Cleaning Up After CSI Goes Home

A few years ago I read a book called Aftermath Inc. which focused on one bio-hazard cleanup crew in the midwest that did exactly this. It's very graphic, but very interesting (and yes, really depressing).

The book went through several scenarios of houses they had to clean: homicides, suicides, an old man who died in his home but was a massive hoarder, and what the team always dreads having to dismantle: meth labs (they can explode at any moment). There's really not much "cleaning," so much as tearing everything apart and properly disposing of it. In the book there was one case where an insurance company stepped in before Aftermath was to be hired to clean a house, saying they found a cheaper price with a local steam-cleaning service. Aftermath pointed out that that'll clean the carpets, but won't get rid of the biohazard. Months later, the author visited the house, which wasn't able to sell because it "smelled like death."