Crime Scene Cleanup in Las Vegas, Nevada

Blood, powder and glass leave with the crew. You can stay out of that room, and the written scope tells you what's coming out.

Call (725) 745-8630 Compare ways to cover the cost

Empty living room with bare floor, a roll of plastic sheeting and a sealed gray container

Investigators take what they need and leave the rest: blood, fingerprint powder, chemical residue, a kicked-in door, sometimes squares cut out of the carpet.

Las Vegas Bio Clean arranges crime scene cleanup by licensed, insured crews for homes, apartments, businesses and vehicles across Clark County, once the police are done with the property. In the City of Las Vegas and the unincorporated valley, that usually means Las Vegas Metro. Henderson, North Las Vegas and Boulder City have their own departments.

Before you call

Is the scene still on police hold?

Check with the detective before anything gets touched, and note the report number. If it's still held, call anyway and we'll plan around the release.

Soaked carpet usually comes out

Carpet pulled back at the wall to show the tack strip and bare subfloor

OSHA says carpet can't be routinely decontaminated, and it quotes CDC saying no EPA-registered product exists for disinfecting carpet. That's the fork in every blood cleanup. A surface that won't hold fluid gets cleaned and disinfected. A surface that soaks it up usually gets cut out.

Usually cleaned in place	Usually removed
Sealed tile and stone, with grout checked	Carpet and pad, cut past the stain
Glass, metal, sealed countertops	Mattresses, upholstered furniture, curtains
Sealed concrete	Unfinished wood and particleboard that took on fluid
Painted trim and walls with surface spatter only	Drywall and insulation that wicked it up

Blood doesn't stop where the stain stops. Lab work on nylon carpet found it goes deeper in thinner carpet and with more force behind it. The crew pulls back a corner on the walk-through. Spatter gets checked on ceilings, light fixtures, the backs of furniture and inside door frames.

Investigators leave their own layer behind

White door frame near the latch with traces of dark powder

Fingerprint powder ends up on doors, frames, counters and anything someone may have touched. Black powder on textured paint is stubborn, and a wet rag makes it worse. Chemical reagents used to find blood can leave their own marks.

Broken glass and any needles get picked up as sharps. A shooting can leave holes through drywall and furniture, with material behind them. Tell us if investigators cut out any carpet.

Business and vehicle scenes run on a different clock

A store, a bar, an office or a parking structure usually wants to reopen. Say what hours you can close the area and who needs to sign off. Employers should keep staff away from blood unless they've been trained and equipped for it under OSHA's bloodborne pathogens rule, which Nevada applies through Nevada OSHA.

Hotel rooms and public areas have their own health district rules, covered on the page for hotels and property managers. A crime in a car or truck goes to vehicle biohazard cleanup.

Soaked material goes to a permitted facility

Two sealed unmarked boxes on a hand truck in a clean hallway

Soaked carpet and bedding don't belong in the dumpster behind the building. They're bagged, labeled and sent to a permitted medical waste facility. Ask for the disposal paperwork at the end, since a claim will want it.

Nevada's Victims of Crime Program can cover crime scene cleanup for victims of violent crime. The Nevada guide to covering the cost has what it asks for, and how it works with a homeowners policy.

Questions about a crime in your home

How do I know the property has been released?

Your officer or detective can tell you. We haven't found a Nevada rule that spells out the release, so the investigating agency's word is what counts, and it's worth writing down the name and report number when you get it.

Will fingerprint powder wash off?

It smears if you wipe it dry or with a wet rag, and it gets into paint texture and upholstery. The crew lifts it from hard surfaces with the right method and says what can't be saved. Tell us which rooms investigators worked in.

Can you fix the door or the wall too?

Ask on the walk-through. Rebuilding and repainting is separate work. Cutting into drywall or subfloor, and rebuilding, can both call for a licensed contractor in Nevada, so ask who does that part.

Is the blood dangerous once it has dried?

CDC says hepatitis B stays infectious on surfaces for at least seven days. It also says hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV have never been traced to a housekeeping surface. The bigger problems are soaked material, sharp debris and what's under the carpet.

The crew's first look is under the carpet

Expect a walk from the doorway out to the edges of the stain, then a list of what's cleaned, what's cut out and what it costs.

Call(725) 745-8630

Have these on hand

Which agency worked the scene, and the report number
Whether the property has been released
Which rooms have blood or fingerprint powder