Move-Out Cleaning Checklist: Room by Room

Before cleaning day: make the space ready

Choose a cleaning window between the last moving load and your handover. Cleaning while boxes are still being carried through the home creates extra dust and makes it harder to reach floor edges. If the timing is tight, explain the access and key-return deadlines when you call.

• Remove belongings and loose rubbish from the rooms being cleaned.
• Empty closets and built-in shelving so the inside surfaces are accessible.
• If you want cabinet interiors cleaned, empty kitchen cupboards and drawers.
• Clear food from the fridge where possible if you are adding fridge cleaning.
• Confirm keys, building entry, parking and any service-elevator arrangements.
• List any areas of heavy buildup, delicate finishes or damage to discuss before the visit.

Keep the home’s water and power available for the visit. In a condo, confirm the cleaner’s access window separately from your moving-elevator booking. Paid parking and difficult access can affect the final quote, so settle those details by phone first.

Your room-by-room move-out checklist

Tick each item as you review it. If you are hiring help, use the list to agree the scope rather than assuming every item belongs to the same service.

Bedrooms, living spaces and halls

• Check reachable surfaces, ledges and corners for dust and cobwebs.
• Check baseboards, door frames, handles and switches.
• Look inside empty closets and built-in shelves.
• Check window sills and tracks; decide whether the glass itself needs an interior-window add-on.
• Review exposed floor edges and areas previously hidden by furniture.
• Check that carpets have been vacuumed and hard floors mopped.

Vacuuming and carpet shampooing are different jobs. Heron’s move-out clean does not include carpet shampooing or damage repair. For marks on painted surfaces, discuss what can be spot-cleaned without affecting the finish; whole-wall washing is outside the offered scope.

Kitchen

• Select the kitchen for counters, sink, stovetop surface, appliance exteriors and cupboard fronts.
• Check the backsplash, range-hood exterior and reachable buildup as part of the selected kitchen’s detail work.
• Decide whether to add the inside of each oven and fridge.
• Check empty cupboard and drawer interiors if you selected cabinet cleaning.
• Remove dishes and personal items; dishwashing is not included in the kitchen add-on.

Mopping is part of every Heron clean: hard floors throughout the home are washed, and the kitchen and bathroom floors are washed with those rooms when you add them.

Bathrooms and powder rooms

• Count each bathroom with a bath or shower as a full bathroom.
• Count a toilet-and-sink room without a bath or shower as a powder room.
• Check the toilet, sink, vanity, mirror, taps and fixtures in each selected room.
• Review the selected bathroom’s tub, shower, tile and buildup work.
• Check the bathroom floor, which is washed with that room’s add-on.

Bathrooms are selected separately even for a move-out clean. The cleaning type sets the level of detail; the room selections tell us where to carry it out.

Windows, balcony and basement

• Count interior windows by standard, large and patio-door size if you want the glass cleaned.
• For a balcony, choose the vacuum or sweep first, then any floor wash, railing or glass work.
• Avoid counting the same balcony door again as an interior-window selection.
• Select a finished-basement size and add any bathroom or kitchenette there.
• Discuss an unfinished basement or unusual balcony condition before booking.

A basement is not silently included in the above-ground home size. Exterior windows above the ground floor and balcony pressure washing are outside Heron’s offered scope. Ask about any job that does not match a published selection before counting it in your plan.

What is included, and what should you add?

The empty-home upgrade adds detail to Basic dusting, vacuuming and mopping: baseboards and frames, reachable tracks and fixtures, empty closets and shelving, and appropriate spot-cleaning where furniture stood. Appliances and extra rooms keep their own prices.

Compare Basic, Deep and Move-in / Move-out cleaning, or check the complete add-on list for windows, balcony options and basement rates. For a furnished home that needs a reset, Deep cleaning may fit better than an empty-home service.

What would a three-bedroom move-out clean cost?

Here is one specific example: a three-bedroom house with 1,700 sq ft of above-ground living area, two full bathrooms, a kitchen, one oven, one fridge and empty kitchen cabinets. It excludes basement, balcony and window work.

The example changes when your room count, floor area or selections change. Open this example in the quote calculator and adjust it for your home. Unusual conditions or access needs are confirmed by phone before the booking.

Before handing over the keys

Walk through the rooms once they are clear. Check the agreed cleaning list, look inside the appliances and cabinets you selected, and separate cleaning concerns from repairs. Keep access instructions and the finished checklist together so you can discuss a missed item clearly.

For broader moving and inspection planning, see CMHC’s moving-out guide. Cleaning does not repair existing damage or determine a landlord’s or buyer’s acceptance of the property.

Arrange move-in or move-out cleaning near you

Heron offers this service in Oakville, Burlington, Milton and Mississauga. Check the service page for your area, build your quote, and call with the quote code and your moving dates.

The quote is online. Booking is by phone. An online quote does not reserve a time. We confirm the scope, final price and availability when you call.

Get your quoteCall 289-813-7484