When the First Responders Leave: Who Helps Put Your Home Back Together?
There are some phone calls you never expect to make.
A family member has passed away inside a home. Someone has been injured. There has been a crime, an accident, an unattended death, a serious hoarding situation, or another event that has left a property unsafe or contaminated.
The police arrive. Paramedics come. Perhaps the medical examiner becomes involved.
Eventually, everyone leaves.
And then you look around and realize:
The house is still there. The scene is still there. And someone has to deal with it.
That was the question I wanted to explore when Christina Hester and Zach from CSI Clean Scene Investigatorsjoined me on Between Two Doors.
What I learned was that crime-scene and biohazard remediation is about much more than cleaning.
It is about helping people begin putting the pieces back together.
“The Police Don't Clean This Up?”
That was probably one of the biggest surprises from our conversation.
Christina explained that once police, paramedics and other authorities have completed their responsibilities, cleanup of the property generally becomes the family's responsibility. She learned that firsthand while working as a crime scene investigator.
Christina spent about five years working as a crime scene investigator in multiple departments around the Dallas-Fort Worth area. While working those scenes, she repeatedly saw what happened after the investigation ended.
The body would be removed.
The investigators would leave.
But the family was still standing there.
That never sat well with her.
Christina eventually joked with Zach, who had operated a traditional cleaning company, that there was one business that seemed fairly resistant to economic cycles: crime.
Three days later, Zach handed her a 10-page business proposal.
That conversation ultimately helped lead to what became CSI Clean Scene Investigators.
Please Don't Grab the Bleach
When people see something that needs to be cleaned, our instinct is pretty straightforward.
Grab gloves. Get the bleach. Get some disinfectant. Start cleaning.
Christina's advice in a biohazard situation is very different:
Don't touch it.
One of the risks is cross-contamination. Moving objects or walking through an affected area can potentially spread contaminants into previously unaffected parts of a home.
And ordinary household cleaning products aren't necessarily designed for biohazard remediation.
Christina told us that CSI uses specialized products, equipment and procedures and cautioned homeowners against trying to handle potentially hazardous material themselves.
This isn't just about whether something looks clean.
It's about whether the affected area has actually been remediated.
It's Not Just Crime Scenes
The name Clean Scene Investigators understandably gets people's attention.
But one of the most useful things I learned during the interview was just how broad their work can be.
Christina described situations involving:
- Unattended deaths and accidental deaths
- Blood and other biohazard contamination
- Hoarding
- Odor removal
- Mold remediation
- Water damage
- Elderly homeowners experiencing falls or incontinence
- Properties being prepared for sale
- Even vehicles requiring specialized odor or contamination treatment
Christina summed it up as handling things a traditional cleaning company may not be trained or equipped to handle.
That immediately got my attention from the real estate side.
What If You Need to Sell the House?
I've worked around real estate for a long time, and I've seen situations where a Realtor walks into a property and realizes:
We've got some work to do before this house is ready for the market.
Sometimes it's clutter.
Sometimes it's years of accumulated belongings.
Sometimes it's pet odor.
Sometimes it's water damage or mold.
And sometimes a family is dealing with something far more difficult.
CSI told us they can work with homeowners and real estate professionals on those situations as well, including remediation and helping prepare properties to move forward toward a sale.
As a mortgage professional, I look at this from another angle too.
A seller needs to sell.
A buyer needs a safe, financeable home.
And somewhere in the middle, the property has to meet the requirements necessary for that transaction to happen.
When mold, water damage or other significant property conditions exist, they can become obstacles to a transaction. Getting the property properly addressed can help everyone move forward.
Can You Actually Put the House Back Together?
This was one of my biggest questions for Christina.
Cleaning is one thing.
But what happens when flooring has to be removed? Or drywall? Carpet? Furniture?
Does the homeowner now have to find another company?
CSI described three general levels of service.
The first is baseline cleaning intended to address the biohazard.
