Care for Pensacola's historic and pre-1970 homes, from the 425 buildings of the North Hill Preservation District to Milton's riverfront historic district, with the gentle methods old finishes need.
Pensacola's story starts early: Spanish settlers under Tristan de Luna first settled the area in 1559, and the site was resettled in 1698. Very little from that era survives in people's homes, but the city still has a large stock of houses built long before air conditioning was standard.
Cleaning those houses is different. Old wood, plaster, tile and paint can be damaged by the products and tools that are fine in a new build. This guide covers what makes Pensacola's older homes special, and how to clean them without doing harm.
Census estimates for the City of Pensacola show about 46 percent of homes built before 1970 and about 12 percent built in 1939 or earlier. That is roughly 3,300 houses built before 1940 inside city limits alone.
The North Hill Preservation District covers about 156 acres with 425 historic buildings and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. Across the bay, the Milton Historic District along US 90 at the Blackwater River was listed in 1987 and holds 117 historic buildings. Gulf Breeze is younger, incorporated in 1961, yet about 47 percent of its homes also predate 1970.
Paint in homes built before 1978 may contain lead. In a house of that age, original trim, window sashes, porch rails and doors may carry layers of it under newer coats. Cleaning should never sand, scrape, chip or use abrasive pads on painted surfaces in these homes. A damp cloth and a mild cleaner lift dirt without disturbing the paint.
If paint is already peeling or flaking, leave it alone, keep children and pets away from the chips, and talk to a qualified painting or abatement contractor. That is not a cleaning job.
Old wood floors and trim want very little water. Damp mop, never wet mop, and dry right after. Use a cleaner made for sealed wood and test it in a closet corner first. Plaster walls are softer than drywall; dust them and spot clean gently rather than scrubbing.
Original tile and grout in older bathrooms have usually been through decades of cleaning. Skip acid cleaners on old grout and natural stone, and use a soft brush. Pensacola's humid subtropical climate, with a July mean of 83.5 degrees and the wettest months from June to September, means those bathrooms often need more frequent attention, not stronger chemicals.
Older Pensacola houses often have deep wood sills, wide porches and screen doors. Those are where lovebugs collect during their two flights, from April to May and August to September, and where pollen and sand settle. Wipe sills with a barely damp cloth, vacuum screens with a brush attachment, and clean porch light covers after each flight.
About 70 percent of the city's homes are detached houses, so most older homes have a yard and a porch feeding grit to the front door. Mats inside and out protect original floors more than any cleaning product.
An older Pensacola house may have been through Frederic, Opal, Ivan and Sally. Sally brought 2 to 4 feet of freshwater flooding to parts of downtown Pensacola. If an older home has had water inside, old plaster and wood need specialists to assess and dry them before cleaning. The storm season guide covers the order of operations.
A One-Time Deep Clean is the right start for an older home: baseboards and trim hand washed with mild products, blinds wet-wiped, tracks cleared and fans and fixtures wiped in place. After that, a bi-weekly Recurring House Clean keeps dust and humidity from settling into old finishes. Tell the cleaner what is original, what has been refinished and what you would like left alone.
The questions Pensacola homeowners ask most often about this topic, answered plainly.
TotalCare Cleaning will service Pensacola 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.
