Unattended death and decomposition

Cleanup after an unattended death

When someone dies alone and is not found for some days, the home needs more than cleaning. Fluids and odor reach floors, walls and sometimes air ducts. An independent cleanup company can remove what is affected and treat what is left.

Call (707) 271-4587

Answered 24 hours a day, every day

Empty bedroom with bare wood floor and freshly painted walls, a misty hillside outside the window

The coroner comes first

California asks the county coroner to look into unattended deaths (Government Code 27491), and until the coroner gives permission the person may not be moved (27491.2). In Sonoma County that is the Coroner Bureau of the Sheriff’s Office. Its detectives go out to many natural deaths as well as accidents, suicides and homicides.

Once the person has been taken into the coroner's care and the police have finished, the home is back in your hands. Call this number then, or when you feel able to.

Until the company arrives

What helps, and what to leave

Keep the room closed

Shut the door and keep children and pets out. Avoid running fans or the heating in that part of the house; they carry odor into other rooms.

Skip the air fresheners

Sprays and candles cover the smell for an hour or two. The source is in soft materials, and it has to be removed.

Leave belongings where they are

Tell the company about papers, photos or valuables in the room. They can be set aside and cleaned where that is possible.

Let the right people know

Renters should tell the landlord early. Owners may want to talk to their insurer before work starts.

What the work involves

Expect flooring to come out wherever fluids reached, and sometimes subfloor or the bottom of the drywall. Mattresses and upholstered furniture usually cannot be saved. Heating and air returns near the room may need cleaning too.

Waste is sealed and taken to a permitted medical waste facility, as California's trauma scene rules require. Odor treatment comes last, once the source is gone, and the company should tell you how it will check the result.

Two workers in white coveralls and respirators carrying sealed red boxes from a stucco ranch house

Common questions

Can I go into the house before it is cleaned?

Once it is released, yes, but stay out of the affected room. If you need documents or medicines from elsewhere in the house, fetch them quickly and close doors behind you.

Who pays for this kind of cleanup?

Often the estate, the homeowner's insurer or, in a rental, the landlord. Ask before work starts and get the price in writing. Who pays for cleanup goes through each.

Talk to a cleanup company about your home

Describe what happened and which rooms are affected, and say whether the police or the coroner have finished. The company will explain the work and its price.

Ready to talk to a cleanup company?

You will speak with an independent biohazard cleanup company that works in Santa Rosa and nearby towns. Ask what it would do and what it would charge. Nothing is agreed until you say so.

Call (707) 271-4587

Answered 24 hours a day, every day

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