What is included in post construction cleaning?

On this project: ceilings, walls, light fixtures taken down and cleaned inside, every object cleaned by hand, floors vacuumed three times and mopped with a product made for the finish, a HEPA air scrubber in each sealed room, a separate sanitizing protocol for the bathrooms, the full kitchen inside and out, and all construction trash removed. Scope is confirmed in the walkthrough before the cleaning day.

Can construction dust make you sick?

We are cleaners, not doctors, so we point to the EPA: particles smaller than 10 micrometers are inhalable, some can get deep into the lungs, and construction sites are listed among the sources of that particle pollution. That is why we filter the air with a HEPA scrubber instead of only wiping surfaces, and why we recommend not moving back in before the clean.

How do you clean dust from the air after construction?

Finish the surfaces first, then place a HEPA air scrubber in the room, seal every opening with plastic and let it run for up to 24 hours. The XPOWER X-2580 we use moves up to 550 cubic feet of air per minute through four stages and captures 99.97% of particles as small as 0.3 microns.

How long does post-construction cleaning take in Washington, DC?

An empty unit can often be done in a day. A furnished, multi-level townhouse takes longer, because every object is cleaned by hand, and each finished room also gets up to 24 hours of HEPA air scrubbing.

What is the difference between post-renovation and new-construction cleaning?

In new construction the house is usually empty, so you clean surfaces. After a renovation, furniture and belongings are often still inside, and the dust settles on all of them. Each item has to be cleaned individually.

Do I need an air scrubber after a renovation?

If the work involved sanding, drywall or flooring, yes. Fine construction dust stays in the air and settles back on clean surfaces. A HEPA air scrubber filters that air, capturing 99.97% of particles as small as 0.3 microns.

Can a floor machine damage new hardwood?

It can if the moisture is not controlled. We use a rotary machine with moisture control and a product made for the floor's finish.

Do you sanitize bathrooms the construction workers used?

Yes. Bathrooms get a separate protocol with steam and EPA-registered disinfectants on the toilet, shower and every touch surface. Toilet seats are taken apart and cleaned, or replaced if they cannot be restored.

Why do you visit before the cleaning day?

Every renovation leaves different problems. The walkthrough lets us plan products, equipment and the room order, so nothing is improvised on the cleaning day.

Real project · Washington, DC

Post Construction Cleaning in Washington, DC: Inside a 3-Story Townhouse

A furnished townhouse, freshly repainted and refloored, cleaned room by room with HEPA vacuums and a sealed-room air scrubber, so the family could move back into a home without construction dust.

By Rodrigo Reis, Owner · MD · DC · VA · September 28, 2026

Get a Post-Construction Estimate See the cleaning process

Capital Clean Care team cleaning the new kitchen and living area of a renovated Washington, DC townhouse, island covered in plastic during the post-construction clean

Owner-provided project photo

The new kitchen, mid-clean. Our team working the kitchen and living level.

HEPA air scrubbing

Captures 99.97% of 0.3-micron particles

Furnished-home detail cleaning

Every object cleaned by hand

Insured, background-checked team

The same crews that clean our homes

Serving DC, MD and VA

Washington, DC and Montgomery County

Quick answer

A proper post construction clean in Washington, DC starts with a site walkthrough, cleans every room from the ceiling down, finishes each room with a HEPA air scrubber running in a sealed space, and treats bathrooms with a separate sanitizing protocol. On a furnished renovation, it also means cleaning every object in the house by hand. Below is exactly how we did it on a three-story townhouse in Washington, DC.

Project snapshot

Location: Washington, DC
Property: Townhouse, 3 floors
Scope: Full repaint, new hardwood floors
Condition: Furnished and occupied: furniture, clothes, books and electronics stayed inside
Key equipment: HEPA vacuums, XPOWER X-2580 HEPA air scrubber, rotary floor machine with moisture control, steam, carpet extractor
Order of work: Top floor down, one room at a time, each room sealed after cleaning

The call

All of the dust was left behind

The contractor had finished. New paint, new hardwood, the whole house redone. The homeowner, who I'll call Joshua (not his real name), had a problem most post construction guides skip: his family never moved their things out. Furniture, clothes, the books in the office, the weights in the gym, all of it stayed through the entire remodel.

