Residential Crime Scene Cleanup

Cleaning a home while the family is still close by

Most of our residential jobs aren't empty houses. Someone usually still lives there, or is staying with relatives a few streets away and wants to come home as soon as possible. That changes how we work.

We start by agreeing with you which parts of the house we will use. Usually that means one entrance, one path to the affected room, and a closed-off work area. The rest of the home stays yours. If you need to grab clothes, medicine or school things from a room near the work area, tell us and we'll bring them out or plan around it.

Many people find it easier not to be in the house while we work in the affected room. That's a normal choice. Others want to stay. Either way, we will keep you updated by phone and tell you when each room is finished.

Bedrooms, kitchens and the rooms people worry about most

Different rooms raise different questions.

Bedrooms

Mattresses, box springs, bedding and upholstered headboards absorb fluids quickly and usually can't be fully decontaminated. Carpet and pad in a bedroom often go too. Wooden bed frames, dressers and nightstands with sealed finishes can frequently be cleaned and kept.

Kitchens and dining areas

Hard surfaces like tile, sealed counters, stainless appliances and vinyl plank are generally cleanable. The concern in a kitchen is food and anything it touches. We'll talk with you about discarding opened food, dish towels or porous cutting boards that were in the affected area.

Living rooms and hallways

These see foot traffic after an incident, from occupants, first responders and investigators. We check walkways, door frames and stair runners for material that was carried on shoes. If contamination reached more than one or two rooms, the page on multi-room crime scene cleanup explains how scope changes.

Bathrooms

Tile and porcelain clean well, but grout lines, caulk and the gap under a vanity often need closer attention.

Your belongings: what can be kept

Things in a home have meaning that a scope sheet doesn't capture. A blanket a grandparent made, a child's backpack, photos on a dresser. Before anything leaves the house, we tell you what we think needs to go and why.

If something matters to you and it's borderline, say so. We can set it aside, photograph it and talk through the options. Our guide on how professionals decide whether materials can be remediated goes into the reasoning.

Keeping children and pets away from the affected area

Blood can carry bloodborne pathogens such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV, which the CDC says can spread through contact with infected blood. Children and pets are curious and closer to the floor, so they are the ones to plan around. Until we've finished:

• Close the door to the affected room, without going in to clean.
• Keep pets in another part of the house, a crate or with a neighbor.
• If practical, block a hallway with a gate or a closed door.
• If it's easy to avoid, don't run a fan or the HVAC in a way that pushes air from that room through the house.

Please don't try to scrub carpet or wash fabrics yourself. It tends to spread material and can make removal harder.

How a residential job usually runs

1. Confirm release and access

   We check that police, and the medical examiner if a death was involved, have released the home, and agree how we'll get in.

2. Walk through with you or on your behalf

   We look at the affected area and the paths around it, then explain what needs removing and what can be cleaned.

3. Set up a work area

   Plastic sheeting, a controlled entry and covered walkways keep the rest of the home clean.

4. Remove, clean and disinfect

   Contaminated porous materials come out; remaining surfaces are cleaned and treated with EPA-registered disinfectants used according to label directions.

5. Hand back the room

   We walk you through what was done and leave you with photos and an itemized invoice.

If removal leaves gaps in drywall or flooring, a contractor will need to rebuild. We will tell you before we start if that's likely.

Working with your homeowner's or renter's insurer

Some homeowner's and renter's policies may cover part of this kind of cleanup. Whether yours does depends on the policy wording and the insurer's decision, so the first call is to your agent or claims line. Helpful things to ask: whether biohazard cleanup is covered, whether they want to see photos before items are discarded, and whether they need a written estimate first.

We can provide photos, the written scope and an itemized invoice for you to send them. Our list of insurance questions to ask after an incident is a useful checklist for that call.

If the crime happened in your home in Tennessee, the state's Criminal Injuries Compensation program can pay up to $3,000 for cleaning and removal of materials, as the payer of last resort after insurance. It requires a report to law enforcement within 15 days, with some exceptions, and a claim filed within two years.

What shapes the scope, and where we travel

In a home, the scope depends mostly on how many rooms are affected, how much soft furnishing and carpet is involved, whether material has reached the subfloor, and how easy access is: a second-floor bedroom in a townhome with a narrow stair takes longer than a ground-floor room by the garage. We put the scope in writing after the assessment. How pricing works explains more.

We're based in Nashville and travel to homes across our Middle Tennessee service area, including neighborhoods in Franklin and Hendersonville. Scheduling is confirmed by phone. For other kinds of household contamination not tied to a crime, see residential biohazard cleanup.

Questions people ask