Move in and move out cleaning, built to pass inspection
The clean that decides whether you get your last month back, or whether you spend your first night in a new place scrubbing someone else's bathroom.
A move clean is done on an empty or near-empty home, which changes everything. There is nothing to clean around, so everything gets cleaned: inside every cupboard, drawer and closet, behind and under appliances, the shelf in the linen closet that has not been touched in six years.
We work this backwards from the walkthrough. A landlord, property manager or buyer's agent checks a predictable list, and that list is what we cover.
Moving out
Every cupboard and drawer emptied of crumbs and wiped inside and out. Fridge and freezer cleaned inside, defrosted if needed, and left with the door ajar if the power is going off. Oven interior, racks and stovetop degreased. Bathroom fully descaled, including the shower glass and around the base of the toilet. Closet shelves and rails wiped. Interior windows, sills and tracks. Light fixtures and switch plates. Floors washed last, on the way out.
In a rental, the finishes matter more than the square footage. We pay attention to the places deposits actually get withheld over: oven, fridge seals, bathroom grout, and the marks behind where furniture sat.
Moving in
The previous tenant's bar for clean is not your bar. A move-in clean sanitises everything you are about to put your own things into: cupboard interiors, closets, the fridge, the bathroom, and every floor, before a single box gets unpacked.
Book it for the gap between closing or key handover and your movers arriving. Even a two-hour window is enough for a condo.
Condo move logistics in Toronto
Most Toronto buildings require you to book the service elevator and give the concierge a certificate of insurance from your movers before anything can be carried in or out. That booking window is usually four hours and it fills up weeks out.
Tell us your elevator slot when you book and we will schedule around it. If your building asks for paperwork from us before letting us in, send us the request and we will tell you straight away whether we can meet it.
What Ontario law actually requires of you
Most move-out cleaning advice written for Toronto is quietly imported from the United States and gets this wrong. Ontario has no damage deposit and no cleaning deposit. Both are unlawful. The only deposit a landlord may collect is a rent deposit, and it may only be applied to the last rental period.
So the honest reason to pay for a move-out clean is not to protect a deposit that cannot be touched. It is that the Residential Tenancies Act asks you to leave the unit in ordinary cleanliness, and that a landlord who wants more than that has to apply to the Landlord and Tenant Board and prove an actual expense. A dated invoice for a professional clean makes that application unattractive before it starts.
Normal wear and tear is explicitly not yours to fix. Worn carpet, faded paint and aging grout are the landlord's. Grease, food residue, dirt and rubbish are yours. The full breakdown is in the move-out cleaning and Ontario law guide. That is general information rather than legal advice.
Get the order right
For a move out: everything out, then clean, then hand over keys. A clean done around boxes is not a move-out clean, because the whole value is in the surfaces the furniture was covering. If the schedule genuinely will not allow it, expect a worse result and tell us in advance so we quote it honestly.
For a move in: clean before the furniture arrives, without exception. It is the only moment in that home's life when every cupboard, floor and corner is reachable, and doing it then costs a fraction of doing it later. Even a two hour window between key handover and the movers is enough for a condo.
What this costs
Flat rates, for a move in / out. The recurring column shows the every-two-weeks price.
| Home | One time | Every 2 weeks |
|---|---|---|
| Studio / 1 bed condo | $262 | $223 |
| 2 bed / 1 bath condo | $315 | $268 |
| 2 bed / 2 bath condo | $408 | $347 |
| 3 bed semi-detached | $543 | $462 |
| 3 bed detached | $598 | $509 |
About move in / out
Do you do move-out cleaning for Toronto renters?
Yes, and it is one of the most common things we are booked for. Worth knowing: Ontario has no damage or cleaning deposit, and the rent deposit can only be applied to your last rental period, so nothing can lawfully be withheld from it for cleaning. What a documented clean removes is the argument, and the risk of a Landlord and Tenant Board application. Ask and we will send a dated receipt describing the work. Our move-out and Ontario law guide covers the rules in full.
Is the oven and fridge included in a move-out clean?
Yes. Unlike our standard and deep cleans, oven and fridge interiors are included by default on move in and move out jobs, because a walkthrough will always check both.
How far in advance should I book a move clean?
Aim for two weeks, and more at the end of the month. Toronto leases overwhelmingly turn over on the first, so the last three days of any month are the busiest slots we have.
Does the home need to be empty?
It gets a much better result empty, and that is what the price assumes. We can work around a few remaining boxes, but if the home is still furnished we cannot clean inside cupboards or behind appliances, so tell us in advance and we will quote it as a deep clean instead.
Can my landlord keep my last month's rent because the unit was dirty?
No. In Ontario the rent deposit may only be applied to the last rental period, and damage or cleaning deposits are not permitted at all. To recover cleaning costs a landlord has to apply to the Landlord and Tenant Board and prove the expense with evidence. This is general information, not legal advice.
How long does a move-out clean take?
About three to four hours for an empty one bedroom condo, and most of a day for an empty family home, often with two cleaners. Considerably longer if the home is not empty, which is the main reason we ask.
Do you clean inside cupboards and closets?
Yes, every one of them, inside and out. On move cleans that is included by default rather than an add-on, because it is the first place an inspection looks and empty is not the same as clean.
Book a move in / out in Toronto
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