End of Tenancy Cleaning in Elmers End

Blandford Avenue is one of those Elmers End streets where every house looks the same from the outside — 1930s mid-terraces, bay windows, pebble-dash, low front walls — and every house is completely different on the inside, depending on who's been living there and for how long. This one had been home to a couple with two young kids for 2 years. You could tell within about 10 seconds of walking through the front door. A scooter mark on the hallway wall at shin height. A sticker on the banister. The faint smell of something that had been baked recently and enthusiastically.

Three bedrooms upstairs, a front lounge, a rear kitchen-diner, a lean-to conservatory off the back, one bathroom, a downstairs WC, and a garden with a slide and a sandpit. Managed by KFH Beckenham. Inventory checkout with their clerk three days later. Rent had been £1,650 a month.

Parked on the street about four houses down. Blandford Avenue is unrestricted — no CPZ, no permits. Carried the kit in through the front door.

Kitchen first. A separate kitchen that had been opened into a diner at some point — the dividing wall taken out, a breakfast bar put in. A freestanding gas cooker, a Beko, single oven, four burners. Two years of family cooking — the oven had the even, layered grease of a household that used it most days. Roasts on Sundays, fish fingers on Wednesdays, baking on weekends. The oven roof was dark. The back wall had a splash mark from something involving tomatoes. First dwell, 20 minutes. The roof needed a second pass. The back wall came clean on the first. Hob cleaned, burner caps soaked. Grill pan moderate — soaked while we worked.

The taps told the hard-water story. The kitchen mixer had a white crust around the base — 2 years of Bromley chalk water. Double application of descaler, a bit of careful scraping, the aerator cleaned out. Worktops wiped. Inside all the cupboards. Fridge-freezer cleaned — the freezer had a thin ice layer, door open, towels, defrosted while we worked. Under the sink: the usual bin bag, cleaning bottles, a dried-out sponge. The wall behind the cooker had a grease film — wall fan instead of a hood, same as most terraces here. Degreased the wall. Floor mopped, behind the cooker done. A fridge magnet from Margate and half a crayon. Kitchen total: 42 minutes.

Conservatory. About 10 sqm, lean-to UPVC, facing the garden. This was the kids' domain. Fingermarks on the glass at toddler height. A felt-tip mark on one frame. The door track had sand from the garden sandpit, dried leaves, and what looked like a raisin. Eight panes of interior glass cleaned. Door track vacuumed and wiped. Floor tiles mopped. The felt-tip came off in two passes. 18 minutes.

Bathroom. A white suite — bath with a shower over, a glass screen, pedestal basin, close-coupled toilet. The shower screen had a limescale haze on the lower half. Two years of Bromley water, nobody descaling it. Descaler applied, dwell time, two passes on the lower section. The taps had the same white crust as the kitchen. Bath waterline — a moderate ring. Toilet — calcium below the waterline, needed a good soak and a bit of work with the brush on the stubborn section. Grout in the shower area had some dark spots. Anti-mould spray, scrubbed. Most came out. Floor tiles mopped. 28 minutes.

Downstairs WC: 7 minutes.

Front lounge. Carpeted, vacuumed. Bay window cleaned. A gas fire in the original fireplace opening — wiped around the surround. Radiator done. Skirting wiped. 12 minutes.

Three bedrooms. Master: carpeted, vacuumed, wardrobe cleaned inside, window done. Second bedroom: same process. The kids' room: carpet vacuumed, a small juice stain near the door — spot-treated, lightened. Sticker residue on the windowsill. Stars this time. Not gold ones like Church End — these were glow-in-the-dark, the kind you buy in a pack of 100 from a pound shop and stick everywhere. About 15 of them on the windowsill, plus a couple on the wall. Each one peeled, adhesive cleaned, paint checked. No damage. 28 minutes across all three bedrooms.

Stairs and hallway: vacuumed, the scooter mark on the wall cleaned as much as possible. The rubber had scuffed into the paint — lightened but not removed. Documented as damage rather than dirt. Bannister wiped, including the sticker. 8 minutes.

Total time: 4 hours. Two people. The oven took 30 minutes. The bathroom took 28. The kitchen total was 42. The conservatory added 18. A standard Elmers End 3-bed terrace — not complicated, not premium, just thorough.

KFH's clerk arrived three days later. She covered this end of Beckenham and knew the 1930s stock well. Kitchen: oven torched, back wall checked, tap base checked. Conservatory: panes checked, felt-tip location inspected. Bathroom: she went straight to the shower screen, checked it at an angle. Smooth. Toilet torched. Taps checked. Kids' room: star sticker locations checked on the windowsill — clean, no residue. Scooter mark on the hallway wall: she noted it as a scuff and photographed it.

Fourteen minutes. Everything passed on the cleaning items. The scooter mark was flagged for discussion with the landlord — she recommended it be treated as wear given the tenancy length.

Deposit returned in full via the DPS within 9 days. No deductions. The family moved to a bigger house a few streets over on Merlin Grove — staying in the Balgowan catchment, gaining a bedroom. The glow-in-the-dark stars came off the Blandford Avenue windowsill and, knowing the kids, went straight back up on the Merlin Grove one before the boxes were even unpacked.