How to clean Baltimore's prewar rowhouses and historic district homes without harming them: plaster, old floors, radiators, steep stairs and the Maryland lead rules that shape the work.
Few American cities live in houses as old as Baltimore's. Census estimates put about 41.5 percent of the city's homes in the 1939 or earlier column, and the city's preservation commission has designated 38 neighborhoods as local historic districts. Cleaning these houses is less about scrubbing harder and more about knowing which surfaces are fragile, which are tough and which should not be touched at all.
This guide is for owners and renters in Baltimore's older rowhouses, twins and detached homes, from the harbor neighborhoods to the early streetcar suburbs.
Of the roughly 295,000 housing units in Baltimore City, about 41.5 percent were built in 1939 or earlier, about 11.6 percent in the 1940s and about 14.4 percent in the 1950s. In other words, two of every three homes in the city were standing by 1960. About half of all units are single family attached houses, so the typical older Baltimore home is a rowhouse.
The city's Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation, created in 1964, has designated 38 neighborhoods as local historic districts and more than 200 properties as landmarks. Places like Fells Point carry both city and National Register designation, and Roland Park, begun in 1891, is a National Register district with its own deed covenants.
Paint in a house this old may contain lead, and Maryland takes that seriously. Owners of rental homes built before 1978 must register with the state every year and provide a valid lead inspection certificate at each tenant turnover unless the home is certified lead-free. Baltimore City's rental license also requires current lead certification for each unit.
For cleaning, the rule is simple. Wipe painted trim, doors and sills with a damp cloth and a mild cleaner, and never sand, scrape or dry-scrub paint that is chipping or flaking. Damp wiping picks up fine dust instead of spreading it. Any damaged paint gets pointed out to the owner rather than cleaned around.
Each original material wants a different touch.
Older homes breathe more than new ones, for better and worse. Pollen from the long Mid-Atlantic spring, which University of Maryland Extension says is thick enough to coat windshields, works in around old window sashes. July dew points at BWI of about 63 to 68 degrees leave interior bathrooms and stone basements damp. And in the fall, multicolored Asian lady beetles gather in attics, basements and living areas, finding their way through the gaps an old house always has.
That combination is why older Baltimore homes do best on a steady schedule. A bi-weekly Recurring House Clean keeps dust and pollen off the fragile surfaces before they need heavier work.
A house that has gone a while without professional care usually starts with a One-Time Deep Clean, which hand washes baseboards, wipes fans, light fixtures and vents in place, wet-wipes blinds and cleans window tracks. In an old rowhouse that work concentrates on trim, radiators and the stair run. Before the visit, point out anything fragile: a loose stair rail, a cracked marble sill, an antique light fixture, a floor that has never been refinished. Cleaners will work around repairs rather than make them.
The questions Baltimore homeowners ask most often about this topic, answered plainly.
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