Spring Cleaning in Christchurch

Spring cleaning in Christchurch is really winter recovery. Four months of closed windows, unflued heating, drying washing indoors and cold outside walls leave a house holding moisture, dust and often mould that was not there in March. PrestigePro does spring cleans across Christchurch, from $171.35 including GST. WHAT A CHRISTCHURCH WINTER ACTUALLY LEAVES BEHIND Condensation on window frames and reveals, black spotting in the corners of bedrooms and above windows, damp-smelling wardrobes on south walls, dust built up because nothing has been aired since May, and window tracks holding water and grit. None of that is neglect. It is what happens to houses in a cold, damp climate with the windows shut. It is also why a spring clean here is a different job from a spring clean in Auckland. WHAT WE FOCUS ON Window tracks, sills and reveals, which hold the condensation and the mould that comes with it. Surface mould in the usual corners, cleaned and treated. Wardrobe interiors and the walls behind furniture on cold south-facing sides. Curtains and blinds where they can be cleaned in place. All the dust that has settled while the house was sealed. Then the normal deep-clean work — inside the oven and rangehood, behind appliances, skirting boards, door frames, light fittings, tiles and grout. MOULD WILL COME BACK IF THE CAUSE STAYS We will clean it and we will tell you plainly what we think is causing it, because scrubbing the same corner every spring is not a solution. In most Christchurch homes it is ventilation, heating or insulation. Wiping mould off a bedroom ceiling in September does nothing about the fact that the room was under-heated and unventilated from June. If you are renting, healthy homes standards cover heating, insulation and ventilation, and mould caused by a building fault is the landlord's responsibility rather than yours. THE BEST TIME TO BOOK Early spring, once you are opening windows again but before the pollen arrives. September and October are our busiest weeks for exactly this reason, so book two or three weeks ahead if you want a specific date. There is a practical argument for going earlier rather than later: mould gets harder to remove the longer it sits, and a house cleaned in early September is pleasant to live in for the whole of the good weather rather than the tail of it. SPRING CLEAN OR DEEP CLEAN? The same work. A spring clean is a deep clean with a seasonal trigger and a bias toward the things winter causes — windows, mould, airing out, wardrobes. If your issue is general build-up rather than winter damp, book a deep clean and it is the same crew doing the same job. If you are on a regular cleaning schedule with us, this is discounted by up to 30% — the detail work is easier when the rest of the house has been maintained. WHAT IT WILL NOT FIX Mould that has grown into plaster or behind wall linings, water stains from a leak, or damage from long-term damp. Those are building problems. We will point them out rather than charging you to clean a symptom.