An empty apartment hides nothing. Once the furniture is out, every scuff, crumb, and greasy cabinet shelf is visible, and property managers walk through with a checklist that hasn't changed much in decades. Knowing what's on it is the difference between a full deposit and a cleaning fee.
The kitchen comes first and gets the most scrutiny. Inside the oven, inside the refrigerator (including drawers and door shelves), inside the microwave, the range hood filter, and inside every cabinet and drawer. Then counters, the sink, the backsplash, and the floor under where the fridge stood.
Bathrooms are next: tub and shower tile, grout, glass doors, the toilet inside and out, the exhaust fan cover, the mirror, the medicine cabinet, and the floor behind the toilet. Soap scum and mineral buildup are the usual reasons a bathroom gets flagged.
Then the details everywhere else: baseboards, door frames, switch plates, window sills and tracks, closet shelves and rods, light fixtures, and vents. Floors get vacuumed and mopped last, including edges and corners, once everything else is done.
Our move-out cleaning covers this whole list, and we schedule around lease end dates and closings across Denver, Aurora, Lakewood, and the rest of the metro. Book a week ahead if you can, especially at month end when everyone moves at once.