The Nashville area has built a lot of homes since 2000, most of all in Spring Hill, Nolensville, Mt. Juliet and Franklin. Here is what the first year in a new house means for cleaning, and how to protect new finishes.
New houses come with their own cleaning problems. Fine drywall dust keeps settling for months, builders' cleans skip the details, and modern finishes like matte cabinets, quartz and frameless glass show every mark. Around Nashville, a large share of homeowners are dealing with exactly that.
This guide looks at where new construction is concentrated, what a new home needs in its first months and how to care for the finishes that come with it. It does not cover construction cleanup or hauling debris, which belong to the builder.
Census estimates show how quickly the suburbs have grown. In Spring Hill, about 82 percent of homes were built in 2000 or later and about 47 percent in 2010 or later. In Nolensville, about 61 percent of housing has gone up since 2010, and about 97 percent of it is single family detached. Mt. Juliet follows with about 66 percent of homes built since 2000 and 40 percent since 2010.
Franklin and Murfreesboro are close behind, with about 54 and 56 percent of homes built since 2000. Even in Nashville-Davidson, where the stock is older on average, about 21 percent of homes date from 2010 or later.
Drywall sanding leaves a very fine dust that gets into the HVAC system, settles on top of door frames and cabinets and drifts out of vents for weeks after closing. A builder's final clean usually takes care of the visible mess but not what keeps falling.
A One-Time Deep Clean a month or two after moving in is often the most useful visit a new homeowner can book. It covers the areas where that dust collects: baseboards washed by hand, blinds wet-wiped, window tracks, ceiling fans, light fixtures and vents wiped in place, and cabinet fronts wiped down. Changing the HVAC filter a few times in the first months also helps.
New homes tend to have finishes that need specific care. Using the wrong product in the first year can dull or etch surfaces that are expensive to replace.
Water systems differ across the region. Metro Water Services reported calcium hardness averaging about 75 milligrams per liter in 2025, in the moderately hard range. Brentwood buys its water from Harpeth Valley Utility District and Metro Water Services, while Murfreesboro draws from the East Fork of the Stones River and J. Percy Priest Lake. Whichever system serves the house, big glass shower enclosures pick up water spots, so a squeegee and a regular treatment of the glass are worth building into the routine from day one.
New suburban subdivisions often mean new lawns, raw landscaping beds and construction still going on down the street. All of that ends up on entry floors. Nashville averages about 81 days a year with measurable rain, and fresh soil turns to mud fast. Mats inside and outside the garage entry and the front door, plus a boot tray, save a lot of floor cleaning.
For the regular routine after the first deep clean, a bi-weekly Recurring House Clean fits most new family homes. See the recurring cleaning guide.
The questions Nashville homeowners ask most often about this topic, answered plainly.
TotalCare Cleaning will service Nashville 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.
