How long disinfection takes

What the total time consists of

When a client asks how long it will take, they usually have one number in mind. In practice there are four separate stages, and only one of them is “work” that can be sped up.

So the answer to “how long” is always two numbers: how long we are on site, and how long before you can go back in. They are not the same.

By method

The most important practical conclusion: plan for the airing time, not just the treatment time. That is what determines when you can use the room again. We give exact times for each method and room before the work — they depend on volume and intensity, so a universal figure here would be misleading.

By property type

• One- or two-room flat — usually a few hours including airing. Our most typical job.
• Three- or four-room flat or a house — longer, depending on the area and the number of zones. A house usually adds a basement or utility rooms.
• Office — usually one evening after working hours, so the space is usable in the morning.
• Shop — we plan it for the night between closing and opening.
• Warehouse or production facility — depends on the area; we work it out precisely at the inspection.
• Hotel room — we plan to fit into the rotation between guests.

The age of the building affects the timing more than you would expect. In a pre-war building with timber floor structures and deep voids, inspection and gaining access take noticeably longer than in a Soviet-era panel block, where the structure is simple and predictable. A new build, on the other hand, often adds the question of mechanical ventilation: it has to be stopped or switched over for a while, and that must be agreed with the property manager in advance, not on the day.

We do not promise to arrive at a particular minute. We agree a time window and tell you if it changes.

What takes longest

Not the treatment, but the things around it:

• Drying after flooding — from a few days to several weeks. It cannot be sped up with chemistry, and this is the only correct route.
• Removing materials — if finishes, a floor covering or damaged plasterboard have to come out.
• Gaining access — if a structure has to be opened up to reach the problem. A fitted kitchen or panelling can add a whole day.
• Repeat treatment — in rare cases with very persistent odours.
• Coordinating with other parties — property managers, neighbours, builders. Often the longest part of the whole process, and not in our hands.

If anyone promises to dry out a flooded structure in a day, that is not realistic. Readings show when a structure is dry — not the calendar and not a promise. A concrete floor slab gives up water slowly, and the thin levelling layer above it can feel dry to the touch while moisture remains underneath.

How to fit it into a day

A concrete example. A 55 m² two-room flat in Imanta, ozone treatment against a smell left by previous tenants. The client prepared the room in the morning, we arrived around midday, the treatment and contact time ran while he was at work, and a neighbour with a key opened the windows for airing. By the evening the flat was usable. No day was lost.

• Agree who will open the windows for airing and when — this is what most often gets left unsettled.
• If there are pets in the flat, plan where they will spend the day before you call.
• For commercial premises, check that the alarm and access work outside business hours.
• If the work follows flooding, plan for several days rather than one.
• Tell us in advance if you have a hard time constraint — sometimes the method can be chosen to fit it.

What to do once the treatment is over is covered separately: what to do after disinfection.

What lengthens the job and what you can influence

Part of the time is fixed — contact time cannot be shortened and drying cannot be rushed. But a substantial part depends on what happens before we arrive, and that is exactly what you can influence.

Another factor that changes the timing more than anything else is whether the inspection happens separately or in the same visit as the treatment. In straightforward flats the two can often be combined. But where damp inside the structure, extensive damage or several sources are suspected, the inspection happens separately — otherwise the scope of treatment gets planned on site and by eye, and that ends in a revised quote.

The season matters too, if indirectly. Demand is highest in autumn and the first months of the heating season, so the wait for a visit is longer than in summer. If the work is not urgent, it can usually be scheduled more conveniently and flexibly in summer.