Remove bad odours from your House before you Sell

When it comes to selling your house, making that instant impression the minute potential buyers walk through the front door is imperative. This means you should not have bad odours lingering throughout your home while your property is listed for sale on the Calgary market.

Unfortunately, getting rid of some of the unwanted smells is no easy task and can take trial and error, scrubbing, time, and lots of energy. To help you improve the way your house smells, here are a few ideas you will want to try to remove bad odours.

Bring in a Friend

One of the first steps you must take is to determine if there is bad odours lingering in your home, what the smell is, and where the smell is coming from. Many homeowners become nose blind to the smells in their own house. To help you, bring in a friend. Ask someone who will be completely honest with you — to enter your home and identify if there is an odour lingering in your house. Next, ask him or her to walk around the property and identify where the smell is the strongest.

Clean the most Obvious Culprits

There are many areas around your home where bad odours tend to linger the most. These areas include garbage cans, the refrigerator, pantry, and the bathroom. Spend a couple of days focused on these areas and clean and sanitize them. For example, using soap and water, wash both the inside and outside of all garbage cans. Throw away all old and expired food inside of your refrigerator and then using a bleach solution, wipe down all shelves and drawers. These tasks may not only remove yucky smells but will also make your home look clean and well maintained.

Baking Soda isn’t just for Baking

Baking soda can be used for much more than baking. Baking soda is a simple and easy way to get rid of mild smells that may be lingering in your home. A few days before a showing, place an open container of baking soda in an area that may contain an unpleasant smell. The baking soda will absorb these bad odours, helping you create a more fresh atmosphere during those important open houses.

Baking soda is also a terrific item to help remove pet smells that may be lurking on your carpet. For example, if your family pet had an accident on your home’s carpet after you have cleaned up the mess, sprinkle baking soda on the area of your floor and let it sit for a few minutes. Then, you can simply vacuum up the baking soda. The baking soda will help to remove and neutralize the smell.

Wash with Vinegar

If your home has a strong smell of smoke or tobacco, you’ll need a fairly heavy-duty solution to get rid of that bad odour. Diluted vinegar is a cleaning option to help remove this smell from your home. Dilute the vinegar with water and use the solution to wipe down walls, cupboards, and shelves. You may need to wash the surfaces with soap and water a few days following to reduce the vinegar smell.

Home Improvement Project can help with Bad Odours

There may be some situations where cleaning will not be enough to remove bad odours that are lingering throughout your home. For example, if your house has a musty smell to it that you can’t seem to get rid of, it may be time to replace the flooring throughout your house, apply a new coat of paint that boasts odour-blocking properties, and replace old window treatments.

While many of these home improvement projects will cost time and money, they will not only improve your home, they will increase the value of Calgary property as well.