End of Tenancy Cleaning in Mill Hill

1930s semi on Shakespeare Road — Poets Corner, the pocket of Edwardian and 1920s streets between the Broadway and the A1 where the road names came from the English department. Three bedrooms, bathroom, lounge, separate kitchen, and a 65ft garden. Family — two children at Courtland Primary — 3 years at £1,900. Squires Estates managing from their Broadway office.

Van on the driveway. Residential road, no restrictions. Mill Hill Broadway station was a 5-minute walk — the Thameslink to St Pancras in 20 minutes.

Hallway. About 10ft deep. Parquet floor — original herringbone blocks, darker oak than the Neasden stock, well worn at the threshold. Swept and specialist product. Artex ceiling: dusted, photographed. Radiator cover: wiped. Coat hooks behind the front door.

Lounge. Front room, about 14ft by 12ft. Carpet vacuumed. Bay window — 1930s, timber frame, painted white. Cleaned per pane. One pane had condensation marks between the glass and the secondary glazing — noted as sealed unit issue, not a cleaning matter. Artex ceiling: dusted. Fireplace: 1930s tiled surround — mottled brown and cream. Gas fire behind a mesh screen. Tiles: damp cloth. Screen: wiped. 8 minutes.

Separate kitchen. The original 1930s layout — not extended. About 10ft by 8ft. The family cooked properly — school meals, weekend baking, the works. Freestanding cooker, Indesit, gas, double oven. Pull it forward. Wall: moderate grease, one pass. Main oven: two passes. Top oven: one pass. Gas hob: four burners, each lifted. Extractor: wall-mounted, filter soaked. Worktop: laminate, cleaned. Fridge-freezer cleaned. Floor: vinyl, degreased. Back door to garden: step cleaned. Window above the sink: condensation residue on the sill — wiped. Limited ventilation — the classic 1930s problem.

30 minutes on this kitchen. The condensation on the sill is the signature of a separate 1930s kitchen without proper extraction. You see it in Neasden, Kenton, and every 1930s kitchen that hasn't been extended. The steam has nowhere to go.

Upstairs. Bathroom. Bath-shower combo, white suite. ~265 ppm, 3 years, family of four. Waterline: two passes. Taps done. Toilet done. Grouting: intact. Floor: vinyl, mopped. 22 minutes.

Three bedrooms. All carpet. Front: bay window matching downstairs, secondary glazing. Rear: double, one window to the garden. Children's room: glow-in-the-dark sticker residue on the ceiling — removed carefully, Artex undisturbed. Small bedroom: used as a home office, desk marks on the carpet — photographed.

Garden. 65ft. Lawn, patio, shed at the back. Back door step already done. Side passage: swept. Garden furniture marks on the patio — noted as outdoor use.

4 hours. Two people. The parquet hallway, the separate kitchen, and the heavy-water bathroom are the core. The Artex is documented. The condensation sills are cleaned. This is a well-used 1930s semi on a street named after the playwright who wrote about families.

Squires come next morning. Their NW7 person handles the Broadway semis, the Poets Corner stock, and the Ridgeway villages — she's been with the firm for years. Kitchen: Indesit opened, sill condensation cleaned. Parquet: inspected — blocks solid. Artex: documented. Bay: per pane, sealed-unit issue noted. Waterline: gone. Glow stickers: removed, Artex intact. Desk marks: photographed. 8 minutes. Passed.

Deposit back in 7 days. Full return. Family moving to a 4-bed extended semi on Goodwyn Avenue — more space, garden backing Arrandene, still walking to Courtland.

Mill Hill cleans in three registers — the village, the Broadway, the new-build. Shakespeare Road is the Broadway register: solid 1930s stock, family tenancies, separate kitchens with condensation, and Artex ceilings that everyone knows not to touch. Our guide on deposit dispute evidence covers 1930s family homes and Artex documentation.