Need Cleaning Advice

With that many animals,you should definitely rip out the carpets and padding, and take a good look at the floors underneath. If they let the chicken run around and poop in the house who knows what the dogs and cats did! Carpet padding harbors and provides a great breeding ground for bacteria to grow because it doesn't get any air to dry it out completely and quickly. A friend of mine bought a house that was carpeted throughout and had to pull out the carpets, pads, AND subflooring because the previous owners' cat never used a litter box and urine soaked all the way down, destroying the subflooring. Yes, a single cat left to its own devices destroyed all the flooring in the house, except bathroom and kitchen.

As far as the yard goes, chicken poop is great fertilizer!

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Hi J.,
Wow! That is a lot of animals. Congratulations on your new home :o) I'd use bleach and water on all appropriate surfaces (especially the bathrooms and kitchen) and that should be good enough. As for the carpets, if possible, I'd replace them. If there are hard wood floors underneath, you could use area rugs if replacing isn't an option at this time. There seems to have been a lot of animals running around that house and you don't know how often they've had accidents on the carpet. Even if the carpets were cleaned, they could be moldy/germy. Another option is to have a professional cleaning crew come in. Explain the situation to them and have them sanitize the place. Congrats again, and best of luck in your new home.

Bleach should definitely work, but I would also get an air purifier and put it on high for a full day before you move in.

On a side note, you should look into sewing for a living! Check out etsy.com - it's a website that sells only handmade items. You shouldn't have to be in a job you hate, especially since you seem to have a talent in something that many people wish they had, but do not.

Forget about germs (though I totally agree it sounds really, really icky!), but if anyone in your family has any allergies at all (or your girls have the chance of developing them), then I think you have longer-lasting concerns than the germs.

With that in mind, I would definitely rip up all the carpeting and padding. Get it out before you move in. After that, I would bite the bullet and pay a professional cleaning service to come in. In fact, I would have put that in the contract for the sellers to pay for--I would suspect it is too late for that. And I agree about dismantling and cleaning the light fixtures, and all the other things you would probably not think of.

As for outside, I would talk to some lawn professionals. You can have them come in for quotes just to get some ideas of what you and your husband can do.

Good luck! Big job, but so exciting to get into your first house. :)

Pull up the carpet and get a steam cleaner and do every surface. good luck

I would turn the soil in the yard definitely. Also, it may be expensive for you but I would never keep any carpet like that. germs fester in carpets and anything that has animals like all of those running around should be chucked. I am a mother of two, grandmother of two. Health is extremely important and carpets are a hazard. Do what is best for everyone in your family - chuck the carpet.
M. M

Hi J.,

How exciting! But what a big cleaning job you have ahead of you. I'm wondering, regarding the carpeting, can you pull it up? I imagine if the house is old, you have hardwood floors underneath. Although, they might be damaged from all of the animal excrement. I feel pulling up the carpeting is the most effecient way to really sanitize the house. I think bleach/water is fine for the all of the tiled and linoleum. Will you paint? I find that painting really helps get the previous tenants/owners smells out. Regarding the yard, I can't help you there, I'm clueless!! Good luck!

PS - what kind of dresses do you sew? I'm really interested in learning how to sew since I buy my daughter lots of handmade dresses on ebay/etsy.

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Hi J., Sounds like you have a good plan for a BIG job. The bleach and water is good and I would add a disinfectant to all surfaces. The poop in the backyard should serve as a fertilizer but I would turn the soil before planting. I do not know of any diseases related to chicken poop but you may want to look it up. I know that bird droppings are bad for the lungs. Best wishes in your new home! Grandma Mary

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Use a mixture of Lemon juice, white vineger, liquid dish soap, and water for the floors and walls. The carpet you can shampoo with Oxy clean and vinegar added to the shampoo.

Good luck,
Nanc

I think all your ideas are great. With all those animals, you might just want to rip out all the carpet because you don't know what lies underneath, especially if the dogs had had any 'accidents'. Clean out the air ducts because of all the fur and feathers. Make sure to wipe down your walls. It might also help to hire an exterminator to see if there are any pests around, indoors and outdoors. Check for ticks, termites, bedbugs, etc. With so many animals, you just want to make sure that all pests are cleaned out before you bring your little girls to your new home. Good luck!

Hi J.-
I would call the department of Health as ask a specialist what they would recommend. You can probably call an agency that deals with animals and ask them as well. Your pediatrician will also be able to give you some advice. You need to be careful with bird poop. The bird poop breaks down to ammonia and can be lethal without proper ventilation.
Good Luck
K.

Hi,
It sounds like you are going to have a lot to do. I'm sure it will all be worth it, what an exciting time. However, I would seriously consider replacing the carpet, I don't think all the cleaning and scrubbing in the world would get it entirly clean. You also might want to, because of the harmful chemicals associated with almost all carpet cleaning products. It's so hard to know for sure what could be harmful and unsafe for our children. I would recommend doing some research to find out what cleaning products are safe. There are also alot of naturally made cleaning products you may want to consider. Good luck.