Move in and move out cleaning

The advantage of cleaning an empty property is that nothing is in the way. The difficulty is that everything is visible. With furniture gone, the marks behind the sofa, the sun-faded patch on the floor and the grime line where the fridge sat are all on display, and the standard being judged is not how the home looks but whether it looks like nobody lived in it.

Step one: sequence it around the move, not around the cleaner. A move-out clean happens after the last item leaves and before the walk-through. A move-in clean happens after the previous occupant is out and before your furniture arrives, which in a same-day closing means a window of a few hours. Booking a same-day closing clean requires flexibility from everybody and should be discussed as a risk rather than assumed.

Step two: the fixed list. All cupboards, drawers and closets cleaned inside and out. Oven interior, racks and broiler pan. Fridge inside, behind, underneath and the drip tray. Dishwasher filter and seals. Range hood filter degreased. All bathroom fixtures descaled, including the toilet base and the hinges of the seat. Shower glass and grout treated for mineral film. Every window interior, sill and track. Blinds. Baseboards, door frames, doors, handles, switch plates and light fixtures. Vents and returns. Spot cleaning of walls, and a decision made about marks that need paint rather than cleaning. Floors vacuumed then washed, including closet floors. Balcony or entry swept. Garage swept if it is in scope.

Step three: know which marks are cleaning and which are repair. Scuffs come off. Crayon usually comes off. Nail holes, gouges, pet stains soaked into subfloor and cigarette residue in paint do not, and a cleaner who promises otherwise will spend your money failing. Photograph those before the crew starts so nobody is accused of causing them.

What the landlord and tenant relationship does and does not require. Ontario's residential tenancy rules oblige a tenant to keep a unit clean and to repair undue damage, and a professional clean at the end of a tenancy is a sensible way to meet that. It is not a legal obligation in itself, and a clause requiring a receipted professional clean is not automatically enforceable. Where money is at stake, this is a question for the Landlord and Tenant Board rather than for a cleaning company, and nothing on this page should be read as legal advice.

Timing. An empty two-bedroom condo is typically five to nine cleaner-hours. An empty three or four bedroom house is ten to twenty. Add hours for a property that has had pets, smokers or a tenancy longer than about five years. Booking two to three weeks ahead is normal, and the last week of the month is the busiest week in this trade in Ottawa by a wide margin, because leases and closings cluster there.

What it costs in Ottawa in 2026. Indicative ranges only. An empty one or two bedroom condo commonly runs $250 to $500. An empty three-bedroom house is $450 to $900, and a larger or heavily used property $900 to $1,800. Interior windows on a whole house are often $150 to $400 on top. Carpet steam cleaning and wall painting are separate trades and separate quotes. What moves the number: floor area, bathroom count, the state of the oven and grout, whether there were pets, and whether the property is genuinely empty when the crew arrives.

What is specific to Ottawa. The move calendar. A very large share of this city's leases end on 31 August, driven by the two universities and the college, so late August is close to impossible to book at short notice in Sandy Hill, Centretown, the Glebe and around Carleton. The 1 July turnover is the second peak. Condo buildings downtown add a layer of logistics: most require the service elevator and the loading dock to be booked in advance, often with a deposit and a certificate of insurance naming the corporation, and a crew that arrives without that booking will be turned away at the door. Ask your property manager what the building needs and pass it to the cleaner before the date.

Licences and credentials. No licence exists for cleaning in Ontario and none is required for this work (Skilled Trades Ontario). What matters practically is insurance, because empty-property work involves keys, access and an unsupervised building, plus a WSIB clearance number valid for up to 90 days (WSIB) and a certificate of insurance if a condo corporation demands one. If theft is the concern, a bond rather than liability insurance is the instrument, and it covers the value of stolen items up to the bond amount rather than property damage (NFP).

What to ask before you book. Is this quoted as a flat price or by the hour, and how many hours. Is the oven interior included. Are interior windows included or extra. What happens if the property is not empty when you arrive. Can you provide a certificate of insurance naming the condo corporation. Do you need the service elevator booked. Will you photograph the finished property. What is your policy if the landlord or buyer disputes the standard. And who is holding the key, under what written arrangement.