When people have actually lived in a house, they leave traces behind. Sometimes those traces are very difficult to remove. Smokers, for example can clean and repaint, but the smell of smoke can stick around. Pet odours can linger long after the movers put the last of your belongings on the truck. So, how do you deal with the odours from hell that won’t leave? Here’s a secret from the home stylist Sydney secret vault.
When commercial buildings have floods or fires, the first machine that comes in to the building after the water is pumped out and the carpeting removed is an ozone machine. An ozone machine is a device that creates electrified air or ozone. (Ozone is that heavenly smell you find outside just after a thunder storm.)
When an electrical current flows through normal oxygen molecules, it activates the air by adding extra molecules of oxygen to each particle. Now you have 03 – molecules with three oxygen atoms. Ozone then breaks down into regular oxygen, leaving that extra oxygen molecule to attach to the pollutants in the air and break them down through oxidation.
These days, almost every motel has an ozone machine to clean up the air when somebody smokes in a non-smoking room or sneaks Bowser or Kitty into a room where they are not welcome. The cleaners hook up the ozone machine and, poof. No more smells.
The good news about an ozone machine is that you don’t have to buy one, or even hire a disaster clean-up team. Your local tool hire emporium is likely to have one for hire by the day or by the hour. Depending on the size of the machine and the size of your smell, leaving the machine running for a few hours or a few days should do the trick.
Mould and mildew can present a bigger problem. Whether you’ve had a burst pipe or a flood of water left behind when the fire crew extinguishes a fire, mould and mildew are bound to follow. Musty smells in damp areas where there is insufficient air circulation might mean that you may have a health hazard. Our home stylist Sydney warns that if you find nasty spores procreating in your walls, you need to destroy the colony for safety. (For the record, the ozone cannot penetrate walls, but it can circulate and do its job anywhere air exists.)
First of all you’ll want to fix the water problem. If it’s a broken pipe or a dripping connection, do whatever is necessary to eliminate the source of the moisture. Then, place an ozone machine in the area where mould and/or mildew create a problem. Closing the space off, then filling the area with ozone will kill the mould and eliminate the odours.
If you fail in your search to hire a local ozone machine, it’s good to know that they are available for purchase for varying prices on the internet. Read the information carefully before you buy as the size and power of the machine will be important to the effectiveness of the result.
Of course, you can invest in hiring a professional clean-up team. If your problem is a big one, it might be money well spent. If your issue is less than cataclysmic, but may still impact the pricing of your property, you’ll need to take it on yourself. Unfortunately, professional clean-up teams don’t always share their secrets with the rest of us. Fortunately, we have access to our own team of professionals.
When it’s time to get your own home ready for sale, call the specialists at Urban Chic Property Styling. Being part of the real estate world in the Sydney area for many decades makes Urban Chic infinitely qualified to face down whatever staging problem you might have, including the frustrating one of lingering odours.
At Urban Chic Property Styling, we take your problems seriously. Working with us can save you time, money, and possibly even your sanity. We’ve been there. As a matter of fact, we’re there every working day. After all these years of working as professional home stylist Sydney, it’s tough to surprise us with a problem we’ve not already solved. Having a skilled, experienced team in your corner can be the most powerful secret to selling your house for top dollar.
