Disinfection after tenants

Why it is worth doing

At a viewing, people reach a conclusion faster than they get round to looking at the rooms. A smell — cigarettes, animals, damp, or simply "somebody else's home" — creates the impression that the property has not been looked after, even when everything else is in order.

In practice that means two things: the flat stands empty longer, and the rent or price you achieve is lower. Both of those losses are usually larger than the cost of treatment.

Owners generally cannot smell their own premises — the sense of smell adapts to a constant background within days. A buyer or the next tenant notices it immediately.

So the most useful test is a simple one: ask someone who has not been in the flat to walk in and say honestly what they can smell. If the answer is "nothing", treatment probably is not needed. If the answer is anything else, that is what the next viewer will smell too.

What it involves

It ranges from simple ozone treatment to a full job, depending on the situation:

If the previous occupants smoked or kept animals, ozone alone is usually not enough — the residues have to come off the surfaces first. There is more on this on the Cigarette smell removal and Pet smell removal pages.

Where to look for the source

The smell is often not where people look for it. They think about upholstery and curtains, but the actual source turns out to be somewhere else.

• Dried-out traps — especially the floor gully, the bath and the washing machine connection, if the flat has stood empty for a while.
• The ventilation duct and grilles, where grease and dust deposits build up.
• The kitchen cupboard under the sink — a leak that has gone unnoticed for a long time.
• The space behind and under the fridge and the cooker.
• Skirting boards and covering joints, if animals were kept in the property.
• Fitted cupboards and the space behind furniture against an external wall — mould is often found there.

Ozone without dealing with the source gives a result that lasts a few days. The next viewer, arriving a week later, smells exactly the same thing. That is why our work always starts with finding the source, not with switching on a generator.

How we work

With nicotine residue, the most important surface is the ceiling, and that is the one most often missed. Warm air rises, so the deposit layer is thickest on the ceiling, even though it is not visible. If the ceiling is not degreased, the smell returns with the first warm days or once the heating goes on.

When to do it

If you manage several rental properties, it is worth building the treatment into the tenant-changeover process rather than ordering it as a separate call-out each time. In practice that means less downtime between tenants and a predictable cost line rather than an unexpected expense.

How much work is needed

Not every flat needs a full treatment after tenants. The scope is set by what actually happened in the property, and you can judge much of it before we arrive.

In straightforward cases no inspection is needed — the number of rooms or the floor area plus a description is enough, and we say so rather than selling an unnecessary step. An inspection is worthwhile if there are signs of mould or damp, or if the source of the smell cannot be found.

If renovation is planned once the tenants have left, the order matters: treatment has to be done before the new finish, not after it. Nicotine and animal residues left under fresh paint keep releasing odour through the paint layer, and after the first heating season everything is back. The one exception is dust and the smell of new materials from the renovation itself — those are dealt with after the work.

Prices

Flats from €55 depending on the number of rooms. Ozone treatment €1.20/m², minimum €60. If you manage several rental properties, we can put together a quote for ongoing work — see For property managers.