An exit, otherwise known as a vacate or end of lease clean, is usually required and part of a rental agreement or contract of sale when vacating a property.
WHAT'S REQUIRED IN AN EXIT CLEAN AND CAN I DO IT MYSELF?
A full exit clean will usually stipulate that not only the house requires a full clean, but that the carpets are properly cleaned as well as the windows.
The real estate agent will have a full list of all the items that need to addressed.
This is an undertaking you can do yourself if you have the time and will power!
It will save you substantial dollars, but I know from experience it's hard work and time consuming.
General Clean
I started out doing exit cleans and it takes a significant amount of time and experience to get a system and method down.
The clean alone requires air-conditioning vents, fans, the oven and my least favourite rooms to clean were the bathrooms, amongst all the other areas of the house.
Carpet Cleaning
Then there's the carpets, which you can hire carpet cleaning equipment, but there can be a risk.
There's a number of ways to clean carpets, from deep steam cleaning to dry cleaning.
If you don't know which methods are safe for different carpet materials, you could end up doing damage.
Window Cleaning
Last but not least, the windows need to be clean and streak free.
But not only the glass needs to be clear, tracks and screens will also require washing.
If you don't how to clean windows, you can spend a lot of time to just end up with more streaks than when you started.
You'll also need to remove screens, which can be quite frustrating, not just removing them, but putting them back in.
I know! Even now I still come across screens that are fitted in strange and wonderful ways.
THE ADVANTAGES OF HIRING PROFESSIONAL CLEANING SERVICES
1. Achieving The Desired Result
As you can see, unless you're used to doing these types of cleans for a living, it's going to take you way longer and you may not achieve the same results as the professionals.
2. Having The Time
Let's face it, who wants to spend their spare time cleaning a house that's no longer theirs?
3. Cost Effective
We've all heard the saying : "time is money".
Most people work a full time job, so unless you want to sacrifice a whole weekend to cleaning, you'll need to take time off work.
The money you lose not working may outweigh the cost of hiring cleaners.
Plus you may need to buy certain cleaning products and tools as well as the hiring of carpet cleaning equipment.
BOOKING YOUR CLEANING SERVICES IN THE CORRECT ORDER
It can be tempting to book all the cleaners to come on the one day.
Perhaps it's more convenient, or the timing of vacating the property dictates it.
But because I started out in this industry, I learnt there's a more efficient and logical order in which to get these cleaning tasks completed.
First get the window cleaner in.
Not that window cleaning creates a lot of mess, but wiping down sills, cleaning or brushing security grills and other screens that can't be removed, will create some dust in the air.
Especially with double storey homes, I often need to access windows by removing them from the frame.
Just generally needing to walk in and out of the home is inevitably better done first, rather than after the floors and carpets have been cleaned.
Second, get the cleaners in.
Another saying you may of heard : " you can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs ".
Cleaning ovens, dusting, wiping and again, just generally walking through the house is not ideal if the carpets have just been cleaned.
Get the carpet cleaner in last.
Carpets look great when they've just been cleaned.
Especially the deep steam cleaning process, as the carpets are " raked ".
You don't want people walking all over freshly cleaned carpets before they've had time to dry.
Even when the carpet dries, you'll leave footprints behind.
The carpet guy will work his way backward out of each room.
The house will look much better come inspection time if the carpets are fresh and footprint free.
I hope this blog post has been informative and helps you to make ... well... a clean exit!
If you decide you don't want to clean the windows yourself, get in touch, I'm happy to help.
Phone David: 0426 258 876
or use my contact form :
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