Once houses constructed by Australian Heritage Homes are complete, that doesn’t mean that our journey with you ends. We’re here day and night (at reasonable hours) to answer the questions that understandably can tangle up new homeowners and stress you out. No stress here, only answers. We’ve seen a range of all sorts of challenges, and some are more common than others. Today’s post covers one – if not the most pleasant… smells throughout your property.
It’s a little bit of a taboo topic, as we really don’t like to talk about the odours around houses, especially if the house isn’t your own. That said, it’s an easy fix and one that you should take care of quickly so that these odours and the residual effects don’t impact your home for a long period of time. Yes, there are the smells that linger around the air – and can be amplified if you have animals, love a certain type of food, or don’t get around to cleaning as often as you should. There are also the smells that can be caused by mould if you don’t clean your kitchen, bathroom, or other tiled areas where moisture can be an issue as well as spills on your carpet or floor that permeate the entire home and can actually cause long-term damage.
First things first… avoid the short-term fixes. Spraying vanilla in the kitchen because you made a poor meal a while back and neglected to clean associated appliances (especially the dishwasher) will not solve your problem. In fact, it can make it worse in the long run. The same thing goes for any sort of air fresheners. While they’re certainly well-intentioned and make sense in certain scenarios, they’re not a cure-all for any of the above… no matter what they say.
But here’s the good news. All of the actual, long-term solutions are easier than you may think:
- Take out your garbage. Even if it’s not full. If you’ve made a particularly pungent meal, wrap up a lovely evening by taking it out and knowing that any remnants wouldn’t have accumulated at the bottom of the trash bin, easily something that you wouldn’t notice for days, or unfortunately – even months.
- Clean your carpets. You may have pets. Then you KNOW that you should be cleaning your carpets on a regular basis. But it may fall by the wayside, especially if a pet is young. If you’re sitting in front of the television watching and a food item slips off the plate, something else you may think you can just pick up and move on. Nope. Both of these examples can cause long-term lingering smells that you want to eradicate immediately.
- And here’s the kicker that many don’t think about… your closets and drawers. We know, what could be smelling in there? It doesn’t matter, but it takes five minutes for drawers and a simple check off the chore list for wardrobes to clean the floors and ensure that no errant smells are originating there.
Case closed on smells around the home. Reach out to the AHH team with any additional questions about this and other topics.