End of Tenancy Cleaning in Osterley

A 1930s semi on Thornbury Road — a residential street between Osterley station and Osterley Park, lined with bay-windowed semis on both sides. Three bedrooms, a front reception room, a rear dining room knocked through to the kitchen, one family bathroom, a downstairs WC, and a back garden that backed onto the neighbouring gardens in a long row of fences and sheds. The tenants — a young family, two adults and a toddler — had been there 2 years on a fixed-term AST at £1,850/month. Managed by Bairstow Eves Hounslow. The agent checkout was booked for two days later.

Parked on the street directly outside — Thornbury Road has no restrictions. Carried the kit through the front gate, past the wheelie bins, through the tiled porch.

Kitchen-diner first. The rear dining room had been opened up to the kitchen at some point in the 1990s — a knocked-through arch creating one L-shaped space. A freestanding gas cooker — Hotpoint, dual fuel, single oven with a separate grill, 4-burner gas hob. Two years of daily family cooking: breakfast, lunch at weekends, dinner every night, a toddler's food prepared alongside the adult meals. The oven wasn't the worst we'd seen — the tenants had clearly wiped it periodically — but 2 years of roasting and baking leaves a residue that periodic wiping doesn't reach. Door off, glass out (two panes), cavity sprayed. The roof of the cavity and the area behind the back panel: moderate carbonised grease. Single dwell, 20 minutes. One pass cleared most of it. A targeted second spray on the back panel area, 10 more minutes. Done. Grill cavity: sprayed, dwelled, one pass. Hob: 4 burner caps and supports into the soak tray, enamel surface cleaned. Two splatter marks near the back-left burner — baked-on, probably from a sauce that boiled over months ago and never got addressed. Non-scratch scourer, persistent circular pressure. They came off on the third pass.

The rest of the kitchen: laminate worktops wiped. The splashback — plain white ceramic tiles — degreased. In this kitchen the hob was under a canopy-style extractor hood, which provided better ventilation than the Nunhead-style wall fans, but the hood itself and the filter hadn't been cleaned during the tenancy. Filter removed and soaked (dark amber grease — 2 years of absorption). Hood housing degreased — the grease had crept around the edges onto the underside of the cabinet above. We cleaned the hood, the filter, and the adjacent cabinet surface. Sink — stainless steel, twin bowl — descaled. Taps descaled. Cupboard fronts wiped (white gloss laminate, toddler fingermarks at waist height on every one). Inside all cupboards and drawers. Under-sink area cleaned. Fridge-freezer — freestanding — shelves, drawers, gaskets. The freezer had a moderate ice build-up: door open, towel, 12 minutes. Floor — vinyl tiles — mopped, including the section behind the cooker (pulled out — dust, a wooden spoon, a magnetic letter from the fridge). The back door to the garden: the threshold was thick with dried mud from the garden. The toddler had clearly been in and out all summer. Vacuumed, wiped, the door track cleaned. Kitchen total: 50 minutes.

Front reception room. Carpeted — a neutral beige that showed the traffic path from the door to the TV area. Vacuumed thoroughly: full floor, edges along the skirting, under the radiator (a full-size radiator under the bay window — dust compacted between the fins), behind where the sofa and bookcase had stood. The bay window: three casement windows (these had been replaced — not original sash, UPVC double-glazed). Much quicker than a multi-pane sash: three panes, three frames, three sills. Cleaned in 8 minutes. Curtain pole dusted. Skirting boards wiped around the room. The fireplace: a 1930s tiled surround with a gas fire insert that was disconnected (capped off, decorative only). Tiles wiped, hearth vacuumed, the gas fire front dusted. Light switches, door handles. 20 minutes.

Dining area (the rear section of the knocked-through L-shape, between the kitchen and the back door). Same carpet as the living room, same vacuuming process. A set of patio doors to the garden — glass cleaned both sides from the interior, handle wiped, the bottom track vacuumed. The carpet edge along the patio doors had a darker strip where rain had occasionally blown in — we vacuumed and spot-cleaned it. The mark lightened but didn't disappear entirely — documented as wear. 12 minutes.

