When faced with the prospect of having to clean up your apartment for the purpose of an inspection, you most likely would feel indignant, even uneasy, because you think nobody should have a right to look into an apartment you pay for without consent. Your thoughts are valid, even legally protected, but rental inspections are much more than that.
The primary purpose of this exercise is to ensure that the house is in tiptop condition, both for your sake and the landlords. Thus, the best thing to do is keep the place squeaky clean for the exercise. Doing this shows your landlord that you are a responsible person, and it indirectly ensures that you do not get inspected as frequently as you would if you offered a dirty, run-down apartment.
Bringing the house to a condition passable enough for an inspection requires skill, hard work, and knowledge. Skills are needed for the execution, hard work to ensure the project is completed, and knowledge is necessary to be in the loop about the places that need to be cleaned and how they need to be cleaned. We have helped compile a list that takes care of a part of these requirements. You can now easily unclutter your apartment by following this simple checklist.
Your Living Room
Walls and floors
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These are the most visible part of any room, and that is why they should be a top priority in the cleaning process. They are also most likely to keep your landlord's interest because they are prone to damage and are expensive to fix or maintain.
To ensure the walls are clean, you would want to get rid of any random marks, and you would have to do this gently, aiming to keep the integrity of the paintwork or wallpaper.
As for the floors, it is important to sweep the whole area and mop with appropriate chemicals to get rid of dust and other similar materials.
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In a typical tenancy agreement, phenomena like wear and tear would have been factored in. Because of this, it is within reasonable bounds to have a few minor cracks and creaks in the walls and floorboards, so your criticism about such would be unwarranted.
To ensure that you are not blamed for these, you should reference the pictures from your initial condition report (which most people are asked to fill out when they've just moved in). From there, you can pinpoint that the cracks and creaks had started before you moved in, and your landlord would be obligated to help you fix them.
Lights
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You are obligated to ensure that all bulbs, lamps, and holders function correctly.
Clean all surfaces
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The good idea is to clean all surfaces and corners. These include tables and other furniture, cabinets, shelves, windows, frames and sills, etc. These places are liable to dust accumulation and, sometimes, rust.
Inspect your air conditioning
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Your ac unit circulates cool air into the house to control temperature and humidity. Due to this circulation, dust and dirt accumulate on the filter and, if not cleaned out, might damage it. You would need to clean out the filter, especially if you didn't install the unit.
Your Kitchen
Walls and floors
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These should be a top priority in every room. The walls and floors behind appliances like the stove and oven should be given particular focus. Dust accumulates on the floor, and material from the device typically stains the walls over time.
Exhaust hood
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It is advisable that when you've cleaned the microwave, you should make sure the exhaust hood is free from oil stains. The filter should also be cleaned out.
Tiles and surfaces
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You would need to make the tiles sparkling neat. Wash with bleach if they are white to make them spotless. Other surfaces in the kitchen should be cleaned too.
Kitchen cabinets, cupboards, and drawers
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After emptying these, they should be dusted and cleaned out (you can choose to clean your cutlery yourself while doing this).
Bins
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Kitchen bins are usually the dirtiest due to all the decomposed food being thrown in. After emptying the bins, you should freshen the room by airing it out.
Your Bathroom
A disinfectant should always be used during these processes.
Your walls and floors
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This takes on a different method because these are tiled most of the time. You should eliminate any unsavoury material while keeping them super neat.
Cabinets
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It would be best if you emptied the cabinets before you cleaned them with a disinfectant. This helps get rid of the germs and mould that might have grown from leaky toiletries.
Toilet
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Without a doubt, this should be cleaned every week even when an inspection isn't impending. Again, it would help if you always disinfected after a thorough scrubbing. After this, bleach should be added to the bowl to make it white and sparkling.
Shower
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The shower glass should be set on with a glass spray. The shower tap, head, and drain should also be cleaned.
Mirror
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Edges should be cleaned, and the face should be cleaned with a glass spray.
Sink
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This takes techniques that are more or less similar to the cleaning of the toilet bowl. You should clean any residue from the drain and disinfect it afterwards.
Bedroom
Walls and floors
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These should be cleaned without upsetting the paint.
Surfaces
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Cabinets, desks, and bedside lamps; should be cleaned of dust and other material.
Furniture, windows, and doors
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You should ensure all are in good working condition.
Lights
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Make sure all lamps and holders are working.
Outside
Garden and lawn
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You should mow the lawn and keep it smooth. If you have a garden, you should clean and declutter, trim your bushes and sweep fallen leaves.
Balcony
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The railings should be kept neat. The balcony floor should be mopped too.
Corridors
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A clean corridor is a bonus in your favour, even though it is shared.
Bins
- Outside garbage cans should be emptied. The bin area should also be cleared to avoid the unpleasant sight caused by litter.