Residential Suicide Scene Cleanup

Why a home needs a different kind of care

A family home is full of things that mean something: a favorite chair, a shelf of books, a child's drawing on the refrigerator. Cleanup in a home is not just about surfaces. It is about deciding, with you, what stays, what can be saved and what has to go.

It is also about the people still living there. A spouse may need to sleep in the house that night. Children may need to get to school from it the next morning. We plan the work around those realities rather than around a fixed checklist.

If you would like to understand the whole category first, our suicide scene cleanup overview explains the basics. This page goes into what is specific to a household.

Belongings you can ask us to set aside

Before we start, we ask whether there is anything in or near the affected room that you want to keep. Families often mention items they had not thought about until they were asked.

Things people commonly ask us to look for

• Wallets, phones, keys and identification
• Jewelry, watches and wedding rings
• Photographs, letters and notebooks
• Important papers such as titles, deeds or bank statements
• Keepsakes like a favorite mug, a hat or a book

What can and cannot be saved

Hard, non-porous items such as metal, glass and many plastics can usually be cleaned and disinfected. Soft, absorbent items like a mattress, upholstered furniture, clothing or paper may not be safe to keep if biological material has reached them. We will always tell you before discarding something you asked about, and explain why.

Our guide to how professionals decide whether materials can be remediated goes into this in more depth.

Privacy from neighbors and the street

Families in close-knit streets often worry about what the neighbors will see. That is understandable. Here is what we do:

• We do not tell neighbors why we are there. If someone asks, our team says only that they are working for the owner.
• We can talk with you about where to park and which door to use, so materials leave the house as discreetly as the layout allows.
• Contaminated items are packaged before they leave the room, not carried out in the open.
• We will not post about your home, your family or the work anywhere.

If you live in a building with shared hallways or an HOA, mention it when you call so we can plan access properly.

Sequencing the work so your family can return

The order of the work matters when people need to keep living in the house. A typical sequence looks like this:

1. Close off the affected room

   We contain the work area first so the rest of the home stays usable while we are there.

2. Retrieve the items you asked for

   Keepsakes and documents are found, cleaned where possible and set aside before larger removal begins.

3. Remove affected materials

   Carpet, pad, a mattress or a section of drywall comes out if it has absorbed biological material. Everything is packaged for proper disposal.

4. Clean, disinfect and deodorize

   Remaining surfaces are treated with EPA-registered disinfectants used according to label directions, and any lingering odor is addressed.

5. Walk through and hand back

   You, or someone you choose, see the room before we leave. If flooring or drywall needs replacing, we tell you so you can bring in a contractor.

If the household would rather stay with relatives during the work, that is common. Some families return only after the room has been repainted or refurnished, and that is fine too.

What the household can do before we arrive

You do not need to clean or tidy anything. Please do not try. These few things are enough:

• Once police and the medical examiner have released the house, close the door to the affected room.
• Keep children and pets in another part of the house or with someone else.
• If it is easy, turn off any fan blowing toward that room.
• Hold on to damaged items until you have talked with your homeowners insurer.
• Make a short list of anything you hope to recover, and let us know when you call.

For more on this, see what not to do before a biohazard assessment.

Who usually calls us for a home

Often it is a spouse, parent or adult child. Just as often, it is someone helping them: a sibling who lives out of state, a close friend, a pastor, a funeral director or the family's attorney. Any of them can make the first call. We will ask who has authority to approve the work and who should receive updates, and we will respect that.

If the home is rented rather than owned, the landlord may also be involved. Our page on suicide cleanup in rental properties covers how that usually works.

When the job is larger than one room

Sometimes more than one area of the home is affected, often because people moved through the house during the emergency. That calls for a different plan, described on our multi-room suicide cleanup page. If the person who died was not found for some time, the work also overlaps with death scene cleanup in homes, which deals with odor and absorbed materials. Carpet and the floor beneath it are covered in blood in carpet and subfloor cleanup.

Cost, insurance and where we work

Price depends on how much of the room is affected, which materials have to come out, and how many rooms are involved. You get a written scope before anything starts; our pricing page explains the factors. Some homeowners policies may help with part of the cost, depending on the policy and the insurer, and we provide photos and an itemized invoice for your claim.

We travel from Nashville to homes across Middle Tennessee, from Franklin to Hendersonville and beyond. See all service areas.

Questions people ask