Bond cleaning cost varies considerably for 2 reasons, A. Size of premises and wall area and whether that wall area needs considerable wall washing and spot removal. Floor tile grout may need hi-pressure encapsulation cleaning of the tile and grout.

B. Complications or poor maintenance, external needs and the condition of the property when the tenant took possession. Therefore, a bond clean for an average 3-bedroom house can be $600 to $1400.The house maybe furnished. It is impossible therefore to have a ready reckoner for pricing and thus all bond cleans are priced according to the needs of each property.

Here again time taken is directly drawn from the condition of the property. To give an example one property may have security screens which cannot be removed, it may have easy access for loading and unloading, it may have easy access for house perimeter’s for pressure washing of windows/screens/tracks and be single story on a flat block with fresh paint internally when the tenant took entry, a clean oven and no spot marks on the walls. The tenant may have squeegeed the shower after every shower and have cleaned the windows twice a year.

In 8 years of doing bond cleans on the sunshine coast I have cleaned one such house. All of the others took longer for any one of the points mentioned here and for that reason the cost was more because it required more time. Is it possible to look at a house on a quotation visit and accurately gauge the number of hours exactly it will take to perform the bond clean? No! it is an educated (from experience) estimate and when a tenant requires a set price ( as we understand everybody has budgets and they need to plan for a bond clean regarding cost) it is usually me ending up having to absorb that extra hour it took to perform the job. That is why we require full disclosure from tenants regarding condition entry, wear and tear, maintenance issues, removalist issues, damage to the property, and issues relating to commitments they may have made during the quotation process which they have not been able to perform before we start the job.

Before we can make a list of what a bond clean includes it is best to look at what needs to be negotiated as any bond cleaner will assess how long in general a job will take and then look at certain aspects of a job which will add considerable time on a job over and above what we could call standard.

Venetian blinds- one may make little difference on a job, however 10 in poor condition will add considerable time and cost to a job.

External pressure washing- in general for us we pressure wash all externalwindows/tracks and frames (where accessible), and as we go normally will remove mud wasp nests and spider webs on the surfeits. This time/cost can blowout if the property has exposed beam veranda’s which could be covered in mould and obviously that would need to be negotiated.

So when we are asked what does a standard bond clean include my reply is “there is no such thing” as every property is different and everybody lives differently in terms of their length of tenancy, their ability to perform maintenance and cleaning over that time and the condition of the property when they took possession also their ability to leave the property in a reasonable condition for the bond cleaner as negotiated at the time of quotation.

I get many calls from tenants vacating who tell me cleaners are not coming, or can you help me touch up work already done or querying why quote costs vary so much. A bond clean is not like ordering a pizza. If you spend a little time on the phone to get the process right in the quote/negotiation process correct so it runs smoothly for everybody. And yes, that means you, the bond cleaner, the agent and the owner.

Typically for us a bond clean will see the following-(however not limited to or unnegotiated)

Windows/screens/tracks internal and external (subject to accessibility)

Oven

Fans

Cupboards (internal/external

Aircon filters (and accessible areas of aircon)

Carpets- vacuumed (if steam cleaning that’s negotiated and stain removal can cost extra}.

Walls- washed down (level of intensity can vary markedly here)

Skirting boards

Floors- double mopped Hi pressure encapsulation floor tile and grout can be added.

Spider mop of cornices.

Bathrooms- glass panels usually scrubbed with a crème cleanser. Tile grout cleaned.

Ceilings- not usually unless negotiated.

Laundry and sink.

Furnished apartmenst need to be negotiated as these vary markedly.

Light fittings-

Toilets-