Cleaned to a professional standard?

Associate
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Wonder if you folks can help.

My girlfriend and I are due to move out of our rented accomodation at the end of the month. We have received a letter from the estate agents stating that the carpets must be professionally cleaned but the rest of the flat must be cleaned to a 'professional standard'.

What is a professional standard and who determines what the standard is? The idea was that we would pay for the carpets to be cleaned but do the rest ourselves. We are pretty capable at cleaning and have kept it in very good order whilst we have lived there anyway.

What I am concerned about is us wasting time cleaning and then being told that because we did it ourseleves it isn't good enough. I'd imagine plenty of the so called pro's don't do a very thorough job anyhow!
 
Soldato
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No idea about this really, but if it was me (and I wanted to do it by their rules) I'd ask the landlord/letting agency for the details of the cleaners they usually use.
 
Man of Honour
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Whatever else you do take pictures. Its reasonable to expect tenants to leave accomodation in the state they found it (minus unavoidable wear and tear) its perfectly acceptable to clean it yourself aslong as its to a good standard - if you have photographic evidence that you left it in a good state they don't really have a leg to stand on.
 
Associate
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Me personally, I would just give the place a good clean and hire a carpet cleaner and do it myself.

Or the alternative is to do what Edrof said and phone the landlord/letting agency for the details of the cleaners they use.
 
Man of Honour
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We had cleaners in for our rented property and I've never seen a place so clean. They took all day and did everything. Even the inside of the toilet brush holder (I'd just buy a new one!).

And this was with us agreeing *not* to have it cleaned (as we didn't have it cleaned when we took it!), but that's what landlords are like.
 
Soldato
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You should leave the property in the same state the day you moved in.

Which is why you should photograph everything of relevance when you move in. But we never professionally clean stuff when we move out just clean as per normal and of course clean the carpets etc.
 
Soldato
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No idea about this really, but if it was me (and I wanted to do it by their rules) I'd ask the landlord/letting agency for the details of the cleaners they usually use.

It costs a fortune for an end of tenancy clean.

I recently moved out of a flat OP and decided to do it myself. I did a pretty thorough job and everything was fine. Here are the guidelines I was given.

* COOKER/OVEN. There is only one standard to aim for. The cooker MUST be immaculately clean. Top, sides, back, storage drawer, exterior and interior and ALL accessories should be entirely free of grease, burnt on foods and fats. The grill pan (if any) should be entirely free of crumbs, be thoroughly clean and have no evidence of grease marks or staining.

* FRIDGE or FRIDGE/FREEZER. This should be emptied, switched off and defrosted and moved out of position to be cleaned. The exterior and interior door seal should be clean; the door left ajar and the electricity supply switched off.

* WALLS & CEILINGS. These should be clean. Any condensation marks should be cleaned off. Condensation marks are usually dark or black and can be wiped off. Any old fixing marks, drill holes etc should be made good.

* KITCHEN DRAWERS, WORKSURFACES and CUPBOARDS. These should be emptied, washed out with soapy water or thoroughly wiped to be free of dust and other accumulated dirt. All surfaces should be free from streaks, grease and dust. Drawers and shelves to be emptied completely.

* PAINTWORK. All gloss paintwork including skirting boards, doors/windows inside and out should be cleaned and free from dust, dirt and grease.

* LIGHT FITTINGS and SOCKETS. Lampshades to be cleaned inside and out where fitted. Switches, cables and plastic covers should be cleaned and free from grease, especially in the kitchen. All light bulbs to be operable, unless otherwise stated on the original inventory.

* BATHROOM/EN-SUITE. There should be no evidence of limescale staining to toilet pans or enamel surfaces. All sanitary ware including taps should be thoroughly cleaned. Please use the correct cleaning materials and not scouring pads etc. Drain holes should be clean and tops of shower attachments bright and shiny. Shower curtains should be cleaned and free from mildew or replaced as necessary. Mildew on any other surfaces should be removed.

* CARPETS throughout should be thoroughly cleaned, shampooed or vacuumed as necessary and loose rugs and mats beaten. If pets have been kept at this property, all carpets and floor covering must be professionally cleaned.

* WINDOWS on all floors should be cleaned thoroughly on both the exterior and interior and all windowsills and ledges wiped down and left clean
 
Associate
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Exactly, I am in the process of moving out in 3 months and will repaint some of the lower walls and replace a carpet (had puppies), and a quick hoover, mop around the house will do

Maybe this is the first time the OP has rented a property and is anxious?

Edit: Was in reply to Xordium.
 
Associate
OP
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Thanks for the advice. First time I've rented but the GF has before and got stung by her old scumbag landlord after cleaning herself.

