With about 64 percent of housing built before 1980, Fort Wayne is a city of older homes. Here is how to care for West Central, Southwood Park and postwar houses without damaging them.
About 15 percent of Fort Wayne housing units were built in 1939 or earlier, and about 47 percent before 1970. In Wayne Township, which holds downtown, about 32 percent date from 1939 or earlier. These homes hold up well to careful treatment and poorly to harsh products, and this guide is about the difference.
The West Central Historic District, just west of downtown, is known for homes representing every architectural style built between 1840 and 1960, and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. Southwood Park grew out of landscape architect George Kessler's 1912 park and boulevard plan, and its homes include Tudor Revival and Colonial Revival houses from about 1929 to 1940.
The Indian Village Historic District shows the city's automobile suburbs, with 1920s period revival houses, small homes built for returning World War II veterans and later open plan designs. The Fort Wayne Historic Preservation Commission works with local historic districts, local conservation districts and National Register districts.
The Allen County Department of Health says homes built before 1978 are most at risk for lead exposure, and that peeling and cracking lead-based paint creates dust that is easily swallowed or inhaled. Sound paint is fine to wipe gently. Do not sand, scrape or dry sweep flaking paint. Have those areas looked at by a qualified professional, particularly if children live in the home.
Water is a separate question. Fort Wayne City Utilities says older homes may still have a private lead service line, adds orthophosphate to protect those lines, and has replaced more than 3,100 of them through its reduced cost program. That is not a cleaning issue, but anyone who owns an older home here should ask the utility about their own line.
Most damage in old houses comes from too much water and too much abrasion.
A house this age often has a real basement, and these can be damp. With May and June as the wettest months and dew points of about 63 in July, older foundations can feel it. A dehumidifier helps. Any standing water or recurring mold needs a repair or a specialist. The Allen County Department of Health says no standards exist for mold levels or clean-up, and cleaners do not remediate it.
A basement shelf often holds decades of cans. Allen County residents can drop off household hazardous products at the county facility at 2260 Carroll Road on Tuesdays, packed in a box or tote rather than a garbage bag. Bulk items such as old furniture go only when scheduled through 311. Clearing these things out makes everything else easier to clean.
When TotalCare Cleaning comes to Fort Wayne, a visit to an older home can begin with a quick walkthrough. Show your cleaner anything original or fragile, tell them what you have used in the past, and mark any rooms that are off limits. A One-Time Deep Clean is a good first step, since hand washed baseboards, wet-wiped blinds and window tracks are where these houses hold their dust.
A Recurring House Clean keeps it there, because frequent light cleaning is much kinder to old finishes than an occasional heavy one. If you have just bought one of these houses, the Moving Clean adds the inside of the oven, refrigerator and cabinets while everything is empty.
The questions Fort Wayne homeowners ask most often about this topic, answered plainly.
TotalCare Cleaning will service Fort Wayne and surrounding areas with background-checked cleaners and is insured up to $1 million. Re-clean guarantee: if we missed something, tell us by the end of the next day and we come back to fix it. Beyond Clean. TotalCare.
