End of Tenancy Cleaning in New Malden

Turned up at a mid-terrace on one of the tree-lined streets near Burlington Road — about 5 minutes from New Malden High Street, 8 from the station, and right in the Burlington Infant catchment zone. Classic Edwardian bay-front, three beds upstairs, bathroom, through-lounge on the ground floor, separate kitchen at the back, door out to a 40ft garden. The family had been there 3 years — two kids at Burlington Juniors, one dog (a Cockapoo called Biscuit, if the hook in the hallway was anything to go by). Managed by Robert Holmes on Coombe Lane.

Parked right outside. Free street. KT3 is good like that.

Hallway first. Edwardian tiled path — diamond pattern, cream and burgundy. Swept, then pH-neutral mop. A couple of scuff marks near the front door from the buggy coming in and out — they came up fine with a damp cloth. No damage to the glaze. The coat hooks had dust on top and a dog-lead mark on the wall beneath — the mark was a light scuff, not a stain, and it wiped off with a damp cloth.

Kitchen. Separate rear room, decent size for an Edwardian — about 11ft by 9ft. A Zanussi freestanding cooker, gas. Pulled it out. The wall behind had the usual: grease mixed with dust, hardened at the skirting. Three years of a family cooking dinner every night. Plastic scraper on the worst of the skirting, then alkaline degreaser. Both cavities sprayed, 20-minute dwell. The lower oven was moderate — family of four, cooking most nights. One pass cleared it. Door glass soaked between panes. Gas hob — five burners, each cap off. The pan supports were cast iron, so they went into a soak bag. Extractor: wall-mounted, filter off — it was properly clogged. Soaked it in degreaser while we did the rest of the kitchen. Cupboards wiped. Fridge cleaned — the gasket channel had the start of mould, so we folded back the rubber and cleaned inside it. Floor: vinyl, 3 years. We degreased it rather than just mopping — the alkaline lifted a film of kitchen grease and the floor went from a dull grey back to its original light blue.

The garden door was the Beverley Park connection. The garden backed toward the park boundary and the threshold had 3 years of: leaf litter (mainly from a large sycamore in the garden), soil tracked in by the kids, and the fine organic matter that drifts from the park's mature trees. We vacuumed the door track with the crevice tool, then wiped until a finger-test came back clean. The patio got a sweep.

Through-lounge. Bay window at the front — two sash panels. Tracks vacuumed. There was a dead fly in one track, which happens everywhere and isn't remarkable, but I mention it because it's the kind of thing Robert Holmes will notice. Glass cleaned both sides. A tiled fireplace in the front section — dark red Edwardian tiles with a cast-iron insert. pH-neutral on each tile, barely-damp cloth on the iron. A second sealed fireplace in the rear section — painted surround, wiped. Picture rail dusted. The timber floorboards were sealed — mopped with specialist wood product. A carpet in the rear section where the dining table had been: vacuumed, including the impressions where the table legs had sat for 3 years.

Upstairs. Bathroom — bath-shower combo with a glass screen. Limescale at ~255 ppm. Descaler sprayed on the screen, 10-minute dwell, one pass cleared it. The bath waterline was moderate — 3 years of two kids' baths. Descaler-soaked cloth along the tide mark, left to dwell. Came up on the first pass. Taps done individually. Toilet under the rim — torch check, descaler, brush. The floor had a patch of grout discolouration near the bath — moisture-related, not dirt. We cleaned it as far as it would go and photographed the rest. The extractor grille was dusty — removed, washed, dried, replaced.

Three bedrooms. Master at the front: bay window cleaned, wardrobe wiped inside, radiator vacuumed between the fins. The older child's room: a poster adhesive mark on the wall (removed cleanly) and a scuff on the skirting (wiped off). The younger child's room: sticker residue on the wardrobe door (adhesive remover, came off clean) and a tiny crayon mark on the doorframe (specialist remover on gloss paint — came off).

The dog. There wasn't a dog there anymore, obviously, but the hallway had the faint smell of dog near the front door. We used enzymatic neutraliser on the floorboards around the coat-hook area and the front doormat zone. It neutralised the odour on the hard surfaces. If there'd been carpet, it might have been a different story — embedded pet odour in carpet fibres is a furnishing issue, not a cleaning one.

Robert Holmes came round the next afternoon. A senior negotiator who'd managed the property for the full 3 years. He walked through with a clipboard. Hallway tiles: clean, scuffs resolved. Kitchen: oven (he opened both doors, checked the corners), wall behind (clean, skirting done), floor colour change (he noticed — said 'always happens'). Bathroom: screen clear, waterline gone, grout patch photographed and accepted as moisture-related. Kids' marks: all resolved. Bay tracks: finger-tested. Dog smell: gone from the hard surfaces. Passed.

Deposit back in 9 days. No deductions. The family were moving to a bigger place further down Burlington Road — still in catchment, just needed more space. They'd been dreading the checkout because of the kids and the dog. Turned out neither was a problem.

That's New Malden. Family houses, practical agents, school catchments that keep people in place for years. No luxury finishes, no digital checkout, no riverside glass. Just a proper clean on a proper house so the deposit comes back. If the agent had tried to charge for the grout patch or the dog smell on the hard surfaces, our documentation would have covered it — see our guide on landlord cleaning charges for what's reasonable.