Most deposit deductions for cleaning come from the same few places: the oven, the fridge, bathroom grout, baseboards and the inside of cabinets. These are the spots tenants skip when they are packing boxes, and the first places a landlord looks.
What landlords check
- Inside the oven, fridge, microwave and dishwasher.
- Inside kitchen and bathroom cabinets and drawers.
- Tub, shower, tile and grout.
- Baseboards, door frames, switch plates and outlets.
- Window sills and sliding-door tracks.
- Floors, including under where furniture stood.
Room-by-room checklist
Kitchen
Degrease the stovetop and range hood, clean inside the oven, empty and wipe the fridge and freezer, wipe cabinet fronts and interiors, and clean the sink and faucet.
Bathrooms
Descale the shower, tub and glass, scrub grout, clean the toilet inside and out including the base, wipe the vanity and mirror, and clean inside the drawers.
Bedrooms and living areas
Dust ceiling fans and vents, wipe baseboards and doors, clean inside closets, and vacuum and mop every floor.
Florida deposit timeline: under Florida Statute 83.49, a landlord has 15 days after you move out to return the deposit if they are not making a claim, or 30 days to send written notice if they intend to keep part of it. You then have 15 days to object. Date-stamped photos after a professional clean give you something to point to.
Timing it
Book the clean for after the movers leave and before you return the keys, while the utilities are still on. With a few days of notice we can usually clean the same day the truck pulls away.
Move-out cleaning in West Palm Beach starts at $320, flat priced by size and condition. See the full scope on our move-in / move-out cleaning page or everything we do locally on the West Palm Beach cleaning page.