For new Providence residents: how trash and bulky waste work, where your water comes from, what to check in an older unit, and how a Moving Clean gets an empty home ready before the boxes arrive.
Moving into a Providence apartment or house usually means moving into an old building. Most homes in the city were built before 1940, most are rented, and many share a front door with a neighbor. The best time to clean is before anything is unpacked, and the best time to learn the local trash and water basics is the same week.
This guide collects the city services new residents ask about first, then explains the move-in clean TotalCare Cleaning will offer when it comes to Providence.
Providence's Department of Public Works asks residents to keep trash and recycling in lidded carts that are collected weekly, and its rodent control guidance adds that pet food should only be put out at mealtimes. Moving week produces a mountain of boxes and packing waste, and open bags on the sidewalk are an invitation to rats. Break boxes down, keep everything in the carts, and spread the extra over a few collection days if you need to.
For the things that will not fit, Providence residents can schedule free bulky waste and e-waste collection through Waste Management, and mattresses can be dropped off free at the DPW yard behind 700 Allens Avenue on Saturday mornings. The previous tenant's leftover couch or a mattress you are replacing should go that way, since cleaners do not haul furniture.
Providence Water's supply comes entirely from surface reservoirs in a 93 square mile, mostly forested watershed centered on the Scituate Reservoir, and it is treated at the Philip J. Holton plant in Scituate. Several neighboring communities also buy from Providence Water: except for the Potowomut area, all of Warwick's water does.
If you are moving from Pawtucket, Central Falls or the Valley Falls part of Cumberland, your old supply came from the Pawtucket Water Supply Board and the Abbott Run watershed instead. Rhode Island water reports also list road de-icing runoff as a source of sodium, which is worth knowing if anyone in the house watches their salt. Run each tap for a bit when you first move in to flush water that sat in the pipes while the unit was empty.
Census estimates show about 54.5 percent of Providence homes were built in 1939 or earlier, and the Rhode Island Department of Health says most homes in the state predate 1978 and likely contain lead-based paint. Walk the empty unit before the boxes come in and look at window sills, wells and door frames. Chipped paint near where a child will play or sleep is worth raising with your landlord in writing.
Rhode Island requires every landlord to register rental properties with the Department of Health, and owners of non-exempt pre-1978 units must file a lead certificate of conformance. It is reasonable to ask your landlord about both before you sign or move in.
An empty home is the easiest home to clean well. The Moving Clean will include everything on the deep clean list, hand washed baseboards, wet-wiped blinds, window tracks, ceiling fans and fixtures wiped in place, degreased cabinet fronts, detailed faucets and soaked stovetop grates, plus the inside of the oven, refrigerator and kitchen and bathroom cabinets and drawers. That last part only works when the shelves are bare, which is why the clean should come before unpacking.
In an older unit, sills and window wells get damp wiping and a HEPA vacuum, and chipped paint is left alone. Many Providence moves happen when college leases turn over, so book early if your move date falls near the start or end of an academic year. Leaving an apartment at the same time? The move-out cleaning guide covers the Rhode Island deposit rules.
If you are new to New England, the first winter is the big adjustment. The airport station averages about 36.6 inches of snow and 109 nights at or below freezing. Homeowners have eight hours after snow stops to clear their sidewalks, and the city asks residents to salt before storms. Set up mats inside and outside the door before the first storm, and read the winter cleaning guide for a full routine.
The questions Providence homeowners ask most often about this topic, answered plainly.
TotalCare Cleaning will service Providence 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.
