A guide to cleaning San Antonio's older houses: the 32 local historic districts, homes built before 1950, original wood floors and tile, hard water on old fixtures and the paint precautions every pre-1978 home needs.
Few Texas cities have as much old housing as San Antonio. Census estimates put about 40 percent of the city's housing units before 1980, and roughly 60,000 were built before 1950. Many of those homes sit in neighborhoods the city protects as historic districts.
Older houses reward gentle, patient cleaning and punish shortcuts. This guide covers what makes them different, the finishes to protect and the jobs that belong to a specialist rather than a house cleaner.
The City of San Antonio Office of Historic Preservation lists 32 locally designated historic districts. They include King William, Monte Vista, Tobin Hill and Dignowity Hill, and each protects blocks of houses that have stood for generations. The city's history reaches back much further than its houses: the five San Antonio missions together form the San Antonio Missions World Heritage Site, the only UNESCO World Heritage Site in Texas.
The older housing reaches beyond the city limits. Building in Alamo Heights began in the 1890s, decades before it became a municipality in 1922, and the city describes a mix of architectural styles as a result. In Boerne, German colonists settled north of Cibolo Creek in 1849, and the townsite was laid out in 1852. Helotes grew from settlement in the 1850s and a center of commerce at the Bandera Road and Helotes Creek crossing in 1881.
The first rule in an older house is to find out what a surface is before cleaning it. Old finishes were not made for modern cleaners, and the damage from a harsh product is often permanent.
San Antonio Water System water typically runs 15 to 20 grains per gallon of hardness, and decades of it leave heavy scale on old tubs, pedestal sinks and original faucets. The temptation is to reach for the strongest acid on the shelf, but old enamel and plated fixtures can dull or pit.
Work slowly instead: apply a mild descaler, give it time, wipe and repeat. Test anything new on a hidden spot. Some old fixtures will never look new, and that is a better outcome than stripping the finish trying. The hard water guide explains where the scale comes from.
Homes built before 1978 may contain lead-based paint, and with about 40 percent of San Antonio housing built before 1980, many families live in one. Cleaners should never sand, scrape or strip old paint, and chipping or peeling paint is a reason to call a certified lead professional, not to clean around it harder. Damp wiping of sills and floors, rather than dry dusting, keeps dust down in the meantime.
Water stains, soft spots and musty smells in an older house can mean a leak or hidden mold. In Texas, mold assessment and remediation are handled by professionals with licenses from the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. A house cleaner keeps visible surfaces clean but does not open walls or treat damage.
When TotalCare Cleaning comes to San Antonio, cleaners in an older home will use mild products and soft tools, test new products on a hidden spot and never sand, scrape or strip finishes. A first visit is usually a One-Time Deep Clean: hand washed baseboards, wet-wiped blinds, window tracks, ceiling fans and light fixtures wiped in place and shower glass treated for hard water spots. After that, a Recurring House Clean keeps grit off the floors and scale off the fixtures. See the deep cleaning guide for the full list.
The questions San Antonio homeowners ask most often about this topic, answered plainly.
TotalCare Cleaning will service San Antonio 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.
