This is not demolition. We do not knock out walls, pull cabinets, haul a dumpster for a general contractor, or “get rid of the kitchen” because a plan changed. Debris that is sweepable, dust that has settled, and the film trades leave on a finished surface are the job. Nails in a pile, screws in a track, and offcuts on a floor can be gathered when they are loose. Structural leftovers, live electrical rough-in, and open walls are a reason to wait, not a reason to improvise. If the building is already in daily use and the dust is ordinary foot traffic, you may want commercial cleaning or house cleaning instead of a construction scope.
Rough clean, then final
A rough clean is the first pass once the heavy debris is gone and the site is safe to walk. It removes the bulk of dust, sweeps and vacuums the floors, and takes construction waste that is loose and already in bags or piles the contractor has released. It is allowed to be incomplete. Edges, inside cabinets, and glass can wait if more sanding is scheduled tomorrow. Booking a final clean before the last coat of paint, the last flooring install, or the last day of drywall sanding wastes the detail work. Post construction cleaning services keep the two visits on separate lines of the scope, with a note about what must be finished before the final crew arrives.
A final clean is the handover pass. Dust is wiped from sills, casings, and the tops of doors. Floors are vacuumed and washed for the material that was installed. Glass is cleaned, including the stickers and tape a manufacturer left on panes, appliances, and fixtures, when those labels release with ordinary effort. Paint overspray and silicone smears are addressed where they sit on a surface we are allowed to touch. Some marks are in the finish itself. A gouge in a new floor, a chip in a stone edge, or a poorly cut tile is a punch-list item for the trade that installed it. We record what we see. We do not repair it and call the repair a clean.
Dust, stickers, and glass
Construction dust travels. It sits in window tracks, inside cabinet boxes, on the top of a new range, and in the texture of a vent cover you can wipe from the outside. The final clean includes those reachable films. It does not include duct cleaning, inside-the-wall cavities, or a blower door test. Stickers on glass, on stainless steel, and on plumbing fixtures are removed when they peel without tearing the finish. A label that has baked on in a sunny window may leave adhesive. We work at that adhesive with a method that fits the surface. If the film is fused, the scope notes the remainder instead of scraping a new pane into a scratch. Interior glass is standard on a final clean. Exterior glass above a safe reach is a window cleaning limit, named before anyone leans out of a rough opening.
Floors need the same honesty. A protected hardwood floor and a floor that took foot traffic during the build will not respond the same way. We follow the manufacturer’s care note if you have it, and we match the method to vinyl, tile, sealed concrete, or wood. Grout haze on new tile can be cleaned when it is surface residue. Haze that was locked in by the installer may not fully leave. See floor cleaning if the floor, rather than the whole room, is the project. We do not sand, coat, or grind as part of post construction cleaning services. Blue tape, plastic, and paper that the painter has released can come down. Masking that is still holding a line for a later coat stays until the painter says it is done.
Site rules before we arrive
Send the phase, the date the last trade expects to be out, and who will meet the crew or which lockbox works. If the space has no power, no water, or no safe stair, say so. A final clean without water is a different plan, and sometimes it should wait. Protective floor paper can stay down until the end or come up for the wash. Tell us which. We do not throw away a contractor’s tools, samples, or labeled attic stock. Personal property and trade property stay where they are unless the superintendent has put them in a released pile. Appliances are wiped. They are not installed, leveled, or hooked up.
Final clean list
This list is the usual final clean after trades are actually done. A rough clean uses the debris and bulk-dust lines and leaves the detail for the later visit. Strike anything that is still mid-install. Add rooms the plan includes, such as a garage or a commercial restroom, only when they are built enough to clean.
- Bulk construction dust removed from floors, sills, and reachable horizontal surfaces.
- Stickers and tape removed from glass, fixtures, and appliances when they release without damaging the finish.
- Interior glass, mirrors, and tracks cleaned from a safe standing position.
- Cabinets and drawers wiped inside when they are installed and empty.
- Bath fixtures, counters, and floors washed once they are complete and water is available.
- Floors vacuumed and washed for the installed material, with protection removed only if you approve it.
- Light switches, outlet covers, and door hardware wiped when they are finished pieces, not temporary plates.
- Loose nails, screws, and offcuts gathered from released areas and left in the contractor’s debris point.
- A written note of damage that cleaning should not be asked to hide.
Questions
A rough clean takes the bulk: loose debris the contractor has released, heavy dust, and a sweep or vacuum so the next trade can see the floor. It is expected to be followed by more work in the space. A final clean is the detail pass after sanding, painting, and fixture install are done. Stickers, glass, cabinet interiors, and a floor wash live on that second visit. Post construction cleaning services keep the two on separate lines so you are not paying detail rates while dust is still being made. If you only need one visit, say which phase you are in and accept the limit. Calling a rough clean “final” because a closing date moved is how a walkthrough finds grit in the tracks the next morning.
Stickers and tape that release are part of a final clean, on glass, appliances, and fixtures. Adhesive that remains is worked with a method that fits the surface. If a label has baked on, or if scraping would haze a coating, we stop and note it. Paint overspray on glass and on non-painted finishes is addressed when it is a film, not when the paint is the finish itself. We do not strip a wall, sand a floor, or use harsh solvents on a surface the manufacturer warns against. Silicone on glass from a glazing crew is often slow. The scope can include a careful pass and still leave a faint edge. Tell us about brand-new anti-reflective coatings or specialty films before anyone applies a cleaner to them.
No. Demolition, dumpster hauling for the general contractor, and trade repairs are outside this service. We can bag loose dust and gather released offcuts into the debris point the site already uses. We do not knock out tile, pull trim, or recaulk a tub and describe it as cleaning. Chips, gaps, and misaligned doors go on a note for the contractor. Post construction cleaning services are a clean, not a second construction crew. If the site still has open walls, live temporary power that is unsafe, or an unguarded stair, we wait. Tools and attic stock stay unless a superintendent has released a pile in writing. “Throw out anything that looks leftover” is not a clear enough instruction when samples and spare tile are often supposed to remain.
