We clean Fieldston's big old houses

Big old houses take longer to clean

Fieldston is a private neighborhood of large houses built in the early twentieth century. Many of them are Tudor and Colonial Revival homes in stone and stucco. They have more rooms than most Bronx homes, and more of the detail that holds dust. Think wood paneling, built in bookcases, leaded glass windows and deep window seats. A quick pass with a vacuum misses most of it, so a real clean here runs slower and goes further.

Old wood is the thing to be careful with. Paneling, stair rails and floors in these houses often still carry their original finish. A harsh cleaner or a soaking wet mop can dull that finish or raise the grain. We use gentle products and a damp cloth on wood, and we ask about any surface you are unsure of before we touch it. If you want eco friendly cleaning, say so when you call and we will plan the visit around it.

Radiators and windows are where Fieldston dust collects. Cast iron radiators hold grime in every fin, and when the heat comes on in the fall it bakes into a smell that fills the room. Old casement windows have deep sills and tracks that fill with grit and pollen from the trees outside. On a deep clean we go after both, along with the baseboards and the tops of doors that nobody reaches during a weekly tidy.

• Radiator fins brushed out and wiped down
• Window sills and casement tracks cleared of grit
• Wood paneling and stair rails dusted by hand
• Baseboards and door tops wiped in every room
• Kitchen and bathrooms scrubbed top to bottom

Tall trees bring more dirt inside

Fieldston is thick with old trees. Oaks and maples line the private streets and shade most of the yards, and that is a big part of why people live here. It also means a lot of outdoor dirt finds its way into the house. Pollen settles on sills, tables and floors every spring. In the fall, wet leaves get tracked across the entry and up the stairs, and they leave marks on wood and stone.

Winter brings its own mess. Salt and sand from the sidewalks come in on boots and leave a white film on entry floors. Left alone, that salt dries out the finish and scratches it every time someone walks across. We clean the salt off with a mild cleaner, then dry the floor so nothing is left sitting on the wood. Rugs by the door get vacuumed on both sides so the grit does not work back out.

Many of these houses sit on sloped lots over stone foundations, and the lower floors can stay damp through a humid New York summer. Basements and back halls pick up a musty smell and a film of dust on everything stored there. If you are setting up a basement room or getting the house ready for guests, tell us. We will give that floor the same care as the rooms upstairs.

We clean after moves and renovations

When a Fieldston house changes hands, it has often been lived in for a long time. A move in clean gets the house ready before your furniture arrives. We clean inside every cabinet and closet, scrub the kitchen and bathrooms, and do the floors while the rooms are still empty. It is much easier to do this right before the boxes come in than to work around them after.

Renovation in an older house makes a particular kind of dust. Cutting into plaster walls and sanding old floors throws fine powder that drifts into every room, even ones behind closed doors. It settles on door frames, inside light fixtures and in the heating vents. If it is only swept, it keeps showing up for weeks. Post renovation cleaning means taking it off every surface, working from the ceiling down, with vacuums and damp cloths.

Fieldston is a landmark historic district, so a lot of renovation here is restoration work on original trim, floors and windows. That makes the final clean matter more, because new work should not get scratched by a crew in a hurry. We wipe new finishes gently and check with you or your contractor about anything that is still curing. PBL Cleaning also does commercial cleaning, so if you run an office nearby, ask about that when you call.

Getting a price in Fieldston

Call PBL Cleaning at (516) 537-2367, or send us the form on this page with the address, the size of the house and the kind of clean you want. Tell us about anything that needs care, like old wood floors, a room still under renovation or a move date you are working toward. We will look at the job and give you a free quote before any work starts, so you know the price up front.