Concrete Floor Restoration

Victim: Janet, young female, average size

Crime Scene Cleanup Technician: Jake

Conditions: Colorado; July; apartment sandwiched between 3rd and 4th floors; zero ventilation; dark indoors; living room; dense level loop carpet with padding; concrete; trauma with multiple site stab wounds; confined space contamination; total bleedout, moist blood remaining in cushion; concrete heavily contaminated and stained.

Janet died a violent death at the hands of her husband. She died of multiple stab wounds, none of which proved fatal until she bleed to death. As homicides go, a typical death by a male perpetrator against a female victim occurs often enough in the United States. Usually guns suffice as the weapon of choice, but unfortunately for Janet she died slowly.

Janet's blood migrated onto her living room carpet. On its surface, her level loop carpet showed a blood stain similar to the size of a small bath towel.

Jake, a self-employed, competitive sector cleaner from Chicago claimed this cleanup by under bidding his competition.

Jake found flies orbiting Janet's living room when he entered the death scene room. Maggots shared the drying blood puddle, but over all blood's surface appeared dry and flaky.

Jake's flies issue needed correcting before moving forward. If nothing else, more blood below the carpet would invite greater fly nuisance and cross-contamination.

Jake put on his elbow-length, black rubber gloves and rubber boots. He adjusted his half-face respirator a little tighter than usual, suspecting wet blood below the carpet. Blood's sweet, musky fragrance foreshadowed a wet cushion.

He then placed his goggles tightly over his eyes. "No reason to get splashed in the eyes by carpet whip back" he mumbled to himself. He then placed 1/8 inch thick, 2X2 paper walk off paper around the blood soiled area.

Once the flies were under control, Jake moved forward by cutting out carpet with one of two bloody Mary's he brought to each job. He liked placing his Bloody Mary above waist high when not cutting. He like placing one Bloody Mary opposite the other at waist high. This way he kept them handy and safe from winding up in rolled carpet.

Holding its red handle tightly, he lightly began to cut carpet by pulling parallel to his right knee. He knew if he slipped his chances of cutting himself were low while in this cutting position. A cut artery from a Bloody Mary once placed Jake in an Espanola, New Mexico emergency room. He'd "never live that one down," he thought and gave a grimace.

Jake cut carpet one foot wide of the blood stain. He then learned he needed to cut farther because his blade came up bloody. He moved his walk off paper and found it smeared with blood.

Adding more walk off paper to Janet's blood stained carpet, Jake returned to cutting out carpet. Blood soaked through 2 layers of latex and cushion to the concrete floor he noted. "No big deal" he thought.

Now 2 feet out from the blood soiled carpet surface, Jake made deep, powerful cuts while pulling and slowly moving backward. He enjoyed this part of crime scene cleanup as much as anything else in crime scene cleanup. Listening to the carpet's fabric spreading apart as he pulled his carpet cutter gave him a sense of confidence. Once he had doubted if he could do this work. Now he enjoyed it.

Having a trade meant something these days, and his trade would never become obsolete, he knew. Each new cut ensured a confidence reward and he looked forward to the next. Almost sadly he completed the cutting in a few minutes, breathing a little heavy because of the altitude.

He returned his Bloody Mary to its assigned place on an end table earlier covered with craft paper. A quick check across the room reminded him is second Bloody Mary remained sharp and ready to go.

Now Jake placed the second set of used craft paper on top of black, plastic bags, next to the cut carpet. He would deal with the first set of now blood smeared craft paper later.

Returning to his knees on the carpet, he slowly cut what became a circular, blood soaked carpet through his carefully crafted, power cutting. Moving carpet to craft paper, placing it bottom up, he exposed its bloody bottom. "Here's a good place to drying it out" as I have lunch he said to himself.

Jake's carpeting cutting skill soon reduced the bloody carpet to nearly rectangular pieces, each cut to about 12X18 inch sections. Before spraying each XXXXX backing with 70% rubbing alcohol, he opened the doors and windows. Once sprayed, he adjusted his small fan to lightly ventilate the air over his cuttings.

Jake knew that besides helping to decontaminate the blood soaked carpet backing, the alcohol would speed drying it out. Under other conditions he would blow the fan directly on the carpet backing, but not here, not now.

Carpet padding soaked in blood leaves little to the imagination. It stinks mightily when dried out and exposed to fresh noses. This carpet remained moist. Worse, because of its recent installation, its glue down meant scrapping it loose in key areas, blood soaked areas. Jake gently pulled the 5/8 inch thick cushion free as best as possible. Little by little each peace entered a black bag plastic bag.

Once done placing free cushion in two bags, he returned to his knees. Carefully staying on his craft paper, Jake attacked the glued cushion by scrapping gently with his paint scrapper. This he enjoyed the least of his crime scene cleanup duties.

Once bagged, he placed the bag of soiled cushion aside. Checking his gloves for blood stains, he continued to work. He now cut out more carpet around the soiled area. This carpet require nothing more than rolling and tapping closed. He moved much faster now.

Before long Jack returned to the blood stained concrete. Caked with both moist and dried flaky blood, he knew his next step meant a bit of break time. Letting bleach and water dwell in place on the concrete would disinfect the floor, in part, while bleaching out the stain.

First he placed paper towels over the blood. Then he slowly poured bleach rich water on top of the towels, keeping his distance lest he splash it.

He then moved the carpet cushion bags to the apartment's bathtub. Here he placed the bags next to one another and poured 1 gallon of bleach and 1 gallon of water in each bag. Their contents reacted to the bleach almost instantly. Soon each bag became warm, signifying the chemical reaction in their contents.

He then agitated each by shaking it up and and gently dropping each onto the bathtub. Each bag became warmer. Neither leaked. Noting that neither leaked, he left them upright. Jake added another shot of bleach for good measure. and washed his hands.

He knew from experience these bags would become warm, but not hot like the others when straight bleach reacted with bloody items. "Thank goodness for bleach," he mused.

With his concrete's bleach and water solution dwelling, his bloody carpet backing drying out, and his bagged cushion soaking in bleach and water, he closed the apartment and drove to the movies. He watched three movies and went to dinner. He spent the night in a Motel 8.    TOP