Moving out of a rental almost always ends with the same job: the clean. Whether you are a tenant hoping to see your deposit again or a landlord getting a property ready for new tenants, a proper end of tenancy cleaning makes the handover easier for everyone involved. Below is a practical, room-by-room checklist, along with a few tips for booking move out cleaning without leaving it to the last minute.
Before you start
Check your lease and any inventory that came with it. Many landlords set out exactly what condition they expect the property to be returned in, and matching that list is the simplest way to avoid a disagreement later. If a dispute about a deposit does arise, it is worth knowing that in Ireland these can be taken to the Residential Tenancies Board, so it pays to keep good records from the start.
That is the other habit worth building in early: take dated photos of every room, including inside cupboards, the oven and the bathroom, before you hand back the keys. A handful of clear, timestamped photos are far more useful than simply remembering that a room was clean when you left it.
The room-by-room checklist
Kitchen
- Oven, inside and out, including racks, trays and the door glass
- Hob, extractor fan and filter, and the splashback behind it
- Fridge and freezer, defrosted and wiped out inside, door seals included
- Inside every cupboard and drawer, as well as worktops and the sink
- Bin area, and behind or under appliances where you can safely move them
Bathroom
- Limescale on taps, the showerhead and shower screen
- Grout and sealant around the bath, shower tray and sink
- Toilet, inside and out, including around the base
- Extractor fan cover, which collects dust fast and is easy to forget
- Mirrors, cabinets and any shelving
Bedrooms and living areas
- Skirting boards and doors, including the top edges
- Light switches, sockets and door handles
- Windows, sills and any window tracks
- Inside wardrobes and any built-in storage
- Radiators, on top and behind
Floors
- Vacuum and mop hard floors, including under furniture where you can reach
- Carpets vacuumed thoroughly, with any stains treated
- Corners and edges, where dust and hair tend to collect
Outside
- Bins emptied and wiped out, inside and outside
- Bin storage area swept clean
- Any yard, balcony or bin store left tidy
A few practical tips
Book early, especially around the end of the month, when most tenancies change hands and cleaners in Ireland get busy. Leaving it until the day before you hand back the keys often means a smaller choice of providers and less flexibility on timing.
Go back to your lease or inventory one more time before you book, so whoever does the clean knows exactly what is expected, from inside the oven to the skirting boards. And keep those dated photos safe until the deposit is settled, just in case anything is queried afterwards.
Booking end of tenancy cleaning through Service Connect
Service Connect lets you post a job for free with a clear list of what needs doing and a date, rather than trying to remember everything over the phone with a cleaner. Choose "Get quotes" or set a budget, and pick your timing: Flexible, This week, or a specific date. Providers who cover cleaning and decluttering can then send you a custom offer in the app, and you can accept, counter or decline it. Before you confirm anything, you see the full total, the offer plus the buyer protection fee, so there is nothing added later.
Your card is only charged once a provider accepts, and the payment is held until the job is done. Once the cleaner marks the job complete, you confirm it and the payment is released, or it releases automatically after seven days if you have not responded and no dispute is open. If something is not right, whether the cleaner did not show, the job was not finished, something was damaged, the price changed, or anything else, you can open a dispute and the payment stays held while it is looked into.
Providers on Service Connect are reviewed with a simple "would you recommend this provider" thumbs up or down from clients who actually completed a booking, shown as counts like 12 of 13 recommend, so you can see how previous jobs went before you choose someone for your move out cleaning.
Ready to get quotes for your end of tenancy cleaning? Get the Service Connect app to post your job, or read more about how buyer protection works and how providers on Service Connect are verified.