Residential Biohazard Cleanup

What residential biohazard cleanup covers

Residential cleanup is for any home where biological material has reached surfaces, furnishings or building materials and ordinary cleaning isn't the right answer. The cause varies. It might be a serious fall, a medical emergency, a death that wasn't discovered right away, a violent incident, or a suicide. What these situations share is that the material involved can carry bloodborne pathogens and often travels further into a room than it first appears.

The work itself falls into three parts:

• Removal of contaminated porous materials that can't be reliably disinfected, such as carpet and pad, mattresses, upholstered pieces, and sections of drywall or subfloor.
• Cleaning and disinfection of hard surfaces that can be restored, using EPA-registered disinfectants according to label directions.
• Deodorization of the affected areas, so the source of an odor is dealt with rather than covered up.

Contaminated material is packaged and disposed of in line with applicable Tennessee and federal requirements. When we're done, the space is ready for whatever comes next, whether that's a family moving back in, a contractor replacing flooring, or a unit being prepared for a new tenant.

If the incident followed a crime, an unattended death or a suicide, our crime scene cleanup, unattended death cleanup and suicide cleanup pages go into those situations in more depth. This hub is organized around the property and who is responsible for it.

Find the page for your situation

A homeowner, a landlord and a regional property manager can face the same incident and have very different questions. Each page below is written for one of those readers.

• Apartment biohazard cleanupUnits in multi-family buildings and condos: hallways, elevators, neighbors and management.
• Rental property biohazard cleanupSingle-family rentals and small portfolios: vacant homes, turnovers and a tenant's belongings.
• Landlord biohazard cleanup servicesThe decisions an owner faces: who to call, insurance, belongings, disclosure and re-renting.
• Property manager biohazard cleanupOne number for incidents across many units, what we need at intake, and documentation for owners.
• Blood in carpet and subfloorWhy fluids go deeper than the carpet, and what gets cut out versus cleaned.
• Contaminated furniture and materialsHow mattresses, sofas, rugs and clothing are assessed, and who decides what stays.

If you're a homeowner or a family member dealing with a relative's home, keep reading. Most of this page is written for you.

What to do right now, before anyone arrives

Your only jobs in the first hour are safety and keeping things as they are. You don't need to start cleaning, and it's better if you don't.

If police or the county medical examiner are involved, they have to release the home before any cleanup begins. We can talk with you on the phone while you wait, so the visit is planned by the time the release comes through. Our guide on what not to do before an assessment covers this in more detail.

For a very small spill on a hard, non-porous surface, such as a few drops from a cut on a tile floor, most households can follow public-health guidance and manage it themselves. Professional help is for anything larger, anything that has soaked into soft materials, anything hidden from view, or anything you'd rather not face.

What the assessment looks at in a home

Before we give you a written scope, someone looks at the affected area in person. In a home, that assessment usually focuses on a handful of questions.

• How far has it spread? We check beyond the visible area: under rugs, along baseboards, behind furniture and in nearby rooms where material may have been tracked.
• What has it reached? A stain on sealed hardwood is a different job from fluid that has reached carpet pad or the plywood beneath it.
• What can be saved? We separate items that can be cleaned and disinfected from those that can't, and talk the borderline ones through with you.
• What does access look like? Stairs, narrow halls, a second-floor bedroom or a shared entrance all affect how material is carried out.

We then write down what we plan to remove, what we plan to clean, and what will be left for a contractor. You can read more in how a professional biohazard assessment works.

How a residential cleanup visit works

1. A phone conversation

   You tell us what happened in whatever words feel right, where the home is, and whether police or the medical examiner have released it. We explain what happens next and confirm scheduling by phone.

2. Assessment and written scope

   We walk the affected area, then give you a written scope that lists what will be removed, cleaned and left for others. The price is based on that scope.

3. Setting up the work area

   We separate the affected room from the rest of the house so material isn't carried through living spaces, and protect floors along the path to the door.

4. Removal of porous materials

   Items and building materials that can't be disinfected are cut out or removed, bagged and sealed on site.

5. Cleaning and disinfection

   Remaining hard surfaces are cleaned, then treated with EPA-registered disinfectants used according to label directions.

6. Deodorization and walk-through

   We address any remaining odor at its source, then walk the area with you or your representative and hand over photos and an itemized invoice.

The guide to the cleanup process from inquiry to completion walks through each stage at greater length.

Why homes need a different approach

A house isn't a hotel room or a warehouse floor. Homes are full of soft furnishings, layered flooring and personal belongings, and the people living there often need to stay nearby while the work happens.

Layered floors

Wall-to-wall carpet sits on pad, which sits on a plywood or OSB subfloor. Fluids move down through those layers, so the visible stain is rarely the full picture. Our page on blood in carpet and subfloor explains how we find the edges.

Personal belongings

A bedroom might hold a family quilt, photographs or a parent's favorite chair. We never decide on our own to throw something away. We tell you what we found and you decide, as described on the contaminated furniture page.

People nearby

Family members may be staying in another room or next door. We plan the route out of the house so they don't have to see bags or equipment pass by if they'd rather not.

Older homes

Many homes around Middle Tennessee have original hardwood under later carpet, plaster walls or crawl spaces. Those details change what can be cleaned and what has to be removed, which is why we don't scope a job over the phone alone.

Who usually calls us about a home

The person on the phone is often not the person who lived there. Common callers include:

• A homeowner or spouse after a medical emergency or injury in the house.
• Adult children responsible for a parent's home after a death.
• An executor or a family attorney acting for an estate.
• A landlord or property manager after something happened in a rented home or unit.
• A neighbor or friend who found someone and doesn't know where to start.

If you're handling a relative's home from out of state, we can coordinate access with you by phone. Families in that position may find our guide for families arranging cleanup useful.

What affects the scope and price

We don't publish set prices, because two jobs that sound alike on the phone can be very different in person. The written scope sets the price, and these factors shape it:

Some homeowner's policies may cover some of this work, depending entirely on the policy and the insurer. We provide photos, a written scope and an itemized invoice that you can give your insurer. If the incident was a crime that happened in your home, Tennessee's Criminal Injuries Compensation program can pay up to $3,000 for cleaning and removal of materials when eligibility rules are met; it doesn't cover repairs, and it's a payer of last resort. Read more in how pricing works and insurance questions to ask.

After the cleanup: repairs and moving back in

Our work ends when contaminated material is gone and the area is clean, disinfected and deodorized. Putting things back, such as new pad and carpet, a patched wall or fresh paint, is generally a contractor's job. We'll tell you during the assessment if your home will need one, and our photos and scope give a contractor a clear starting point.

Some families prefer not to be in the house during the work, and that's fine. You can hand over a key or a door code, and we'll walk you through the finished area afterward, in person or with photos. The difference between our work and a restoration company's is explained in biohazard cleanup versus standard restoration.

Where we work

We're one team based in Nashville and we travel out from there to homes across fifteen Middle Tennessee counties. That includes Davidson, Williamson, Rutherford and Sumner as well as more rural counties such as Hickman and Macon. Scheduling for any address is confirmed by phone, and distance can affect timing.

See the full list on our service areas page, or go straight to Nashville, Murfreesboro or Franklin.

Questions people ask