How Long Does A Bond Clean Take?

How Long Does A Bond Clean Take?

When you live in a rented property, you have lots of responsibilities as a tenant. Interestingly, the only responsibility most of us take seriously is paying rent on time. We wrongly assume that the responsibility of property maintenance is on the owner and not us. However, reality strikes at the end of the lease period when you are vacating the property and are required to hand it back in pre-lease condition.

In order to safeguard their rental properties from damage and cut on property maintenance costs, real estate agents and property owners transfer liabilities to you the tenant by demanding upfront payments referred to as rental bonds.

A rental bond acts as a security deposit at the start of your tenancy. The amount you pay as rental bond is always paid back to you when you vacate the property provided you have no rent arrears and the property is in the condition you found it. Property owners disregard acceptable wear and tear.

When there is significant damage associated with you living in the property you are vacating, there can be a delay in refunding your bond claim or you may even lose a portion or the whole amount. However, note that you cannot make a bond claim if the property has significant damage. In other instances, the claim is disputed because you left the property in a dirty state.

Therefore, if your lease ends and you want to clear the uncertainty of getting your bond money back, you must perform some reasonable cleaning commonly referred to as bond cleaning.

So, what is bond cleaning and how much of your time will it take? The following sections of this article will answer these questions and also address the areas below:

• How bond cleaning differs from your regular home cleaning routine.
• Cleaning tasks included in a bond cleaning checklist.
• How long a bond cleaning process takes.
• Factors that determine the amount of time a bond clean will take.
• Why you should book a professional cleaner for your bond cleaning needs.

What Is Bond Cleaning?

Bond cleaning refers to intensive cleaning of a rented property that a tenant undertakes at the end of lease. The term can be used interchangeably with lease cleaning or exit cleaning. Because the main reason for undertaking bond cleaning is not just to get your rental bond back but rather to get it in full, the process requires thorough deep cleaning, which is different from regular home cleaning in many respects. Some of the differences are described below.

Differences Between Bond Cleaning And Regular Home Cleaning?

Bond cleaning and regular house cleaning differ in the following areas:

• Purpose
• Time required to complete a cleaning job
• Equipment involved
• Level of cleaning expertise involved
• Cost
• Frequency
• Complexity

Purpose

Regular home cleaning is purposely done to remove dust from our houses. Bond cleaning is deep cleaning that includes areas that we neglect during regular home cleaning. While the purpose is to restore the house to its original clean state before vacating, we do it simply to get our bond money back.

The amount of time needed to finish the cleaning job

While regular home cleaning can be accomplished within minutes, a number of factors will determine how much time it takes to accomplish bond cleaning. A typical bond cleaning process should however take 2 – 8 hours.

Equipment involved

Simple basic equipment will get the work done during regular home cleaning. You however require innovative and powerful cleaning tools like vacuums, specialty machines, and scrubbers/dryers for bond cleaning.

Level of cleaning expertise required

You do not require any special skills or expertise to do regular home cleaning because it does not involve use of sophisticated equipment. You however need to hire professional cleaners trained to handle specialty equipment used in bond cleaning.

Cost

Regular home cleaning does not require expensive cleaning tools and you can perform cleaning tasks by yourself. Bond cleaning requires involvement of a professional cleaning company who in most cases provide both domestic and commercial cleaning services. Even though hiring professional cleaners may be costly it is recommended if you want to secure your bond money in full.

Frequency

While regular house cleaning is something we do as a routine almost every day, we perform bond cleaning only when our lease agreement ends and we want to vacate the property.

Complexity

Regular home cleaning is a routine domestic chore that focuses on common areas of the house. Bond cleaning is very comprehensive and requires a cleaning checklist to make sure the entire property is cleaned.

Cleaning Tasks Included In A Bond Cleaning Checklist

If you understand what you are liable for at the end of your lease term, then you can pick and choose the cleaning tasks that go into your bond cleaning checklist. This pick and choose process guides your professional cleaners to do a precise cleaning job and also helps you in doing a follow up inspection.