So the fine dust from sanding and painting didn't just sit on the floor. It was on everything. In an empty new build, you clean surfaces. In a furnished renovation, you clean a family's whole life, piece by piece.

Before the team

Why I send someone to walk the house first

I don't send a crew into a post construction job without a plan. One of our representatives walks every room before the cleaning day. On Joshua's house, that walkthrough answered four things:

What kind of clean this is. Standard, or with full bathroom sanitizing. Workers used the bathrooms for weeks.
What each surface needs. New hardwood, tile, glass and fresh paint each get their own product.
What the contractor left behind. Paint on mirrors, glue on floors, film on new windows, fixtures to take down.
Where the air scrubber goes, and the order the rooms get sealed.

Our process

How we cleaned it, top floor to kitchen

The same order in every room: ceiling, fixtures, walls, every object, floor last.

01
Top floor first
Dust falls, so we start at the top. Third floor: home gym, guest room, bathroom and office.
Ceiling, then light fixtures (taken down, bulbs cleaned), then walls, then every object, then the floor last.
02
Read the floor before cleaning it
After three vacuum passes we inspect the whole floor for paint drips, glue, chemicals and stains.
Each mark comes off with the right method for that material before any mopping starts.
03
Seal the room and clean the air
When a room is done, the XPOWER X-2580 HEPA air scrubber goes in and every opening is sealed with plastic.
It runs for up to 24 hours, so airborne dust is captured instead of settling back on clean surfaces.
04
Bathrooms get their own protocol
The crew used these bathrooms for weeks. Wiping is not sanitizing.
Rotary machine on shower walls, glass and tile scraped, toilet seats taken apart, steam plus EPA-registered disinfectants.
05
Kitchen, closets and final handoff
The new kitchen was cleaned ceiling to floor, including the refrigerator, range, hood and every cabinet inside and out.
Closets emptied, cleaned inside, everything put back where it was. Construction trash bagged and taken out.

Team member wiping each shelf of the office bookcase by hand, with books and boxes set aside — Owner-provided photo. Step 1: the office, shelf by shelf, object by object.

Three frosted glass light shades taken down from the bathroom vanity fixture, with the screws and tools on the counter — Owner-provided photo. Step 4: vanity shades come down so the bulbs and the inside of the fixture get cleaned too.

Team member cleaning the empty shelves inside the new refrigerator — Owner-provided photo. Step 5: the new refrigerator, inside and out.

On the new hardwood we finish with a rotary machine that controls the moisture going into the wood, using a product made for that finish. Too much water and boards can cup or warp. The full sequence is in our guide on cleaning hardwood floors after construction.

The equipment that makes the difference

How we remove dust from the air, not just the surfaces

Here's what most people don't know about construction dust: a lot of it is still floating after the surfaces are clean. You can wipe every shelf perfectly and, in a few hours, a new layer settles on top.

So when a room is done, an XPOWER X-2580 HEPA air scrubber goes in and every opening is sealed with plastic for up to 24 hours. It moves up to 550 cubic feet of air per minute through four filter stages, and the final HEPA stage captures 99.97% of particles as small as 0.3 microns (manufacturer specifications). Vents and grilles in the room are vacuumed and wiped like any other surface; duct cleaning is a separate trade and is not part of this service.

