We clean across Kingsbridge

Kingsbridge apartment buildings hold onto old dust

Much of Kingsbridge is brick apartment buildings from before the war, lined up along Broadway, Kingsbridge Avenue and the side streets climbing toward the heights. They've got plaster walls, tall radiators, deep window sills and old wood floors under layers of finish. Every one of those catches dust in a way a newer drywall apartment doesn't, and the radiators bake it onto the metal all winter. A quick wipe just moves it around. A proper deep clean gets behind and between the fins.

The subway tracks above Broadway add their own layer. Apartments and storefronts that face the tracks get a fine gray grit on the sills, the glass, the window frames and anything near a window that opens. It's heavier than house dust and it smears when it gets wet, so a damp rag on a dirty sill only spreads it. We dry dust those spots first. Then we wash, and we change cloths often so the grit doesn't end up on the next surface.

Moving into one of these apartments is the moment to do it right. A unit that sat empty between tenants has dust in the kitchen cabinets, film on the bathroom tile, scuffs on the baseboards and old grease above the stove. A move in clean before your furniture shows up is far easier than working around a couch and a stack of boxes. We go inside every cabinet and drawer, so the place is clean before anything of yours touches it.

• Radiators dusted between the fins
• Window sills cleared of train grit
• Cabinets and drawers wiped inside
• Baseboards and door frames washed by hand
• Bathroom tile and grout scrubbed

Winter slush tracks into Kingsbridge lobbies

New York winters are hard on floors here. Sidewalks along Broadway and Kingsbridge Road get salted after every snow, and everybody who walks in carries that salt on their boots. In a building lobby or a small office, it dries into a white crust on tile and stone, and it dulls a wood finish if it sits. Mopping with plain water? That leaves a thin salty film that shows up again once the floor dries.

For offices and storefronts we treat winter as its own kind of work. Entry mats get lifted and cleaned under, and the first stretch of floor inside the door gets extra attention. We lift the salt off the floor instead of pushing it around. Doing that often through the cold months keeps a lobby from looking tired by the end of the season, and it protects the floor underneath.

Summer brings the opposite problem. Humid air hangs in older buildings, and bathrooms and back rooms start to smell musty when tile and grout stay damp. A bathroom with a window that barely opens has it worst. We scrub those surfaces clean and leave them dry. If you'd like gentler products in your apartment or workplace, ask for our eco friendly cleaning and we'll use it through the whole job.

Renovations leave dust in every Kingsbridge room

When a Kingsbridge apartment gets a new kitchen or bathroom, the work almost always means cutting into old plaster. That makes a very fine white dust, finer than drywall dust, and it drifts well past the room where the work happened. It settles on top of door frames, inside closets, in light fixtures and in every gap of a radiator. You can wipe a counter clean at night and find the dust back on it by morning.

Contractors sweep up when they leave, but a broom only takes the heavy debris. The fine dust stays behind. It comes back every time the heat kicks on or somebody opens a window. Our post renovation cleaning starts at the highest surfaces and finishes on the floors, so nothing we've already cleaned gets dusted over again from above.

The same goes for shops and offices along Broadway and Kingsbridge Road after a remodel. Before staff or customers come back in, the counters, shelves, glass and floors all need a real clean. Restrooms need it too, since the contractors used them the whole time they were working. Tell us what work was done and how big the space is, and we'll plan the clean around it.

Getting a price in Kingsbridge

Call us at (516) 537-2367 or send us the contact form with the address and what you need done. A few photos of the rooms help, especially after a renovation. We look at the size of the job and the shape the space is in, then give you a free quote before any work starts. You'll know the price before you agree to anything.