End of Tenancy Cleaning in Poplar

A 2-bed flat on the third floor of a deck-access block on the Lansbury Estate — one of the post-war estates built for the 1951 Festival of Britain as a model of social housing. Accessed via a communal walkway (no lift on this block — stairs and open-air deck access), with views toward the Canary Wharf skyline from the kitchen window. Two bedrooms, a separate lounge, a compact kitchen, and a bathroom. The tenant — a teaching assistant at a nearby primary school — had rented for 3 years at £1,400/month. Managed by Proper Local (E14 specialists covering Poplar, Blackwall, and Isle of Dogs).

We carried all equipment up three flights of stairs and along the deck-access walkway — vacuum, mop bucket, product caddy, extension tools. No lift, no goods entrance. This is standard for the Poplar estate blocks and we factor the access time into every quote.

The kitchen was compact — a separate room about 8ft by 7ft with a wall-mounted boiler in the corner, a freestanding Beko cooker, laminate worktops, and a window overlooking the Canary Wharf towers. The oven was a 3-year single-person oven — moderate condition, not heavy. Door glass removed (inner pane with a light grease film), both cavities sprayed, left 20 minutes. Gas hob — burner caps lifted and cleaned. The extractor was a basic wall-mounted fan — cover removed, fan blades wiped, cover washed and replaced. The boiler area: the wall behind the boiler had collected 3 years of kitchen vapour — wiped as far as accessible without moving the unit. The shelf above the boiler wiped. Cupboards opened and wiped inside. Floor mopped.

The bathroom was the main challenge. The flat had the original 1950s ventilation design — an airbrick in the external wall that had been partially blocked when the windows were replaced with double-glazing. The result: condensation on the window every morning and mould growing on the ceiling corner above the shower, along the silicone around the bath, and on the external wall behind where the bathroom cabinet had been positioned. We photographed every area of mould before touching it — three separate photos documenting the extent. Then anti-mould spray applied to all affected areas: ceiling corner, bath silicone, the wall section. 10-minute dwell on each. The ceiling mould cleaned up well — the spray lifted the visible growth and the surface was clean. The silicone mould was older and deeper — the spray improved it but a grey shadow remained in the worst section (documented as a material limitation — replacing the silicone is a maintenance task, not a cleaning task). The wall behind the cabinet came up clean because the mould was surface-level.

After the mould treatment: phosphoric acid descaler on the bath, taps, and shower head at ~270 ppm. One pass, 10-minute dwell, clear. The toilet was cleaned under the rim. Mirror, tiles, floor mopped.

Two bedrooms. The master (front-facing, toward the DLR viaduct) had concrete panel walls. The tenant had used Command strips to hang a mirror and two picture frames — all removed before we arrived, but three adhesive shadows remained on the concrete. We applied adhesive remover to each mark, cleaned the area, and reassessed. Two of the three shadows faded to barely visible. The third — where the heaviest mirror had been — left a clear rectangular outline on the concrete (the surrounding wall had faded slightly over 3 years, and the area behind the mirror hadn't). Documented. This is a common Poplar outcome: the concrete shows use patterns that plastered walls would absorb.

The window sill in the master bedroom had a layer of fine dark dust — the DLR elevated track runs close to this block and the train-brake particulate settles on the nearest-facing surfaces. Wiped with a damp cloth. The second bedroom (rear-facing, away from the DLR) was cleaner — no particulate issue, no adhesive marks, straightforward.

The lounge had carpet vacuumed, skirting boards wiped, and the window cleaned. A storage heater against the wall: vents vacuumed with the crevice tool, top and sides wiped. The communal walkway outside the front door: we left it as we found it, but wiped the tenant's front door on both sides and cleaned the mat area.

Proper Local inspected the following day. They specialise in E14 estate stock and know the Lansbury blocks well. The mould documentation was the main item — they reviewed our three photos, confirmed the ceiling had been treated, and accepted the silicone shadow as a maintenance issue (not charged to the tenant). The concrete wall adhesive shadows: the two that faded were accepted, the mirror outline was flagged — but because we'd documented the differential fading, the agent accepted it as fair wear rather than damage. The DLR dust on the window sill was noted as addressed. Passed. Deposit returned within 8 days. No deductions.