The first houses in Whitehall went up in 1967. Drive through Grenadier, Challedon, or Woodland Hills and the era shows: brick ranches and split-levels on mature lots, a few minutes off Piney Grove Rd and Bush River Rd, with the Saluda River along the southwest edge of the community.
A house that age has probably had three or four carpets. The one down now could be fifteen years old, or it could have gone in last spring when the house sold. Either way, what's under and around it is what makes these homes interesting to work in.
The bathroom tile is probably original
Hall baths and kitchens from that period often have small ceramic tile with a lot of grout lines. Over fifty-some years, grout that started out white turns a dull brown-gray, and a mop mostly pushes dirty water deeper into it. Our tile and grout cleaning runs a machine buffer over the floor to scrub the grime out of the lines themselves.
It won't fix cracked grout or a loose tile. Most of the time, though, the color under the grime is a lot lighter than people expect, and that first clean is the one homeowners remember.
Carpet over wood
Some of these homes still have the original hardwood under the carpet. If you've pulled up a corner and found oak, we can give it a hardwood cleaning to get the grime off. Refinishing is a separate trade, and we leave it to them.
If the carpet is staying, the visit goes the usual way. The tech walks through, gives the price, and pre-treats the spots, and the carbonated clean that follows uses so little water that the padding stays dry and the room is back in use quickly.
Dark lines along the baseboards
Older houses also tend to show dark lines along the baseboards and under bedroom doors. That's filtration soiling. Air pushing through the gap under a wall or door carries fine dust, and the carpet edge acts like a filter and catches it. Those lines take extra pre-treatment and sometimes won't come out all the way, so the tech will tell you what to expect before starting.
Saturday at Seven Oaks Park
Seven Oaks Park on Leisure Ln has nine athletic fields, and on a fall Saturday most of them are full. Grass stains and infield dirt ride home on cleats and knees and end up on the couch cushions. Upholstery cleaning handles the sofa, and if you're doing the family room carpet anyway, add it to the same visit.
Calling us
Seven Oaks has its own number with us: 803-302-7949. The crew comes over from our Blythewood office, so we group west-side appointments when we can, and a few days of notice helps. Or skip the phone and pick a day on our scheduling page.