HEPA filtration
Up to 550 CFM airflow
Four filter stages
Runs in every finished room

Why it matters

Captures fine construction dust that is still floating after the surfaces are clean
Runs inside a sealed room, so the air it cleans stays clean
Keeps dust from rooms still being cleaned out of rooms already finished
Final HEPA stage rated for 99.97% of particles as small as 0.3 microns

Construction dust

Why construction dust is more than a cosmetic problem

The EPA describes particle pollution as inhalable particles 10 micrometers and smaller, with fine particles at 2.5 micrometers and smaller, and lists construction sites among the sources emitted directly into the air. In its words, some particles under 10 micrometers "can get deep into your lungs and some may even get into your bloodstream" (EPA, Particulate Matter Basics). That is the reason a post construction clean is a different job from a deep clean, and why we treat the air as a surface.

Construction dust behaves differently

Sanding, drywall and flooring dust is fine enough to stay airborne for hours and settle again after you wipe. Surfaces alone are not enough; the air has to be filtered too.

Every surface and object is affected

Ceilings, walls, inside light fixtures, inside cabinets and drawers, and on a furnished renovation, every book, weight and cable in the house.

It needs specific equipment and sequence

HEPA vacuums, an air scrubber, a rotary floor machine with moisture control and products matched to each material, in a fixed top-down order.

Scope

What's included in post construction cleaning

This is the scope we delivered on the townhouse. The walkthrough confirms it for each project, because every renovation leaves different problems behind.

Every room, ceiling to floor

Ceilings and the corners where ceiling meets wall
Light fixtures taken down, bulbs and the inside of the fixture cleaned
Walls top to bottom with HEPA vacuums and microfiber
Every object cleaned individually and put back
Floor vacuumed three times, inspected, then mopped with a product made for that finish

Bathrooms used during the work

Shower walls washed with the rotary machine, product matched to tile, stone or paint
Glass and tile scraped, not just wiped
Paint cleared off mirrors where the painters hit them
Toilet seats and lids taken apart to clean every hinge and gap, or replaced if they cannot be restored
Steam plus EPA-registered disinfectants on every touch surface
Inside every cabinet and drawer

Kitchen and handoff

Protective film peeled off new windows, glass cleaned
Paint residue removed from countertops, glass and window frames
Refrigerator, range and hood cleaned inside and out
Every cabinet inside and out
Carpets and rugs shampooed and extracted
Construction trash bagged and removed

Renovation complete? Don't move back into the dust.

Every day you live in the dust, it spreads into the rooms that were fine. The first step is always the same: we come walk your house, see what the contractor left, and build the plan for your project.

Get a Post-Construction Estimate (240) 704-2551

Where we work

Post-remodel cleaning in DC, Bethesda, Silver Spring and Rockville

We clean renovated homes in Washington, DC, Montgomery County and across the DMV. The process on this page is the same one we bring to a condo in Bethesda or a colonial in Rockville; the walkthrough is what changes.

After a lot of these jobs, here's what I tell every homeowner: ask if they clean the air, not just the surfaces. Ask who plans the job. Ask about the bathrooms specifically. And don't move back in before the clean.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Sources and about the photos

XPOWER Manufacture, X-2580 Professional 4-Stage HEPA Mini Air Scrubber: 550 CFM, four filter stages, HEPA stage rated for 99.97% of 0.3-micron particles. Manufacturer's specifications, checked on 2026-09-28.
U.S. EPA, Particulate Matter (PM) Basics and Indoor Particulate Matter: definitions of PM10 and PM2.5, construction sites as a direct source, and the sentence quoted above. Checked on 2026-09-28.

About the photos on this page: they are owner-provided photos of this project, taken by Capital Clean Care during the clean. The homeowner's name has been changed. Photos show our team and the work, not the family's personal belongings in detail.

Rodrigo Reis

Founder & Owner, Capital Clean Care

Rodrigo founded Capital Clean Care in 2015 and still runs it as a family-owned, Latino-operated business. Over 10+ years his team has cleaned 500+ homes across Montgomery County and the wider DMV, and the pricing and checklists in these guides come from the real quotes and jobs they run every week, not national averages. Read our story →