Whether your home was just built or if you bought a preexisting home there are going to be lots of things that you need to do to be comfortable and safe in your new home.
If you are purchasing a preexisting home the first thing you should do before you move all of your things in is clean your home thoroughly. Although your home might look clean it really is best to give it the once over and disinfect important items. Disinfecting hard color safe surfaces can be done with a 10-15% bleach solution. Disinfecting fabrics, carpet and other areas requires a disinfectant like lysol concentrate which normally won’t hurt fabrics and other dyed and delicate materials. It is important that you read the directions for any product you use and test in a not so obvious area to make sure it performs as needed. When using Bleach or Lysol the surface must be kept wet for at least 15 minutes to insure proper disinfection however read the directions and consult manufacturer’s websites for best results.
A small new (never used) 1 gallon pump sprayer can be good for this and you can keep it for other cleaning needs as long as you never use it for herbicides, pesticides or other chemicals.
Having a carpet cleaning service clean your rugs is not a bad idea. They normally have much stronger commercial equipment that is better than consumer grade. However for the cost of one professional cleaning you will easily be able to afford a good quality rug cleaner that is pet rated and the best part is you own it and can do follow up cleanings as often as needed. You are likely to see dramatic results when you empty the dirty water and if so then you know you should go over the carpet a couple more times. You will probably never get the waste water to come out clean but hitting high traffic areas a few times isn’t a bad idea. Carpet cleaner with lysol concentrate or even lysol concentrate alone will help disinfect the carpet.
Cleaning And Disinfecting Bathrooms And Kitchens
Bathrooms should be heavily bleached. If you are moving into a preexisting home you will want to replace the toilet seat, replace the shower head, replace any tub or shower mats. You should also consider cleaning your tub drain which is a really nasty job so wear gloves and have plenty of paper towels, Cleaning your P-Trap and Aerator on your Sink is also not a bad idea. Any water filters should be replaced.
Kitchens should get the same treatment. If you have a preexisting refrigerator that you won’t be replacing then you want to replace the water filters for the Ice Maker and Door Water Service if available. Clean all of the surfaces inside of the refrigerator and if you can disassemble the racks and drawers to clean better. I would also suggest that you clean the cooling condenser fins if you can. Sometimes this requires pulling the fridge from the wall and vacuuming and other times there is an access panel below the doors near the floor that can be removed.
If you have a self cleaning oven they can clean themselves to some extent however you have to be careful because the high temps could burn out a heating element that is near its end of life. Regular oven cleaner will be necessary to do the final cleaning. Glass cook tops should be wiped clean with a soapy cloth and then a special glass stove polish is used to remove all the gunk. Paper towels work best for this.
Kitchen Sinks should have their waste disposal cleaned. Doing so isn’t easy but many recommend pouring a large tray (gallon or more) of ice through it along with soapy water.
Washing Machines can be run through a few cycles with a bleach solution and dryers should have their lint tubes cleaned and inspected.
Miscellaneous Cleaning
Pretty much you are going to have to go room by room and clean everything and don’t miss a spot. Some things can just be replaced because they don’t cost that much and not replacing them is kinda foolish. Other things can be cleaned and disinfected and even your walls, interior doors, windows and jams should be washed down with mild soap and water.
Inspect Everything In Your Home For Function And Operation
Now all of this cleaning is important but the most important thing is that while you are cleaning you are also checking that everything in your home works like it should.
While Cleaning the bathroom and kitchen you want to check that the water shutoff valves all work. This includes the shutoff valve to the toilet and to the water filter for your refrigerator. Check that the sink valves shut off the water and when you are done go to the basement or utility area and find your whole home shutoff valve and any other intermediate valves. You should have shutoffs for every outside hose bib/connection and they are normally easy to find on the opposite side of where the hose bib valve is outside.
Inspecting Your Electrical Outlets And Switches
Yes your home inspector should have gone through many of these inspections but it is important for you to do it so you know where things are and how they work. Also it is very common for an inspector to miss a couple things in every house.
Find out where your circuit breaker panel is and find the main breaker for the home so you can shut the entire house off in an emergency. You can also plug a portable radio into each outlet and double check which outlets are on the same circuit. Check that light switch controlled outlets work. Most bedrooms will have a switched outlet so that parents can turn off the lights without waking the kids. Outlet Testers can be purchased for about $15 at most hardware stores to test for any problems with the wiring read the directions before you use one but they are as simple as plugging them into the outlet and reading 3 LED Lights.
Security And Safety Considerations
There are many options for securing your home and they range from very basic things like making sure you change the locks on your doors to installing Security Alarms and Cameras to Monitor your property.
I honestly suggest that you replace every outside Lock to your home whether you are buying New or Preexisting. It really does not matter because in either case there is a likelihood that someone has been given a key to your home that isn’t the direct seller. It could be a painter or employee or maybe a relative but you really need to change the locks on your home. The exception is when the lock is one that is easily rekeyed. Rekeying Door Locks whether they are electronic, hybrid or standard security locks is not a difficult thing but for the cost of a couple hundred dollars buying new locks is much easier because you can buy them all and install them right away without the need of a locksmith.
Cameras are a good option and they can catch video of people who might approach your home but not actually enter but a Security System is very important because it will alert you whenever anyone enters the home. Systems can have many options and you will need to review them but at the very least start off with a wireless setup that can be self installed quickly.
Smoke and CO Detectors should all be inspected. Look for the expiration date on each detector most need to be replaced at 10 years from manufacture even if they seem to be operating ok for now they might not operate well under real conditions. You don’t want to take that chance.
Fire Extinguishers should be placed in the Kitchen, Basement, Garage, Master Bedroom and easy to get to. Check their dates and pressure readings. You can also look for any recalls by visiting the manufacturer’s website.
Both Smoke and CO Detectors And Fire Extinguishers have a high pattern of recalls and manufacturers will replace them if they are on recall for free. Check Your Devices on the Manufacturer’s Website.
Collecting Manufacture Information For The Equipment And Devices In Your Home
While you are going room to room and cleaning and inspecting you should make a list of all of the equipment and devices in your home and collect Manufacturer Names, Model Numbers, Serial Numbers. Place this information into a booklet that doesn’t require computer access and then use it to download product information, repair manuals and parts lists.
Believe it or not even your Furnace and Air Conditioner will have information about warranty, repair and diagnosis. They can be very detailed to allow you or a contractor to make repairs. The same is true for your appliances like your range, oven, washer & dryer.
Once you have this information look up some regular replacement parts online so you will be ready when you need to replace parts or make repairs.
Final Note
Not everything you should do is listed in this how to. Things like changing or setting up your utility accounts for your new home. Changing the credit card info and shipping addresses for all the online merchants you use. Changing Banks or updating your address.
There are many things that you need to do that add up to your entire move that just can’t be listed in one how to but the most important thing is that you have a clean and safe home to do them in.
Making lists as you go will be very helpful and checking off items as you complete them will show your progress.
Moves are not easy and they can be very stressful but remember you will always have options if you think things through before you start.