Fortunately our deposit is held with a third party but I still don't trust the estate agents or the people doing the checkout. I do trust the landlord however.
 
Soldato
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I've been a tenant and a landlord and know from experience that an end of tenancy clean can be expensive! however when I did get the cleaners in they brought a team of people and spent hours on it meaning I only paid them about £9/hour.

OTOH, when I've been a tenant I've been aable to get away with a few hours scrubbing and it has been accepted as 'professional standard' - it really depends on landlord/agent
 
Associate
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I've never had a place professionally cleaned when I have moved out, nor have I had carpets professionally cleaned. As long as you have done the cleaning properly so there is no dust, stains etc you should be fine!
 
Soldato
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Bare in mind you can buy a Vax carpet cleaner for about £150 these days and one bottle of liquid will do a couple of houses, so if professional companies quote a fair amount just do it yourself.
 
Soldato
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You should leave the property in the same state the day you moved in.

thats not wholly true. there is always room for unavoidable wear and tear. Obviously leaving a 6 month madras stain ground into the carpet is unaccpetable, but normal markings on walls etc due to the property being lived in are not normally taken into account on hand back unless you have been gouging massive chunks of plaster and brickwork out with a crowbar
 

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Soldato
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Having rented for the last 5 years I have been advised by many professional cleaning companies that what is viewed as a professional clean prior to renting (paid for by the agency / landlord) is a far lower standard than what is expected at an end of tenancy clean.

Landlords have to allow for fair wear and tear - properties should be clean but not as they were when you moved in.
 
Caporegime
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We've just moved out, and had the same letter from the agent etc. etc.

All you have to do is make sure it's damn clean. Imagine what a professional cleaner would do - that is, someone who is paid to clean on your behalf. Not someone to come in and repaint the walls/ceilings/doors and relay the carpet. Clean, not new.

By professionally clean the carpet they just mean have it look like someone has gone over it with a wet carpet cleaner like those you can hire from Wickes or the like. Typically this means actually get a wet carpet cleaner to clean it. :p
 
Associate
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Sorry to jump in to this thread but what do people recommend if there was no inventory to begin with? I'm a paranoid android and the landlord/lady haven't inspected the property for three years now. There are some scuff marks on the walls as the paint is quite "chalky" and the slightest nudge past leaves marks. A wet cloth just discolours the paint. Also there were various bulbs that didn't work when we moved in so we never replaced them.

Once again, sorry for butting in!
 
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hope this is ok as i'm not nation wide so not selling my services.

http://www.greencleansolution.co.uk/checklists/moving-cleaning/

here's a checklist from my site which is bascially what we'd do. you literally will need to clean top to bottom of the whole property. the main areas being the kitchen and bathroom where they need to be spotless, like not a spec of grease, no limescale etc.

as you've been given the chance to clean it yourself you may find they are slightly relaxed with this and will be happy with the small thing not done, but really you're there to make it spotless for the next tenant.

with marks etc, this is usually ok as you'll be allowed fair wear and tear. we don't remove 100% marks on walls for this simple reason. after a certain amount of years the landlords are expected to re-paint, put new carpets down etc.

don't rent a vax as you've been told to have the carpets professionally done. not only could this cause more issues, but vax machines really are useless and only good for a light clean of a visibly clean carpet, but regardless they require this to be professionally done so you need to find someone to do it professionally.

i'd find out what the charge will be to have the property re-cleaned if you don't leave it in a good condition, then use that as motivation to do a really good job.

often letting agents will be getting a good chunk of money by having the property re cleaned so they will happily let you 'mess it up' then get their guys in who charge a fortune, and stick 20% on top so they can take that and claim you can't come back as no time before next tenants.

what may worth be doing is cleaning it, then getting another company in to quote to touch it up.
 
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Associate
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thats not wholly true. there is always room for unavoidable wear and tear. Obviously leaving a 6 month madras stain ground into the carpet is unaccpetable, but normal markings on walls etc due to the property being lived in are not normally taken into account on hand back unless you have been gouging massive chunks of plaster and brickwork out with a crowbar

I wouldn't expect anyone to make those type of damages to the property.

As long as they leave it in the condition the landlord leased prior to moving in then there is no problem. They should not have to go above and beyond when reparing the place above how it was when they moved in shouldn't be expected.
 
Caporegime
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As long as they leave it in the condition the landlord leased prior to moving in then there is no problem. They should not have to go above and beyond when reparing the place above how it was when they moved in shouldn't be expected.
This is wholly wrong, and plain unacceptable.

People are *living* there. They are not flat sitting, and wear and tear will and does happen. Including marks on walls.

It is abhorrent of landlords to expect the place to be spotless like no one had lived there in the time they had leased it. Abhorrent.
 
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