Downstairs WC under the stairs. Basin, toilet, floor. The basin tap had moderate limescale — TW7 water is moderately hard, similar to neighbouring Heston. Descaler, 5-minute dwell. Toilet cleaned inside, under the rim, around the base. Floor — vinyl — mopped. Mirror wiped. 10 minutes.

Family bathroom. Upstairs, a white suite: acrylic bath with a shower over it and a folding glass screen (two panels). The bath waterline: a visible ring, descaler along the full length, 10-minute dwell. The shower screen — limescale on both panels, concentrated at the bottom where the water sits. Descaler applied, 10-minute dwell, wiped in vertical strips, squeegeed. The shower head: a handheld unit on a rail, moderate limescale around the face plate — descaler, 5 minutes. Basin: pedestal, descaled around the taps. Toilet: cleaned. Tiles: half-height, wiped. Grout: mostly clean, a few dark spots in the shower corner treated with anti-mould spray. The sealant along the bath edge: intact, cleaned. Floor — ceramic tiles — mopped. Extractor fan cover: removed and wiped. Heated towel rail: each bar. 30 minutes.

Three bedrooms. The master: carpeted, fitted wardrobes (two double doors — tracks vacuumed, interior wiped, every shelf, every drawer). Window cleaned (UPVC double-glazed, two panes). Radiator wiped. Skirting done. 18 minutes. Second bedroom: carpeted, a single wardrobe, smaller window. 14 minutes. Third bedroom — the toddler's room. This one needed extra attention. The carpet had ground-in crumbs and small stains (juice, yoghurt, the archaeology of early childhood). We vacuumed thoroughly and spot-treated the visible stains — they lightened but some were set. We'd recommended carpet cleaning at booking; the tenant had declined. Documented the stain condition for the checkout. The windowsill had sticker residue — removed with a plastic scraper and general-purpose cleaner. The skirting board had crayon marks at ankle height — most came off with a damp cloth and gentle pressure. One mark on the painted wall didn't shift — documented. The radiator had something sticky on the top surface (unidentified, possibly jam) — cleaned off. 20 minutes.

Stairs and landing. Carpet vacuumed — treads, risers, the landing. Bannister wiped. The airing cupboard: shelves wiped, hot-water cylinder dusted. 10 minutes.

Hallway. Vinyl floor mopped. Front door wiped inside. Radiator wiped. Coat hooks wiped. The porch: tiled floor mopped, the front-door mat lifted and the area beneath cleaned. 8 minutes.

Total time: 4.5 hours. A standard Osterley 3-bed — not complicated, not premium, just thorough. The toddler's room added time, the garden threshold added time, the extractor filter added time. These are the small extras that separate a professional end of tenancy clean from a tenant doing their best with a bottle of Flash and a Saturday afternoon.

Bairstow Eves sent their negotiator two days later. She went room by room — clipboard, pen, a sheet of A4 with room headings and tick boxes. Kitchen: opened the oven (phone torch), checked the hob (ran a finger across the enamel where the splatter marks had been — smooth), opened the fridge, looked under the sink, checked the extractor filter (clean — she held it up to the window light). Living room: checked the carpet (noted the traffic path but didn't flag it), looked at the fireplace surround. Toddler's room: she looked at the carpet stains and the wall mark. The stains: she noted them as 'light residual marks — cleaning done, consider professional carpet clean' but didn't flag them as a deduction. The wall crayon mark: noted, minor, accepted as wear given a toddler had been in the room for 2 years. Bathroom: checked the shower screen (clean), the bath (no ring), the grout.

She spent about 20 minutes. The clipboard got ticked top to bottom. No flags. She confirmed by email that afternoon.

Deposit returned via the DPS within 8 days. No deductions. The family had already moved to a 4-bed a few streets over — staying in the Osterley catchment for the school, just needing another bedroom now the toddler was becoming a child who wanted his own space. They'd hired us because they didn't have a spare weekend to clean a 3-bed house with a 2-year-old running around it. Reasonable decision. That's why most people call us — not because they can't clean, but because they don't have the time, the products, or the inclination to do it to a checkout standard while managing everything else that moving involves.