Cleaning house before a move.

awick14 · March 2012

I am curious how long before a big move did you do a deep cleaning of your place.

My situation: DH and I just bought a house in our hometown. We currently live a 20 hr drive away. We will be getting our uhaul on friday (March 30th) and will have everything loaded in a few hours. (Hopefully by 1pm) The landlord is coming over at 2pm to do the final walk through. Most of our stuff is packed already.

Do you think an hour is enough time to vacuum the house, spot wash the floors and wipe down counters and such? (1 bd apartment)

I think I am over stressing about this, but the whole move/ house purchase has been very stressful to us.

srs5624 · March 2012

If all you are doing is vacuuming, washing the floors, and wiping down counters and it's a 1 br apartment (I assume around 800 sq ft) then an hour should be plenty.

However, check your lease. They may expect you to do more than that. When we moved out of our apartment they expected a fully clean apartment.

We had to spackle and sand any holes, clean the fridge and freezer, pull it out an vacuum the back of it, clean out the cabinets, scrub the bathrooms, vacuum, mop the kitchen and bathroom floors, wash the inside of the windows and the bathroom mirrors, wipe down the baseboards, and sweep the patio. Basically, it had to be ready for the painter to come and do touchups and the carpet cleaners to steam the carpets. I did everything, but forgot to sweep the patio (cement slab). He deducted $30 from our security deposit for "patio maintenance".

Bathlove · March 2012

srs5624:
If all you are doing is vacuuming, washing the floors, and wiping down counters and it's a 1 br apartment (I assume around 800 sq ft) then an hour should be plenty.

However, check your lease. They may expect you to do more than that. When we moved out of our apartment they expected a fully clean apartment.

We had to spackle and sand any holes, clean the fridge and freezer, pull it out an vacuum the back of it, clean out the cabinets, scrub the bathrooms, vacuum, mop the kitchen and bathroom floors, wash the inside of the windows and the bathroom mirrors, wipe down the baseboards, and sweep the patio. Basically, it had to be ready for the painter to come and do touchups and the carpet cleaners to steam the carpets. I did everything, but forgot to sweep the patio (cement slab). He deducted $30 from our security deposit for "patio maintenance".

Yeah, because it cost him $30 to sweep the cement slab. Confused

Milsey32 · March 2012

Like PP mentioned - verify with your lease contract to make sure there are no other requirements. IMO, an hour is plenty of time - but you also mentioned that you are hoping to have everything loaded by 1pm. I would make a game-plan so you can have a schedule of what to do (what do you want to load first? what still needs to be packed by Thursday night? etc)

awick14 · March 2012

srs5624:
If all you are doing is vacuuming, washing the floors, and wiping down counters and it's a 1 br apartment (I assume around 800 sq ft) then an hour should be plenty.

However, check your lease. They may expect you to do more than that. When we moved out of our apartment they expected a fully clean apartment.

We had to spackle and sand any holes, clean the fridge and freezer, pull it out an vacuum the back of it, clean out the cabinets, scrub the bathrooms, vacuum, mop the kitchen and bathroom floors, wash the inside of the windows and the bathroom mirrors, wipe down the baseboards, and sweep the patio. Basically, it had to be ready for the painter to come and do touchups and the carpet cleaners to steam the carpets. I did everything, but forgot to sweep the patio (cement slab). He deducted $30 from our security deposit for "patio maintenance".

Today I did the following:

-windows and window seals

-freezer, and some of fridge

-bathroom (the whole things)

-I did a good mop of the floors

I plan or hopefully doing the rest of the cleaning tomorrow.

The only things left to pack are a few kitchen things that we are still using.

I did receive an email from the landlord saying that they are going to be doing a major renovation after we move out. In the email it says that we do not need to do any work to the walls, they are going to come in and paint them all.

Everything will be packed by 1 on Friday.

srs5624 · March 2012

Bathlove:
srs5624:

If all you are doing is vacuuming, washing the floors, and wiping down counters and it's a 1 br apartment (I assume around 800 sq ft) then an hour should be plenty.

However, check your lease. They may expect you to do more than that. When we moved out of our apartment they expected a fully clean apartment.

We had to spackle and sand any holes, clean the fridge and freezer, pull it out an vacuum the back of it, clean out the cabinets, scrub the bathrooms, vacuum, mop the kitchen and bathroom floors, wash the inside of the windows and the bathroom mirrors, wipe down the baseboards, and sweep the patio. Basically, it had to be ready for the painter to come and do touchups and the carpet cleaners to steam the carpets. I did everything, but forgot to sweep the patio (cement slab). He deducted $30 from our security deposit for "patio maintenance".

