End of Tenancy Cleaning in Hendon

Arrived at a 1930s semi on one of the Shirehall Estate roads — about 8 minutes from Hendon Central Northern Line, backing onto Hendon Park. Three beds upstairs, a bathroom, a through-lounge on the ground floor, separate kitchen with a serving hatch, a downstairs WC, a driveway, and a 50ft garden. Family of four — two kids at Bell Lane Primary — had been there 4 years at £2,400/month. Managed by Winkworth Hendon.

Van on the driveway. Straight in through the front door.

The hallway was the first thing that made this house different from a standard 1930s semi. Herringbone parquet — original oak blocks laid in a chevron pattern, running from the front door through to the kitchen. This wasn't the engineered-wood-over-composite you get in new builds. These were solid oak blocks, 90 years old, and they'd been sanded and sealed at some point but the patina was genuine. Mopped with specialist wood product and diagonal strokes following the block pattern — same technique we use at Nine Elms, but here the wood is vintage rather than new, so we're gentler with the mop pressure.

The kitchen. Separate rear room, serving hatch through to the dining end of the lounge. A Bosch freestanding cooker — 4 years of family cooking. Pulled it forward. The wall behind: the usual grease-and-dust compound at the skirting. Plastic scraper, then alkaline degreaser. Both cavities sprayed, 20-minute dwell. The lower oven needed a second pass in the corners. Gas hob — four burners, caps off. Serving hatch: greasy on the kitchen side (cooking steam rises and deposits on the hatch frame), dusty on the lounge side. Both sides wiped. Extractor filter soaked. Cupboards wiped. Fridge cleaned — gasket channel had early mould starting, folded back the rubber and cleaned it out. Floor (vinyl) degreased rather than just mopped — the colour change from dull to original cream was visible immediately.

The through-lounge had the Art Deco character. A curved bay window at the front — three panes set in a gentle curve rather than the angular bays on Victorian houses. More glass area than a flat-fronted bay, which means more cleaning time. Sash tracks vacuumed, glass cleaned on all three panes plus the side returns. An original tiled fireplace — cream and green tiles in a geometric Art Deco pattern with a wooden surround. pH-neutral on each tile, surround polished. Textured ceiling in both sections — dry-brushed with a soft brush, working along the ridges. A grease mark near the serving hatch on the dining-section ceiling where cooking steam had drifted through over the years — dry-brushed it as far as it would go, photographed the rest. That's a repaint between tenancies, not a cleaning issue.

Upstairs. Bathroom — a 1930s-proportioned room (bigger than most modern bathrooms) with a bath-shower combo and a glass screen. Limescale at ~275 ppm after 4 years from a family of four. Phosphoric acid on the screen, 12-minute dwell. First pass got it mostly clear, a strip near the bottom needed a second application. Bath waterline — heavy from 4 years of kids' baths. Two passes with a descaler-soaked cloth. Taps done individually. Toilet under the rim. Floor mopped. Downstairs WC: basin, toilet, floor — straightforward.

Three bedrooms. Master at the front: curved bay window (same extra glass area as the lounge bay), built-in wardrobe wiped inside, radiator vacuumed. The older child's room: a Blu-Tack mark on the wall (removed), a sticker on the windowsill (adhesive remover). The younger child's room: a small pen mark on the door (came off gloss paint with specialist remover). All straightforward.

The garden — 50ft, mostly lawn with a patio near the house and mature hedges along the boundaries. The patio had leaf debris from Hendon Park — lighter than the woodland debris we see at Muswell Hill or Abbey Wood because the park is open grassland with scattered trees rather than dense canopy. Swept. Garden threshold cleared.

Winkworth came the next morning. Their Hendon negotiator walked through with a clipboard. Parquet hallway: finish maintained, no clouding. Kitchen: oven corners checked (clean), serving hatch both sides done, floor colour change noted. Curved bay: glass clean, tracks finger-tested. Fireplace tiles: clean, no residue. Textured ceiling grease mark: photographed and accepted as between-tenancy repaint. Bathroom: screen clear, waterline gone. Kids' marks: all resolved. Passed.

Deposit back in 8 days. No deductions. The family were moving to a larger house on Sunny Hill — staying in NW4, staying at Bell Lane, just needed more space. Classic Hendon lifecycle.

If the ceiling grease or the parquet wear had been disputed, our photos would have covered it. Textured ceilings absorb cooking steam over years — that's the material's limitation, not the tenant's fault. And parquet wears where feet walk — that's fair wear and tear on a 90-year-old floor. Our guide on landlord cleaning charges explains the boundary.