Unattended death cleanup in Lincoln
When someone has died alone and was not found for days, the home needs more than cleaning. Fluids and odor reach materials you cannot see, and they have to come out.
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Why it takes more than airing out
After a few days, fluids move down and out: into a mattress, through carpet and pad, into subfloor and sometimes the floor below. The odor comes from those materials, so it stays until they are removed.
A cleanup company finds the edges of the damage, removes what cannot be saved, cleans and seals what stays, and then treats the air. Opening windows or using fragrance before that usually spreads the problem.
Before the company arrives
- Keep the door to the room closed and stay out of it.
- Turn off fans and forced-air heating or cooling to that part of the home if you can do it without going in.
- Do not wash bedding or clothes from the room in your machine.
- Set aside the papers you will need, if they are outside the room: insurance policy, lease, the officer's report number.
- If the person rented, tell the landlord or property manager; they may arrange the work themselves.
Questions
Will the smell come back after cleaning?
It should not if the soaked materials were removed. Ask the company how it checks that the source is gone before it hands the home back.
Can furniture be saved?
Hard furniture often can. Upholstered pieces and mattresses that fluids reached usually cannot. The company will tell you what it would keep.
Related guides
- After a death at homeWhat happens first, who you will deal with, and when cleanup fits in.
- Who pays for cleanupHomeowner and renter insurance, Nebraska's victim reparations program, landlords and estates.
- For landlords and property managersA death or a crime in a rental unit: access, tenants, records and the city's housing rules.
When you are ready, make one call
Say what happened, where, and whether the police or the coroner's office are still involved. The company will ask a few questions and explain what it would do. You decide whether to go ahead.
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You will speak with an independent cleanup company. See the referral disclosure.