We keep Temple Terrace homes clean

Older Temple Terrace homes need more time

This town was laid out around a golf course during the Florida land boom. Some of the original Mediterranean Revival houses still stand on the streets near it. Most of the town filled in later with concrete block ranch houses, with apartments added over the years. Each kind of house gets dirty in different places, and a crew that cleans them the same way misses the dirt in the older ones.

The older Mediterranean houses have details newer homes skip, like built-in shelves and windows split into many small panes. Each ledge and pane holds dust, and each one gets wiped by hand. Floors that have been down for generations need a gentle cleaner, since too much water soaks into old grout and swells old boards. That takes longer than in a newer house of the same size. We would rather tell you that before we start than rush it.

The block ranch houses from the middle of the last century need different work. Some owners have pulled up old carpet and found terrazzo underneath. Vinegar and other acid cleaners dull terrazzo fast, so we use a neutral cleaner on it. Many of these houses also have a Florida room with glass slat windows. Each slat collects its own film of dust, and the tracks under sliding doors fill with sand and leaves.

• Built-in shelves and window panes dusted by hand
• Terrazzo cleaned with a neutral cleaner, never vinegar
• Florida room window slats wiped one at a time
• Sliding door tracks cleared of sand and leaves
• Old wood and tile floors mopped with very little water

Temple Terrace shade brings pollen and mildew

Many Temple Terrace streets sit under big oak trees that shade the yard and most of the roof. In late winter and spring those oaks shed a fine yellow pollen that settles on porch screens and window sills. It comes into the house on shoes and pets, and it lands on the furniture a day after you dusted. Leaves and bits of bark follow it through the door the rest of the year.

The Hillsborough River runs through town, and houses near the water or under heavy shade stay damp long after a summer storm. Damp air and shade are what mildew needs. It shows up first on shower grout and the caulk around the tub. The grilles over the air conditioning vents get it too, and there it is easy to mistake for dust. If a bathroom only gets a quick wipe, the black spots come back fast, because the roots stay in the grout.

So in Temple Terrace we clean each room from the top down. Ceiling fans and vent grilles get wiped first, because pollen and dust fall from them onto everything below. Furniture and sills come next, and the floors come last, so nothing we knock loose lands on a clean floor. In the bathroom we scrub the grout and caulk lines instead of wiping a shine back over them. If the caulk has gone black all the way through, we will tell you, because no cleaner can fix that.

Rentals near the university need move-out cleaning

The University of South Florida sits right beside Temple Terrace. On that side of town, a lot of homes and apartments are rented to students and staff. Many leases end around the same time of year, so everyone wants units cleaned in the same few weeks. A move-out clean covers what a regular visit skips, like the inside of the oven and the inside of the kitchen cabinets.

A move-in clean matters just as much. The last tenant's dust is still on top of the kitchen cabinets and inside the bathroom exhaust fan. An empty unit is also far easier to clean than one stacked with boxes. After her cleaning, Casondra Neff wrote: "My home feels like I just moved in." That is what we want a new tenant to feel on the first day.

We also clean offices and workplaces in Temple Terrace, and the same oak pollen gets tracked into them every spring. Break room fridges and microwaves need a wipe inside and out, and office restrooms need the same grout work as a home bathroom. The carpet near the front door catches most of the pollen and sand. Tell us when the office is quiet, and we will plan the visit around the people working there.

Getting a price in Temple Terrace

Call us at (727) 334-7841, Monday to Friday, from nine in the morning to five in the afternoon. You can also send us your details through this site at any hour. Tell us the size and age of the home and what kind of cleaning you need. We will give you a free quote before any work starts, so the price is settled before the crew comes through your door.