Gentle, lead-aware cleaning for the pre-war houses and flats that make up most of Providence: plaster walls, cast iron radiators, old fir and oak floors, tiled baths and painted window wells.
Few American cities have as much old housing as Providence. More than half of its homes were built in 1939 or earlier, and the Providence Preservation Society, founded in 1956, works across all 25 of the city's neighborhoods to protect historic places. Living in one of those homes means living with finishes that were made to last but were never made for modern cleaning products.
This guide covers how to care for those finishes, what to watch for with old paint, and how TotalCare Cleaning will approach pre-war homes when it comes to Providence.
Census estimates put about 54.5 percent of the city's housing units in the built 1939 or earlier column. Only about 26 percent of units are detached single family homes, and about 45 percent sit in buildings with two to four units. In other words, the typical Providence home is an apartment or flat in a house that is close to a century old or older, often with shared stairs and a common basement.
Nearby cities share that profile to different degrees. In Pawtucket about 43 percent of homes date from before 1940, and in Woonsocket about 41 percent do. Cranston has about 29 percent in that group and far more detached houses.
The Rhode Island Department of Health says most homes in the state were built before 1978 and are very likely to have lead-based paint. It names old paint and paint dust as the biggest lead danger, with the highest risk for children under 6. Friction surfaces are where that dust forms: window sashes rubbing in their tracks, doors scraping a jamb, stair treads under foot traffic.
So the method is simple and strict. Clean painted sills, wells and the floor under windows with damp cloths and a vacuum fitted with a HEPA filter. Never dry dust or dry sweep those areas, and never sand, scrape or use abrasive pads on old paint. Rinse cloths often, and wash mop heads after a visit. Chipped or peeling paint is a repair job for a lead-safe contractor, and a cleaner should leave it alone and point it out.
Older houses were built with materials that have their own needs. A light touch keeps them looking right for another generation.
Old buildings and Providence weather combine in specific ways. The airport station averages 109 freezing nights a year, and the city asks residents to salt sidewalks before storms, so winter brings salt dust to original floors that do not have modern sealers. A mat inside and outside every door protects those floors more than anything else.
Summer dew points average near 63 degrees in July. Many pre-war bathrooms have a small window and no strong exhaust fan, so they dry slowly. Keep grout and caulk clean on a regular schedule, and know where cleaning stops: any mold inside walls or under floors calls for a remediation specialist.
If you own a home in a local historic district, exterior changes may need city approval. In Cranston, for example, the Historic District Commission must approve any exterior alteration in its local districts. Interior cleaning is not affected.
About 59 percent of Providence homes are rented, and many renters live in pre-1978 buildings. Rhode Island requires every landlord to register rental properties with the Department of Health, and owners of non-exempt pre-1978 units must also file a lead certificate of conformance. If you see peeling paint in a rental, tell your landlord in writing. For the cleaning side of a move, see the move-out cleaning guide, and for detail work in an occupied home, the deep cleaning guide.
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.