The second is a more detailed forensic-level service using alternative light sources to identify contaminants that may not be visible to the naked eye.
The third is full restoration.
For more extensive situations, Christina said they work with general contractors and other professionals to help replace or repair things such as flooring, drywall and other damaged components.
In other words, the goal isn't simply:
“We cleaned it.”
The larger goal can become:
“Let's help you get your home back.”
What About the Things You Can't Replace?
This may have been one of the most meaningful parts of our conversation.
Imagine walking into the affected room and seeing your father's coin collection.
Your mother's lamp.
Family photographs.
Something your child made.
An object may have very little monetary value and still be priceless to the person standing in that room.
I asked Christina how they decide what can be saved.
She told me that evaluating and attempting to restore personal belongings is part of their initial assessment. CSI has been able to restore items ranging from coin collections to household objects, although certain heavily affected porous items, such as some mattresses or furniture, may not be salvageable.
That distinction matters.
Because you're not just cleaning a structure.
You're walking through someone's life.
Hoarding Requires a Different Kind of Cleanup
Hoarding creates another challenge entirely.
It's easy for someone standing outside the situation to say:
“Just throw everything away.”
But to the person living there, those aren't necessarily piles of junk.
They can represent memories, security and emotional attachments.
Christina explained that CSI approaches these situations with a trauma-informed perspective. Instead of immediately trying to discard everything, they can work room by room and help someone identify which possessions are truly most important.
The goal is to improve the safety of the environment while respecting the person living in it.
For vacant properties being prepared for sale, the situation can be different. CSI also discussed sorting items that may need disposal and helping organize belongings that might be appropriate for an estate sale.
Will Homeowners Insurance Pay for Cleanup?
The answer is:
It depends on the policy and circumstances.
Christina explained that some homeowners policies may provide coverage for certain remediation or restoration situations and that CSI can communicate directly with insurers once the process is underway.
The homeowner generally begins by contacting the insurance company. From there, CSI can exchange information with the carrier and help manage much of the remediation side of the process.
That's important because the person making that insurance call may simultaneously be planning a funeral, helping family members, dealing with law enforcement and trying to understand what just happened.
Reducing the number of things that person has to manage matters.
The Most Important Thing Christina Said
Near the end of our conversation, I asked Christina what a family needs to hear in that moment.
Her answer wasn't about cleaning products.
It wasn't about equipment.
It wasn't about insurance.
It was essentially this:
You're not alone.
Christina has experienced these situations from several perspectives. She has been the crime scene investigator. She now works on the remediation side. And she shared that she has also been the family member receiving news that someone she loved died traumatically.
That personal experience shapes the way she approaches families.
For Christina and Zach, the work isn't finished simply because the physical space has been cleaned. They want the people left behind to know that there are resources and people available to help them move forward.
And I think that's the real story of this episode.
Cleaning the Property Is Only Part of the Job
A house is drywall, flooring, lumber, concrete and shingles.
A home is something different.
It's where birthdays happened.
Where kids grew up.
Where Thanksgiving dinner was served.
Where someone sat in the same chair every evening for 30 years.
That's why restoring a property after trauma requires more than simply making a stain disappear.
Sometimes it means preserving what can be preserved.
Sometimes it means removing what can't.
Sometimes it means helping someone make an insurance claim.
Sometimes it means rebuilding part of the house.
And sometimes it simply means being the calm person standing beside a family during a moment when they don't know what to do next.
That's what Christina and Zach helped me understand during this episode of Between Two Doors.
Need Help in Texas?
CSI Clean Scene Investigators told us they serve Texas, with much of their work centered in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
CSI Clean Scene Investigators
Website: www.cleansceneinvestigators.com
Phone: 940-654-6334
And if you're a homeowner, Realtor or buyer dealing with a property issue that may affect a real estate transaction or financing, I'm always happy to help you figure out what the next step looks like from the mortgage side.
Nate Carver
Host, Between Two Doors
Mortgage Loan Officer | ProLending Mortgage
NMLS #2004738
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