ᐅ Unsatisfied with the final cleaning after construction – am I being too particular?

Created on: 28 Sep 2020 17:39
K
kati1337
Hello everyone!
We just got back after our cleaning company finished the final construction cleaning.
We had a fixed price booked through MyHammer. Final cleaning including windows – ready for move-in. The company has 7 reviews there, all five stars, so I thought nothing could go wrong.

First, they arrived half an hour late – not a big deal, we were home anyway. Then they came with two people instead of three. One worker had called in sick.
That wasn’t a major issue either since we had a fixed price. Later, it turned out that the young man who was on site with the supervisor was completely new to the company. You could tell by the results. :/

It started in the kitchen. I had already mentioned that our cabinets have matte lacquered fronts and that the kitchen builders specifically told us not to use microfiber cloths for cleaning. I passed this information on and reminded the cleaning company when they arrived. When they got to the living/dining area, the young man immediately used a Swiffer on all the fronts. When I asked if those weren’t microfiber cloths, they said, “Swiffer won’t do any damage.” I hope they were right about that.
At that time, they were already done upstairs. I went upstairs on socks to have a look and wanted to take some pictures of the bathroom. The floor and wall tiles in the bathroom had been wiped but still had numerous stains everywhere. Not small ones, but paint drops, some up to 10cm (4 inches) long streaks of white paint, drops of tile adhesive or grout – I’m not exactly sure what it was, but I definitely didn’t want to see any of that in a finished, cleaned bathroom.
I asked if the upstairs cleaning was finished, and when they said yes, I requested they go over the floor again because there were still many paint stains. The young man went back up, touched it up, apologized, and said, “That really wasn’t thorough enough.”
So far, so good.

When everything was supposed to be finally done, I went upstairs for a quick walk-through with the supervisor – mostly spent in the bathroom – and together we scraped off more paint spots, tile adhesive/grout residue, and God knows what else from the tiles.
But I’m also not happy with what the supervisor delivered. Yes, the windows look noticeably better than before. BUT none of the windows are truly clean. Not in any room. I can still run a scraper over each window to check if the marks are dirt or actual scratches. So far, everything has come off with my fingernail, so it’s just cleaning errors up to now.
Am I being too picky? I mean, this is exactly why I hired a final construction cleaning: so I could judge afterward whether the windows are okay or not.

Other things I’m not happy about:
  • Cleaning/wiping inside all kitchen cabinets was explicitly part of the offer since it was supposed to be ready for move-in. In the kitchen, the young man only went through the drawers with a Swiffer once. I opened two display cabinets, and at the bottom, there was still wood dust from cutting/drilling. The drawers in the island area have water spots/splashes on the front. Those were NOT there before the cleaning company came. You could say the kitchen actually looks worse afterward. :/ During the final inspection, I pointed out that the toe kick (baseboard near the floor) was still covered in sawdust, which should be fixed. But when they left, the dust was still there.
  • The vinyl floors were mopped but also look worse than before cleaning. I don’t know how, but when you come up the stairs now, everything is streaky/smeared somehow.
  • Despite damp mopping, there were still small piles of crumbs/dust/dirt upstairs.
  • Still paint splashes on the stair railing
  • Front door – a black mark on the white door frame, I don’t understand how that was missed
  • In the hallway, my shoes and the supervisor’s shoes were there because we walked upstairs in socks during the inspection – the young man just mopped around them. Seriously?!
  • All strap winders still covered in paint/plaster
  • Many window frames still have plaster/paint on the edges

I could go on like this forever.
Overall, you can say: it’s just not really clean.

Am I expecting too much? Is a final construction cleaning only meant for the big stuff, even when the offer says “ready for move-in”?
I’m attaching some pictures, but they are just examples. This is what it looked like when they had already left, so “finished.”

Beiges, vertikales Textilband an einer Tür-/Fensterleiste vor einer hellen Wand.


Nahaufnahme eines weißen Türrahmens mit Spalt, Blick nach draußen.


Weißes Türscharnier an der Türkante, Nahaufnahme.


Blick auf weiße Wand über braunem Holzboden; beschädigte Sockelleiste mit Spalt.


Weiße Fensterbank oder Tischplatte mit diagonalem Schatten eines Fensters über einer glatten Fläche.


Graue Schranktüren mit horizontaler Glasleiste oben, dunkler Korpus und Spuren von Fingerabdrücken


Weiße Wandsteckdose in Kunststoffrahmen an grauer texturierter Wand, seitlich fotografiert


Heller Holzoptik-Fliesenboden mit grauen Randfliesen im Raum.


Nahaufnahme eines weißen Türrahmens mit braunen Flecken an der Kante neben einer blauen Wand.


Nahaufnahme eines Edelstahl-Türgriffs an einer weißen Tür mit Fenster
C
Crossy
29 Sep 2020 15:16
I'm itching to share my experience with our general contractor. This will be my first review.
Tolentino29 Sep 2020 16:11
Tell me, is it not possible to protect the windows in advance (with this adhesive film)? Is that more expensive than cleaning them afterward?
Pinky030129 Sep 2020 16:13
Our windows are also taped. But after a while, some of it comes off on its own, or the workers have to fix it or something... So, the film helps but is not a guarantee for clean windows.
Tolentino29 Sep 2020 16:19
So double! And then wrap another bag around it.
My windows are not installed by the general contractor, so I need to apply maximum protective measures.
Maybe energize them temporarily?
11ant29 Sep 2020 16:22
Tolentino schrieb:

My windows aren’t being installed by the main contractor, so I need to implement the highest level of protective measures.

Your father-in-law’s employer gives me the impression that this isn’t their first time installing windows in a new build.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
Tolentino29 Sep 2020 16:29
@11ant
Haha, the former employer only manufactures the windows for me. I am installing them myself together with my father-in-law and a helper.
After that, there are other trades involved from the general contractor who might know that the homeowner did the installation, so I don’t have to be overly cautious. I am already thinking about how to protect that...
Proving damage caused by other contractors will be difficult unless I have continuous video surveillance...