Yeah, because it cost him $30 to sweep the cement slab.

That's one hell of an hourly rate if you figure it likely took him about 2 minutes to sweep the slab.

BriGiboo · March 2012

vacuuming and wiping counters is not "deep cleaning" if this is to get a security deposit back expect to spend 4-6 hours with your dh getting it done. Clean the kitchen. Fill the sink with warm water and add dish detergent to the water.
The refrigerator - Remove all of the shelves and drawers from the refrigerator and freezer and place them in the dishwasher or wash them by hand. Dip a sponge into the dishwater and wipe down the interior of the refrigerator and freezer, being certain to remove any food build-up. Don't forget the little compartments where you kept the butter and eggs! Then wipe down all of the shelves, dry the shelves, and place them back in the refrigerator.

The oven the better way would be to use one to two cans (depending on whether you EVER cleaned the oven while you lived in the apartment) of oven cleaner to get the oven really clean. Read the safety directions carefully, many oven cleaners require protective equipment (gloves & goggles) and strong ventilation. Do not ignore the directions on the can. Place newspaper in front of the oven, slightly underneath the door or drawer and extended out to protect your floor from dripping cleaner. Evenly apply both cans to the inside of the oven, the grates, the broiler sheets, etc. Throw the drip pans from the stove in there and coat them too. Let sit for 24 hours. Do not turn on oven! Using a sponge and paper towels, wipe down all surfaces. Rinse with clean water. Clean the vent above the stove and be certain that the light bulb in the overhead hood is in working condition.
The cabinets - Using a multi-purpose cleaner that is safe to use on your cabinets, wipe down the interior and the exterior of the cabinets.
The light fixtures - You should then check to make sure the light fixtures are clean and do not have any dead insects in them. If there are glass fixture covers, give them a wipe. Think twice before throwing them into the dishwasher, because thermal stresses and harsh detergents may damage the glass.
The surfaces - Make sure you wipe down the exterior of the refrigerator, the stove range (including underneath the drip bowls), and all of the counter tops. Also, wipe down the exterior and interior of the dishwasher, microwave, and any other appliance provided by your apartment complex (including the surface of any washer or dryer).
The sink - Drain the water from the sink and clean the sink and wipe down the faucet. If the sink is stainless steel or porcelain, a powdered cleanser works great! An old toothbrush or other small brush can be very useful for scrubbing around the edges of fixtures and the sink.
The floor - Sweep and then mop the floor. To do a really good job, you should pull out the stove and refrigerator and clean that part of the floor too. Be extra careful when pulling these appliances as they can scratch wooden floors, damage linoleum or break tile. You will also find all kinds of gross stuff on the sides of the appliances and cabinets when you do that. Oh, and those little things that you have been looking for that you lost eight months ago that rolled underneath the stove or refrigerator.

4
Clean the bathrooms.
Thoroughly clean the sink, tub, toilet and shower. Make sure you have removed any buildup and wiped down the fixtures.

Clean the mirrors, medicine cabinet and any vents or light fixtures in the bathroom. Make sure you don't use mirror cleaner with ammonia in it. Check to make sure the light fixtures are clean and that the light bulbs work. Again, throw those glass light fixture covers in the dishwasher.
Sweep and mop the bathroom floor. Be especially careful around the toilet.
Repeat for each bathroom.

5
Clean the bedrooms. Wipe down any closet shelves provided and clean any mirrors. If you have carpet, you should treat any spots and then vacuum the carpet. If you do not have carpets, you should mop. If floors are wooden, use an oil soap. Repeat for each bedroom.
6
Turn your attention to the living room, den, and dining room. Clean the windows and the wash the blinds. Clean the blades of the ceiling fan and/or any light fixtures in the room. Spot treat any spots on the carpet. Vacuum or mop the floors.
7
Sweep and clean the exterior (including any balcony, patio, and doors) and remove any remaining garbage bags from the apartment. Be sure that outside lights are working. Put garbage cans on curb, if appropriate, for pickup.
8
Get measurements and Replace broken blinds.
9
Take pictures of the apartment and keep for your records in case the apartment complex says you damaged the place. Send the photos and a written description to the landlord or property manager and ask them to sign off on it. Send one to yourself at the same time and leave the package unopened. If the landlord or property manager won't sign off, the postmark on the envelope may help prove the date of the cleanliness of the apartment upon leaving.
10
Go to your move-out inspection. Be sure to get a copy of the move-out inspection for your records.
11
Return your keys.