Moving
End-of-lease cleaning checklist, room by room
The list we actually work through on a move-out clean, in the order we do it — and why the order matters.
An end-of-lease clean is not a normal clean done more carefully. It is a list, worked in a specific order, because cleaning a surface before the one above it means cleaning it twice.
The rule: top down, back to front
All dust falls. So we start at light fittings and the tops of cupboards and finish at the floors. Within each room we start at the far wall and end at the door, so nobody walks across what was just finished.
Kitchen — the room that decides the deposit
- Oven: interior, glass, racks, drip tray, and the sides once it is pulled out
- Hob, extractor hood and grease filter — the filter is almost always missed
- Fridge: interior, door seals, rear coil, underneath and behind
- Inside cupboards and drawers, shelves included
- Backsplash, tap, sink and visible trap
- Tops of cupboards — the most skipped surface in the flat
Bathroom
- Tile and bath grout, including limescale marks
- Taps descaled, shower head included
- Toilet: bowl, base, fixing bolts, under the seat
- Ceiling extractor — take the cover off, it does come off
- Mirror, inside the cabinet, and the ledge behind the basin
Bedrooms and living room
- Wall marks behind furniture and headboards
- Skirting, door frames and the tops of doors
- Wardrobes: rails, shelves, interior floor
- Interior windows, sills and sliding tracks
- Vents and smoke detectors dusted
Entry and shared spaces
- Vestibule: where salt and grit collect, especially in Verdun and on the Plateau
- Interior stairs, risers included
- Back balcony or landing, if the lease covers it
- Basement or storage locker, if you had access
Photograph every room once it is finished. It is the simplest evidence to produce if the deposit becomes a discussion, and it costs nothing.
What is not your responsibility
Normal wear is not a cleanliness failure. A floor dulled by ten years of traffic, yellowed paint, a tired seal — that is building maintenance, not move-out cleaning. A landlord cannot withhold a deposit for ordinary wear.
Want this done for you?
Flat-rate pricing agreed in advance, insured and background-checked cleaners, and the same person each visit.