End of Tenancy Cleaning in Earls Court

First-floor conversion in a white stucco-fronted Victorian house on Philbeach Gardens — one of the classic Earls Court garden squares, with a communal garden in the centre that residents access with a key. The flat had bay windows overlooking the square, 3-metre ceilings, and an ornamental fireplace in the reception room that hadn't been used but still needed cleaning. The tenant was a German financial consultant on a 10-month corporate relocation contract at £2,600/month, fully furnished. Managed by John D Wood (Earls Court office on Old Brompton Road — they've been here since 1872).

Furnished lets change the job. Instead of just cleaning the flat, you're also dealing with everything that's on the inventory — the sofa, the dining table and chairs, the bed frames, the artwork on the walls, the mirrors, the crockery in the cupboards, and the linen in the wardrobes. The tenant had been tidy but 10 months of solo living still leaves marks: a ring mark on the coffee table from a mug (treated with specialist wood restorer — came up), fingermarks on the gilt-framed mirror above the fireplace, and a scratch on the dining table that was already noted on the check-in inventory (confirmed and photographed).

The kitchen was compact — fitted into what was originally part of the reception room, screened by a partial wall. A Neff integrated oven took 40 minutes. The worktop was granite (pH-neutral cleaner). The fridge-freezer was integrated — interior cleaned, door seals wiped. The extraction was a recirculating hood — carbon filter noted as due for replacement (flagged to the agent, not our issue).

The ceilings were the time sink. At 3 metres, the cornicing runs above eye level and collects dust and cobwebs that are invisible from the floor. We used extendable soft brushes to work along the cornicing in both reception rooms and both bedrooms. The ceiling roses — one original, quite elaborate — were dusted carefully. John D Wood check with a torch and a stepladder at checkout. Missed cobwebs at this height are the most common callback in SW5.

Two bedrooms — both with built-in wardrobes (interiors wiped, shelves dusted, hanging rails cleaned). The master had a bay window with original shutters — shutters cleaned on both sides, shutter hinges wiped. Pine floorboards throughout, mopped with specialist wood cleaner.

The bathroom was a decent size for SW5 — a freestanding bath (cleaned underneath — always check, agents always look), a separate walk-in shower, and traditional crosshead taps. Limescale moderate at ~260 ppm. The chrome polished to the K&C standard where you can see your reflection without distortion.

A Juliet balcony off the reception room overlooked the garden square. Railings wiped, glass cleaned, the small shelf where the tenant had kept a plant pot was cleared of dried soil.

John D Wood inspected the following day. Their Earls Court office does the checkout and the inventory check simultaneously — the agent had the original inventory on a tablet and went through every furnished item against the list. The coffee table ring mark was confirmed as resolved. The dining table scratch was confirmed as pre-existing. The cornicing and ceiling roses passed the torch test. Deposit returned within 10 days.