Guide · 5 min read
Move-in clean for a downtown condo: the checklist before you unpack
The best day to clean a condo is the day after you get the keys and the day before the furniture arrives. Empty rooms are quick rooms. This is the list to hand over, or to work through yourself, in the order that makes the next steps easier.
Kitchen first, inside and out
- Inside every cabinet and drawer, wiped, before anything goes in them. Liners after, never before.
- Fridge: shelves and drawers out and washed, the seals, the top, and behind it if it moves.
- Oven and stovetop: inside the oven, the racks, the drawer underneath, the hood filter.
- Dishwasher filter and the rim of the door. Sink and taps descaled.
Bathrooms, then the closets
- Grout and glass: the previous owner’s buildup is the hardest thing on this list and the most satisfying.
- The exhaust fan cover, the medicine cabinet, the inside of the vanity, behind the toilet.
- Closets and shelving: wiped down, rods and tracks dusted, before hangers go up.
- The washer-dryer closet, which is usually the dirtiest square metre in a condo.
Floors, sills and glass
- Baseboards throughout, then floors: vacuum, then mop with the right product for the floor. Engineered wood and stone do not want the strongest product.
- Window sills and tracks, and the inside faces of the glass, including the balcony door.
- The balcony: a sweep counts; exterior glass and anything requiring height is outside scope.
What to ask the building for
- The furnace or fan-coil filter, replaced or at least checked, and the date of the last replacement.
- Every key and fob, including the mailbox and the storage locker, and the concierge’s process for tradespeople and cleaners.
- The move-in elevator booking: cleaning fits before it, in the same week.
Why this is the Setup Clean
Three hours with a room-by-room plan is the right shape for this list: C$219 before tax, C$247.47 with HST, and a written record of what was done and what was left. The plan then becomes the baseline for the visits after, usually a Condo Clean every 2 weeks at C$135, so the home that was cleaned properly once stays that way.