What a Builders Clean Actually Covers

Most people picture a builders clean as sweeping up and taking the rubbish out. That part takes an hour. The rest of it is the reason a space passes inspection instead of being handed back.

Construction dust does not settle once

This is the thing that catches people out. Fine dust from cutting, sanding and drilling stays airborne for days and lands in stages. Clean the floors on Monday and the dust sitting on top of the ductwork will be back down on them by Wednesday. That is why a room can look finished, get signed off, and then look wrong again by the time the furniture arrives.

The fix is not cleaning harder. It is cleaning in the right order.

High to low, floors last

Every job runs the same way:

High level first. Ductwork, cable tray, light fittings, pipework, the tops of door frames and anything else above head height. This is where the dust that ruins a finished floor is hiding.

Then glazing and joinery. Windows and reveals, internal glass, doors, skirting, sockets and switch plates. Protective film comes off, and so does the adhesive residue it leaves behind — which is its own job, and one that gets skipped a lot.

Sanitary and kitchens next. Grout haze off tiles, plaster and silicone residue off sanitaryware, stickers and labels off every new appliance.

Floors last. Always last. Every surface above them has already been dealt with, so nothing is left to settle back down.

Do it in any other order and you clean the same floor twice.

What gets missed

The things we most often find left behind on sites that have already been "cleaned":

• Adhesive residue where protective film was pulled off glass and doors
• Grout haze, which looks like a dull film and does not come off with a normal mop
• Paint specks on sockets, switch plates and ironmongery
• Dust inside cupboards, drawers and on the top of every door frame
• Silicone smears on sanitaryware
• Manufacturer labels still on appliances, radiators and glazing

None of these are difficult. They are just easy to walk past.

Why the walk-through matters

We finish every job by walking the site with whoever is signing it off. If something is not right, we put it right then, while we are still there with the equipment out. It is a far better use of everyone's time than a snag list two days later.

If you have a handover date coming up, the earlier we can see the space, the more accurately we can price it. Get in touch and we will arrange a site visit.