Call Bio1 for suicide cleanup

Preferred provider for USAA and
Farmers Insurance

24/7 Service
San Diego County: 619-432-5119
San Diego County: 858-939-9985
North County: 760-517-6552

 

Removing body fluids from seats of a vehicle

We receive many calls about urine or blood in the seats of a car. Since vinyl and leather are not porous, we are usually able to salvage the seats. Sometimes, the stitching is such that there are areas we cannot properly clean.

In the case of fabric seats, the fluids have not only penetrated the fabric but also the cushion below. Any treatment we do on the top of the fabric is not going to suck the fluids out of the cushion. In these cases, the contaminated sections of the seats need to be cut out to avoid odors in the future.

Your auto insurance may cover this so always good to file a claim and then call us once you have a claim number.

How do you handle a residence with a decomposed body?

The smell from this type of event permeates into porous items. We follow this general practice:

  1. Clean up the biohazard where the trauma happened
  2. Have the next of kin remove items they want to keep from the home
  3. We haul away the remaining belongings
  4. Odor removal

Our odor removal equipment neutralizes the smell in the air not in the belongings so leaving the belongings there does not allow the smell to be eradicated.

Do you use electrostatic spray guns for COVID cleaning?

There is a lot of media attention on spray guns and many companies touting their use of electrostatic spray guns as being the state of the art in applying disinfectant.  What they do not tell you about is that electrostatic spray guns are only superior when applied to conductive surfaces.  Look around your work area.  Most of the surfaces are non-conductive. 

Bio1 offers two types of COVID cleaning.  One is with a fogging machine.  This sprays disinfectant.  The other is manual wiping.  Manual wiping is superior because it has both the chemical action as well as friction which helps break down the protein shell of the virus. 

Please do not be tricked into thinking that electrostatic is a superior method or other methods are inferior. 

See this impartial article from the US Environmental Protection Agency.

https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-takes-action-help-americans-disinfect-indoor-spaces-efficiently-and-effectively

A surface needs to have a negative charge for the electrostatic sprayer to properly coat it.  It is not like the sprayer stops once a surface is thoroughly coated.  It just keeps spraying and at that point, is not different than a fogging machine.

Are you part of a parent company?

We are not. We are a small business independent of the franchise with a similar name. We don’t have a call center or answering service to take calls. We have been in San Diego since 2015. The other company that claims to be the “most trusted” opened in the summer of 2020.

What questions should I ask a COVID-19 cleaning service?

1. What kill time do they use?

2. What is the kill time for their disinfectant?

3. Is their disinfectant on the CDC list for human coronavirus?

4. How do they measure the concentration of the solution?

5. What do they do about electronics?

6. What do they do about food items?

7. What do they do about documents and other paper products?

For a hoarding cleanup, does haul away include filth cleaning?

Not usually. We need to haul away the unwanted items so that we can properly assess what needs to be cleaned. We prefer to do a walk through with the customer after the haul away and understand specifically what cleaning tasks the customer desires. There is no way for us to know what filth lies underneath the clutter so we cannot accurately quote the cleaning before the haul away activities are completed.

Corona Virus cleaning of buildings

The protocol we use is to keep the areas wet with germicide for 10 minutes before wiping. This means we can’t disinfect documents, porous items, fabric chairs, food items, etc.


What we do offer for office environments:


Wipe down walls from about the 6 foot mark to the 3 foot mark

Wipe down exteriors of desks, cabinets, and drawers

Wipe down the 3 foot swath of doors which includes door handles

Wipe down garbage cans

Wipe down break room equipment

Wipe down chairs, keyboards, copy machine buttons, computer mice, phones, etc. (this is not a proper disinfection – just a moist wipe)

Throw away all food item, common area magazines, paper clips, etc (optional)

Wipe down pens, pencils, staplers, hole punchers

Wipe down restrooms including all surfaces of sinks, toilets, soap dispensers, mirrors, paper towel dispensers

We don’t move items that look like they haven’t been moved in months (i.e. binders on bookshelves)

Are raccoon feces dangerous to humans?

Raccoons defecate in a common location called a latrine.  Raccoon feces looks similar to dog feces but usually have undigested food visible.  Raccoon latrines can be indoors or outdoors (including attics).

Raccoon feces can be harmful to people.  Baylisascaris Procyonis is a roundworm that uses raccoons as a host.  The roundworm eggs are present in the feces of infected raccoons.  People can be exposed to these eggs.  Children and pets are especially vulnerable since they may ingest the eggs.

According to the CDC (Center for Disease Control), the incubation period (time from exposure to symptoms) is usually 1 to 4 weeks.  If present, signs and symptoms can include the following:

  • Nausea
  • Tiredness
  • Liver enlargement
  • Loss of coordination
  • Lack of attention to people and surroundings
  • Loss of muscle control
  • Blindness
  • Coma

If you find a raccoon latrine, don’t wait.  Call Bio1 and have us remove the waste and properly disinfect the area promptly.

How do you clean up homeless camps?

Bio1 is proud of our customers for managing homeless camps in a manner that treats the homeless population with dignity.  Customers first place “No Trespassing” signs in the area to properly communicate that the space is not open for transient lodging.  The Sheriff’s department is asked to come give 72-hour notice to the residents on the property.  A written notice is affixed to each camp.  After the notice period, the Sheriff’s department escorts Bio1 to each camp.  If the camp has been vacated, Bio1 can start the cleanup.  If the camp is still occupied but the transient residents are making progress in vacating, the Sheriff will give them additional time.

Bio1 hauls away belongings and waste left behind in the camp.  Shopping carts are emptied and left by the street to be picked up and returned to the owner.  Any syringes found on site are disposed of in biohazard sharps containers.  Open space areas are left in a natural state again.  Paved surfaces can be cleaned to remove any residual smells.

Bio1 can help customers on an as needed basis, one-time cleanups, or annual contracts with fixed pricing.  Call today and let Bio1 help you responsibly address homeless camps on your property.

What is the process for a hoarding cleanup, junk removal or cleanup of animal or rodent feces?

These are all situations that tend to involve more variables than trauma scenes.  Even though one would think it might be the other way around, the types of cleanups mentioned above can all be very different.

Typically when we receive a call, we try to determine how ready the homeowner or tenant is to get the cleanup done.  If they are ready, most times the person calling (either the homeowner or tenant or a family member) is looking for an estimate of price.  We try not to throw out prices for these types of cleanup over the phone as we might be way off due to the description of the problem not being exactly accurate.  This might be of no fault on the homeowner’s behalf though.  Sometimes there are factors you just cannot see until you get into things.

For this reason, we provide free on-site estimates in most cases.  This allows us to meet with people in person, see everything in person and have a candid discussion about what needs done, how long it will take and how much it will cost.

After that is established, we can usually start jobs pretty quickly.  Most times we can start and complete the job in the next day or two.  Most cleanups take 1 day, maybe 2 days to complete.  We usually come in with 2-3 people as more can become overwhelming for the homeowner or tenant.

Throughout the cleanup process we make sure everybody is on the same page.  After cleanup is complete we walk around with all parties involved to make sure all areas have been addressed and everyone is satisfied with the cleanup.  From start to finish we ensure that the homeowner or tenant is comfortable with everything we are doing.