End of Tenancy Cleaning in Hoxton

We had a first-floor loft in a converted textile warehouse just off Hoxton Square — the kind of building where the original loading doors still work and the freight lift takes you up to a corridor of reclaimed timber and exposed steelwork. Two bedrooms behind partition walls, a walk-in shower room, and a 30ft open-plan living space with the kitchen at one end and floor-to-ceiling Crittall windows at the other. A couple — one in tech, one in design — had been there 2 years at £2,800/month. Fyfe McDade managing.

Meter parking on a side street. £4/hour, 4 hours. We transferred the kit via the loading bay — the freight lift saved three flights of stairs with the vacuum and mop system.

The open-plan space was the job. 30ft of exposed brick on two walls, polished concrete floor throughout, the original steel columns left in place and painted matte black. The Crittall windows ran the full width of one wall — eight panels, steel frames. My colleague started on the brick: dry-brush, working from top to bottom, section by section. Two years of N1 dust — fine, consistent, the kind that settles on porous surfaces and doesn't shift with a casual wipe. One mark near the kitchen end where something had splashed — looked like red wine. Spot-cleaned with a barely-damp cloth. The stain lightened but a shadow remained in the brick pore. Photographed it. Brick absorbs. That's the material.

The kitchen occupied the far end of the open plan — no wall, no door, just a change from brick to a tiled splashback. A Smeg range cooker — gas, double oven. Both cavities sprayed, 20-minute dwell. The range needed two passes on the lower oven. Induction hob section wiped with glass-specific product. Island unit with a concrete worktop — cleaned with a pH-neutral, concrete-safe product. Extractor: a large ceiling-mounted unit, filter panel out and soaked. The open-plan layout meant cooking grease had migrated beyond the kitchen zone — we checked the nearest brick section and the first steel column. Light grease film on the column. Wiped.

The polished concrete floor: protective sheeting laid around the bathroom door before any descaling. Then the whole floor mopped with a concrete-safe product. The seal was polyurethane — a single coat that gives the surface its sheen. We worked in sections, barely-damp, and dried each section before moving on. Polished concrete shows every footprint if you leave moisture sitting.

Crittall windows — eight panels. Soft cloth on the steel frames (never abrasive — it scratches the powder coat). Glass cleaned. The frames had a thin layer of fine dust in the corners of each panel — a cotton bud for the tight angles. 35 minutes on windows.

Walk-in shower room. A rainfall head, a glass enclosure with two large panels. Limescale at ~275 ppm, 2 years. Descaler on both panels, 10-minute dwell per panel. Floor: concrete (protected during descaling — drip sheet underneath the panels). Taps done. Basin done. Toilet done.

Two bedrooms behind partition walls — partial-height, the loft ceiling visible above. Wardrobes wiped inside. Windows cleaned. Floors: same polished concrete, same product.

Fyfe McDade came the next morning. They specialise in warehouse conversions and their checkout reflects it. Brick: they ran a finger along two sections — no dust transferred. The wine stain: noted, photographed, accepted. Concrete floor: walked in socks. Crittall frames: finger-tested at three points. Smeg range: torched. Shower panels: phone-torch angle-tested. Column grease: clean. Passed.

Deposit back in 6 days. Full return. The couple were moving to a 3-bed in De Beauvoir — upgrading within the canal-side N1 circuit.

The brick and the concrete were the details. These surfaces don't forgive incorrect cleaning — acid etches concrete, scrubbing damages mortar, moisture stains brick. We carry the right products for each because getting it wrong costs more than the deposit. Our guide on deposit dispute evidence explains how we document industrial surfaces.