Hamilton County has been building fast: about half of Westfield's homes date from 2010 or later. What new-build dust, new fixtures and very hard water mean for the first year in a new home.
The northern edge of the Indianapolis area is overwhelmingly new. About half of Westfield's housing was built in 2010 or later, about 55 percent of Fishers homes in 2000 or later, and about half of Carmel's since 2000. Even inside the city, about 20 percent of housing went up in 2000 or later.
A brand new house looks spotless at closing, but it rarely stays that way for long. This guide covers what tends to surface in the first months, how to protect new finishes and what a professional clean can and cannot do.
Census estimates show how heavily the suburbs lean new. In Westfield, about 73 percent of housing units were built in 2000 or later, and about 78 percent are single family detached homes. In Fishers, about 87 percent were built in 1990 or later, and about 75 percent are single family detached. In Zionsville, about 48 percent date from 2000 or later and about 58 percent have four or more bedrooms.
Those numbers describe a particular kind of house: large, detached, with three or more full baths, an open great room, a two-story foyer and plenty of windows. That shape changes the cleaning job as much as the age does.
Drywall sanding and finish carpentry leave a very fine dust that settles in places a builder's final clean seldom reaches: inside HVAC ducts and registers, on top of door frames and tall trim, inside window tracks, on blinds and on ceiling fan blades. Once the furnace or air conditioning starts running, that dust circulates and settles again on every flat surface.
For the first few months, expect to dust more than you would in an older home. Change the HVAC filter early and often, vacuum registers and returns, and wipe window tracks after the first few weeks of open windows.
New homes often get high-end finishes: frameless glass showers, matte black or brushed gold faucets, quartz counters. In Westfield, Citizens Water reports an average hardness of about 22 grains per gallon, with a maximum of 29, drawn from the River Road, Cherry Tree and Greyhound Pass groundwater plants plus water from the Indianapolis system. That water starts spotting new glass and fixtures within the first week.
The time to build habits is before the film builds up. Squeegee glass after each shower, dry faucets with a microfiber towel, and use only cleaners the fixture maker approves for specialty finishes. Many matte and colored finishes can be damaged by acidic descalers or abrasive pads. Carmel homes, on water softened to about eight grains by Carmel Utilities, see less film but still benefit from the same routine.
Four bedroom homes with three or more baths have a lot of square footage to maintain. Open layouts mean kitchen grease and pet hair travel farther, two-story great rooms collect dust on high ledges and fans, and big windows show every spot. A regular plan matters more in a larger home because there are more surfaces to fall behind on.
Families with kids in travel sports will also recognize another source of mess. Westfield's Grand Park Sports Campus, more than 400 acres with 26 baseball and softball diamonds, can send infield dirt and turf crumbs home in bags and cleats. A drop zone with a boot tray by the garage door keeps most of it out of the house.
A professional clean works best once boxes, packing material and leftover construction scraps are gone. Cleaners do not haul construction waste, debris or furniture. Westfield residents can use the city's Bulk Trash Day, held the second Saturday of May and of October at City Services on East 171st Street. Leftover paint and cleaning products can go to the Hamilton County Household Hazardous Waste center in Noblesville, which accepts up to 200 pounds per residence per month.
A One-Time Deep Clean suits the first months in a new home: it wipes vents and ceiling fans in place, cleans window tracks, wet-wipes blinds, hand washes baseboards and treats shower glass for hard water spots. For an empty home before move-in, a Moving Clean adds the inside of the oven, refrigerator and cabinets. After that, a Recurring House Clean keeps up with the dust and the water. The Westfield page and Fishers page have more local detail.
The questions Indianapolis homeowners ask most often about this topic, answered plainly.
TotalCare Cleaning will service Indianapolis 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.
