They say that moving house is the second most stressful thing next to getting divorced or losing your spouse. That’s because the heightened stress of having to move and rearrange your life in the most physical sense can disrupt your daily routines, habits, and even affect your quality of life.
Part of this stress is the tension from having to clean up after moving out, making sure to check that every pockmark in the wall is spackled, that every corner is tidy, and that there is no damage done to the apartment or house which might cause you to forfeit your deposit.
In this article, we’ll be taking a look at the different timelines for cleaning up after your lease ends and you decide to move homes. Whether you decide to go with a professional end of lease cleaner or you decide to do it yourself, this article will provide you with integral information on what to expect on your journey of moving homes. Keep reading to find out everything you need to know about the end of lease cleaning!
The DIY Method: Four to Six Weeks
Cleaning the apartment yourself has a lot of advantages, mostly when it comes to price: it’s usually free, save materials and having to buy lunch or coffee for your friends and family who will be helping you out. At first glance, this is the most practical solution and in fact, a lot of people whose leases end tend to think of this as the first option.
However, doing the DIY method might have a few more disadvantages than you’d think. First off, cleaning the house yourself is extremely tiring. Sure, you get to save money–but what about the time and the effort? And if you’re enlisting some of your friends to help, what about their time and money?
Second, you’ll have to think about the quality of the work that you’ll be doing. Do you know what the right time of cement to spackle plywood walls with? Do you know what kind of paint your apartment or house uses so as to avoid degrading it when you sanitize? If you’re dealing with wallpaper, are you sure that you can peel it off well without causing real damage to the wall’s interior surface?
And lastly, there’s the question of safety. When we clean our houses, sure we might spring for the occasional glove, but we don’t really think about protection when it comes to hidden mould or dirty, dusty areas that could give you asthma. Oftentimes, the DIY method is a lot more trouble than saving a few pennies here and there.
Partial Professional Help: Two to Three Weeks
This compromise gives you the best of both worlds: you’re able to hire professional help while limiting the costs via labour. The assumption here is that you’ll be helping out on the day to assist the small crew of professional cleaners as they go through your apartment to clean and sanitize.
There are a lot of advantages to this method, the most prominent one being that you address the concerns of thoroughness and protection without breaking the bank. You can get the help of a professional crew and also learn a thing or two about their post-lease cleaning techniques in the process.
However, this method might not be very economically sound. Margins between full professional help and partial professional help might seem large, but they’re actually smaller than you think. When you get partial professional help, you’re actually shelling out a lot of money to put in the same time and effort that you would on your own.
Because of their limited crew, you’ll have to be very hands-on anyway with this kind of method. Effectively, you’re paying good money to still be obliged to show up and mop, sweep, shine, and spackle–it’s just that you’ve got other people around to give their input. Now, while input is very valuable, is it really worth skipping work and valuable time with your family? Only you can decide.
Full Professional Help: One to Three Days
The third option might seem like it’s the most expensive–that is, hiring a full professional crew to clean, repair, and sanitize your apartment once your lease is up. On the surface, this option might feel like it’s unnecessary or like you don’t really need to spend money on a service you can do yourself.
However, the price is probably this method’s only downside–plus, it becomes worth it once you pay close attention to what it is that you’re really spending for. When you hire a full professional cleaning crew, you don’t have to be physically present to get stuff done.
You can go to work or help with the move in at the new place or even just spend more time with your loved ones. By paying just a little more extra, you get to buy something more precious: quality time doing the things you love or hanging out with the people you love.
When your lease ends and you start making arrangements to move, don’t be caught unprepared–make sure that you have a plan in place to ensure that your moving process becomes as painless as possible.
Hiring professional cleaners to help can be the first step to achieving a smooth move out of your old home and into your new one. Invest in your mental health and well being when you get experts to help put you at ease!