End of Tenancy Cleaning in Oval

First-floor conversion in a Georgian terrace on Fentiman Road — the kind of street where every house is four storeys, stucco-fronted, with railings at the front and a plane tree on the pavement. Two bedrooms, bathroom, open-plan kitchen-living room with the original proportions still intact. A couple — she worked at the Department of Health in Whitehall, he commuted to Canary Wharf from Oval station — 2 years at £2,400. Dexters managing from their Kennington office.

Meter on Kennington Road. 8-minute walk to the flat. Kit carried up one flight of communal stairs. The hallway had encaustic tiles — black and terracotta geometric pattern, original, well worn at the threshold. Swept and pH-neutral mopped on the way out.

Kitchen-living room. About 17ft by 14ft. Georgian proportions — ceiling maybe 3 metres, two tall sash windows facing the rear garden. The ceiling had original cornicing running the full perimeter and a ceiling rose where a chandelier once hung. Dusted. Not wiped — cornicing holds paint differently from flat plaster.

Kitchen section: refitted along one wall. Integrated oven, Neff. Door off, glass out, sprayed. 15 minutes. One pass — 2 years, a couple who cooked but not intensively. Induction hob: clean, one pass. Extractor recessed into the ceiling: filter pulled, soaked. Composite worktop: wiped. Floor: engineered oak, specialist product.

The fireplace. Original Georgian — carved timber surround, painted white, with a cast-iron insert featuring a decorative arched pattern. Tiled hearth in black and cream. The surround was dusted and wiped with a damp cloth. The insert was dry-wiped — never wet on cast iron. Hearth tiles: pH-neutral, same as the hallway. The fireplace alone took 15 minutes because every surface is a different material with a different product.

Bathroom. Refitted — walk-in shower with frameless glass panel, wall-hung basin, wall-hung toilet. Modern in a Georgian shell. ~265 ppm, 2 years. One pass on everything. Frameless panel: streak-free, both sides. Chrome polished. Floor: stone-effect porcelain, pH-neutral. 15 minutes.

Two bedrooms. Front bedroom: two tall sash windows overlooking Fentiman Road. Original timber shutters folded into the window reveals. Shutters dusted, reveals wiped. Carpet vacuumed. Rear bedroom: smaller, one window to the garden. Both straightforward.

Communal staircase. One flight swept. Handrail wiped. Front door to the building wiped on both sides.

3 hours 30 minutes. Two people. The Georgian features — the cornicing, the fireplace, the sash windows, the encaustic tiles — are where the time and the care go. The surfaces are original, the proportions are generous, and every material needs its own product.

Dexters come the next morning. Their Kennington lettings person handles Fentiman Road, Harleyford Road, and the Oval streets — SE11's premium Georgian stock. Kitchen: Neff opened, composite checked. Fireplace: surround wiped, insert dry, hearth tiles clean. Cornicing: dusted, no marks. Sash windows: per pane, no streaks. Shutters: dusted. Hallway encaustic: clean. Shower panel: streak-free. 10 minutes. Passed.

Deposit back in 7 days. Full return. The couple were buying a 3-bed Victorian house in Herne Hill — more space, a garden, still on the Northern Line.

The Oval's Georgian conversions are some of the most detailed period cleaning in the set. The proportions are bigger, the features are original, and every surface — cornicing, cast iron, carved timber, encaustic tile, engineered oak — needs its own product and its own approach. We clean each one correctly. Our guide on deposit dispute evidence covers Georgian period conversions and feature documentation.