Some of the common bond cleaning tasks that should be in your cleaning checklist broadly cover the kitchen, bathroom, main house and yard. Specific cleaning tasks may include but are not limited to:

• Carpet cleaning
• Vacuuming and mopping floors and slabs
• Wiping the skirting boards
• Dusting, removing mould and disinfecting the entire property
• Cleaning the dishwasher and microwave oven
• Cleaning the toilet, bathtub, shower tiles, and mirrors
• Cleaning cabinets, drawers, cupboards, sinks, and countertops
• Cleaning windows, doors, frames, tracks, ceiling, and light fixtures
• Cleaning rails, grills, stairs, entry ways, and garage
• Mowing and raking the lawn
• Removing garbage from the property
• Removing cobwebs

Some bond cleaning tasks are booked separately as they are considered extra cleaning tasks. They include:

• Carpet steam cleaning
• Mattress cleaning
• Upholstery cleaning
• Pest control
• Pressure cleaning
• Pool maintenance
• Blinds cleaning
• Spot cleaning the walls
• Fridge and freezer cleaning

How Long Does Bond Cleaning Take?

Many factors, including those highlighted below, determine how long bond cleaning takes. A typical bond cleaning session involving a team of 2 – 3 cleaners should last 2 to 8 hours.

Generally, the following factors determine how long a bond cleaning job is likely to take:

• Size and complexity of your rented property
• Size of the cleaning team
• The number of cleaning tasks to be accomplished
• Your deadline

Size and complexity of your rented property

If your rented property is large and complex, bond cleaning it will require more time so as to cover every inch of the space.

Size of the cleaning team

It may take the standard team of 2 – 3 cleaners longer to bond clean your rented property if it is bigger and complex.

The number of cleaning tasks to be accomplished

There are cleaning tasks that you must include in your bond cleaning checklist. However, if you decide to include extra cleaning tasks such as carpet steam cleaning, mattress cleaning, upholstery cleaning and pest control among others, the work load increases and the bond cleaning job is likely to take longer than it would without extra tasks.

This is why you are encouraged to understand what you are liable for at the end of your lease term so as to minimise additional costs and shorten the duration of the bond cleaning job. You can achieve this by following tried and tested cleaning guides to know what your liabilities are as well as what is considered as acceptable wear and tear. You can then curate a focused cleaning checklist to shorten the cleaning period and also help you inspect the work done by your hired professional cleaning company.

Your deadline

If your bond cleaning needs are not urgent, cleaners may buy time and drag the job. However, if you indicate a sense of urgency, the job will be accomplished within a shorter time frame. Sometimes work that must be completed within a tight deadline may require additional professional hands so that it is not only completed in time but also efficiently and to standards.

Reasons To Book A Professional Bond Cleaner

Professional bond cleaning companies provide both commercial and domestic cleaning services. These companies employ trained individuals who use professional-grade cleaning equipment and products to clean hard to reach areas of your property.

The main reason why you undertake bond cleaning is to get back your bond money in full. So, it is safe to eliminate any uncertainties by cleaning the rented property to the expected standards. You cannot do this by yourself because the level of expertise and kind of equipment involved might be beyond you.

To meet expected bond cleaning standards, it is important to hire professional bond cleaners who have the experience and expertise to clean your rented property thoroughly using suitable equipment and cleaning products.

When you hire the services of professional bond cleaning companies, you stand to enjoy the following benefits:

• Professionals take away the stress of cleaning from your shoulder so that you can focus on other aspects of moving out of the leased property. If you do the cleaning yourself, the experience may be overwhelming and that might could come in the way of you looking for another property to lease.
• In order to get back your deposit, you are obliged to return the property to its original state. It is very difficult to achieve the expected bond cleaning standards on your own and you could lose your bond money. However, when you hire professional bond cleaners, you are always certain that you will secure a full refund of the rental bond. This is because they deploy the best cleaning strategies that restore your rented property to its original sparkling state.
• You get high quality bond cleaning services when you work with professional cleaners. They are detail oriented and use advanced equipment and cleaning products.
• Professional bond cleaning companies will send a team of fully insured cleaners to your rented property, so you are guaranteed the best cleaning services.
• Hiring professionals to do your cleaning job is economical in the long run because it saves you from the expenses of buying expensive cleaning products. You also gain from a full deposit refund, which is always unlikely if you bond clean by yourself.

Find Professional Bond Cleaning Help

Overall, bond cleaning or end of lease cleaning is all about impressing the property owner and manager so that they can give you back the full amount you paid as security at the beginning of tenancy. This is a complex cleaning task that requires you to seek help from professionals such as Like Cleaning Services Group who are highly trained and use specialty equipment to thoroughly clean your rented property. They will help you get rid of tough stains, built-up grease and mould from your sinks, walls, tiles, wooden surfaces, upholstery, carpets and floors and other components of your rented property.