Referral for Biohazard cleaners (& Pest Control?) in the Chicago area

December 13, 2020 9:24 AM

A relative of ours died in the home a couple of weeks ago and the body was not found for several days. We have gained access to the unit, and now we need help getting it presentable.

We need a trustworthy experienced cleaning crew to go in to a messy apartment and clean up all the biohazard residue, garbage, and clean out the kitchen of household waste, empty the fridge of rotting food, generally make sure the place is in a state where it can be left locked for several months without anything getting worse, until we can get out there and deal with the papers and non-perishable clutter and personal items. A relative informs us there are bugs too, so maybe we need pest control too? Or maybe just cleaning the other stuff will help?

Obviously we can use the internet to look for companies, but if anyone has personal experience with a crew that you liked and that specializes in biohazard cleanup we would appreciate a referral.

posted by terrapin to Home & Garden (7 answers total)

I'm sorry for your loss.

If Ask is unable to help, the local PD will be able to make a referral.
posted by DarlingBri at 12:12 PM on December 13, 2020

A lot of heavy-duty cleaners advertise themselves as "crime scene cleaners" - if you can't get a personal recommendation, that might be a good search term to start with, and then check references.
posted by Mchelly at 12:31 PM on December 13, 2020 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I have asked my sister who you know and who works for a state-level crime lab and this is her advice...

"Aftermath is pretty much country-wide, and i know they have an office in Chicago. we use them at my work and one of our former employees works for them. Word of advice though - bioremediation companies are *expensive*. only use them for the part you need their spendy services for (decomp, bugs, etc.). Pay a regular company to empty the trash, clean out the fridge, etc. once the hazardous guys are done."

She stresses that this can be really expensive so make sure you need something of that caliber before you start down that path. Many places will give you quotes. I can also say that she and I have used Servicemaster for some "Clean up after this awful (non-crime) mess" and have had good experiences. Check some local Yelp groups to see if the local franchise is any good (many are but a few are not) if you can't get personalized advice.
posted by jessamyn at 1:03 PM on December 13, 2020 [4 favorites]

SERVPRO is another clean-up service, and I believe they're national. We used them after a disastrous leak caused a flood, and they were helpful and came out the same day I called. I think they do the kind of cleaning you need, but not absolutely positive. Whatever it cost I didn't pay - the idiot that caused the flood's employer did. Best of luck. This sounds very upsetting, and I'm sorry for your loss.
posted by citygirl at 1:39 PM on December 13, 2020

In my experience, in a different city, Aftermath was terrific but yes a bit pricey. Be prepared for that. But it was ABSOLUTELY WORTH IT. The technicians were kind, non-judgmental, careful, thorough, and compassionate.

Then we hired a regular deep-cleaning crew for the non-biohazard stuff.
posted by nkknkk at 3:02 PM on December 13, 2020

Response by poster: Chiming in to say that perhaps biohazard may have been an unintentional exaggeration. The family member showed us some photos and mentioned some bugs and perhaps we are over reacting. Thanks for the advice. We'll keep monitoring.
posted by terrapin at 3:34 PM on December 13, 2020

I don't have a specific company, but want to steer you towards a new set of keywords to find a company that will do what you need - you need to look for companies that have experience with hoarder clean-up. These are crews who will be absolutely suited for tons of trash, rotten food, household waste, and will not blink an eye. They won't clean up biohazards so you will want to make sure that's taken care of in advance, but if the place is just gross but not a literal biohazard, look for places that advertise hoarder clean-up. Many professional organizers have personal referral lists for this, so if you know of any professional organizers, they'll be able to effectively ask their networks too.
posted by juniperesque at 1:22 PM on December 14, 2020