such as carpet laid over old linoleum laid over wood.

That's why an assessment in an older home often includes looking from below as well as above. We explain what we find with photos so you can see it without going into the room. The guide on how professionals assess rooms and materials goes deeper.

Rentals and landlords

Census figures put renters at about 42.9 percent of Gallatin's occupied housing. Much of that is older single-family houses and duplexes owned by small landlords, rather than big managed complexes. A small landlord may never have dealt with a death or crime in a unit before.

If that's you, here's how it usually goes. Once police and, if needed, the medical examiner release the unit, you call us. We assess, send a written scope, and do the work after you approve it. The tenant's family has a right to the tenant's belongings, so we keep those separate and documented. We then give you photos and an invoice for your insurer. Our landlord services page and what property owners should know after a crime cover the details.

Near the Vol State campus

Volunteer State Community College's main campus is in Gallatin, on Nashville Pike. Most students commute, so we don't see the dorm-style housing found in larger college towns. But some students rent rooms or apartments nearby, and families sometimes call us from out of town after something happens in one. We can work with the landlord for access so the family doesn't have to come in person.

Which services fit what happened

If you aren't sure what to call it, these are the pages Gallatin callers usually need:

• Violent crime scene cleanupAfter an assault or other violent incident
• Decomposition cleanupWhen someone died and wasn't found for some time
• Rental property cleanupFor small landlords and owners
• Biological contaminationOther bodily fluids and material

What the assessment visit looks like

People are often anxious about the first visit, so here's what actually happens. We arrive in an unmarked vehicle, meet you or your contact outside, and ask a few questions about what happened and what you'd like kept. You don't need to go in with us. We walk the affected area and the rooms around it, take photos, and check the materials: carpet and pad, flooring seams, baseboards, furniture and, in older Gallatin houses, the crawl space if needed.

Then we explain what we found in plain language: what can be cleaned, what has to be removed, and whether a contractor will be needed afterward. The written scope follows, and work begins only after you approve it. If it would help to know more beforehand, read the process from inquiry to completion.

Getting to Gallatin from Nashville

We have no Gallatin office. The city is about 30 miles northeast of downtown Nashville, usually reached by Vietnam Veterans Boulevard (SR 386) and US 31E. When you call, we'll ask what happened, confirm the property is released, and give you a realistic time for the assessment based on traffic and our other work. We don't promise arrival times in advance. The phone is answered day and night.

Homes in the rural parts of the county, out toward the Kentucky line, can take longer to reach. Those are covered on our Sumner County page.

Paying for the cleanup

Prices come from a written scope after the assessment. They depend on the size of the affected area, the materials involved, the number of rooms, access and waste volume. We don't quote numbers before we've seen the space, and our pricing guide explains why.

Some property insurance policies may cover part of the work; ask your insurer. If the incident was a crime in the victim's home, Tennessee Criminal Injuries Compensation may pay up to $3,000 for cleaning and removal of materials. The program pays after other sources, and repairs aren't included.

Nearby pages

We also serve Hendersonville, Portland and White House, and across the river to the east, Trousdale County.

Questions people ask