Move-out cleaning: a maid service or a cleaner that also does carpets?
Most move-out cleans are booked with a maid service, and for plenty of units that is the right call. The question is what happens to the carpet, and whether that means a second company on the same tight day.
Hire a maid service if the unit is mostly hard floors and the job is wiping, scrubbing and vacuuming. Hire a cleaner that also does hot water extraction if the carpet is stained, the tenancy was long, or there are pets, because then you need two kinds of work in one day, and one booking is simpler than two.
How do the two options compare?
Both can do a thorough move-out clean of the kitchen, bathrooms and hard surfaces. The difference is equipment. A maid service brings vacuums, cloths and products. A carpet cleaner brings an extraction machine as well, which sprays hot water and solution into the pile and pulls it back out.
| Maid service | A cleaner that also does carpets | |
|---|---|---|
| Kitchen, bathroom, cupboards, baseboards | Yes, and it is their core work | Yes |
| Carpets vacuumed | Yes | Yes |
| Hot water extraction of carpet | Varies. Often quoted separately or referred out | In the same visit |
| Stains, pet accidents, traffic lanes | Surface spot work at best | Pre-treatment and extraction |
| Number of bookings | Two, if carpets need extraction | One |
| Pricing | Some publish flat prices by bedroom count | Clean and carpet each priced, then confirmed before work |
| Best for | Hard floor units, short tenancies, a top-up after you have done most of it | Carpeted units, long tenancies, pets, a handover with no slack in the day |
Read the maid service column literally. Some do arrange carpet work and some do it well. The point is to ask before the day, not to assume.
What does a maid service usually do with the carpet?
It vacuums it. Extraction is a separate service, and how a maid service handles it varies. One Toronto example: No More Chores, a residential cleaning company, says on its carpet cleaning page that carpet vacuuming is included in its regular cleans, that steam cleaning or heavy soil extraction is a custom scope by phone, and that large area rugs that need to be cleaned off-site are best sent to a specialist. That is a reasonable, clearly stated policy. It also means a tenant with a stained bedroom carpet is arranging something separate.
Where maid services are strong is speed and clarity. Where one publishes a flat price by the number of bedrooms, it is easy to understand, and kitchens and bathrooms, which decide most move-out cleans, are exactly what they do every day.
When does one booking make more sense than two?
When the carpet needs more than a vacuum, and the day is already tight. Two companies means two arrival windows, two sets of access arrangements for a condo elevator or a lockbox, and an order that matters: the carpet should be done last, after everyone else has finished walking across it. If the first crew runs late, the carpet slot slides towards the moment the keys are due back.
Signs the carpet needs extraction, not just a vacuum:
- Visible marks that a damp cloth will not lift: coffee, wine, grease.
- Grey traffic lanes down hallways and in front of the sofa.
- Pets in the unit, especially any urine accident, which soaks into the backing and underlay. Getting pet urine smell out of carpet explains why a vacuum does not touch it.
- A long tenancy where the carpet has never been properly cleaned.
- A smell that comes back when the room warms up.
If none of those apply, vacuuming is usually enough, and a maid service will do a good job for you.
What does Ontario actually require of a tenant?
Less than many leases suggest. The Landlord and Tenant Board's standard is ordinary cleanliness, not a professional clean, and there is no damage deposit in Ontario. The sources and the detail are in do you have to clean when you move out in Ontario, and this post will not repeat them. The practical point here is that nobody is obliged to hire anyone. If you do hire, hire for the problem the unit actually has.
What does AllCleaner charge for both in one visit?
AllCleaner does the move-out clean and the carpet extraction on the same visit, with the carpet last. The published rates are on the pricing page:
| Work | Published rate |
|---|---|
| Move-out clean, studio or one bedroom, Toronto | From $245 |
| Move-out clean, hourly | $35 to $95 |
| Move-out clean, flat, 2,000 sq ft home | $200 to $500 |
| Carpet, per small to medium room | $40 to $60 |
| Carpet, larger areas | $0.25 to $0.50 per sq ft |
Both are confirmed before work starts, and the cleaners are insured and background-checked. What the clean itself covers, room by room, is in what a move-out clean actually covers.
For a unit with hard floors, a good maid service is a fine choice and may be the simpler one. For a unit with carpet that needs more than a vacuum, see move-in and move-out cleaning and carpet cleaning, or call 647-697-7435 with the size of the place, the carpeted rooms and the date the keys go back.
Short answers.
- Do maid services do carpet cleaning on a move-out?
- Most vacuum carpets as part of the clean. Hot water extraction is a different job with different equipment, and many maid services either quote it separately or do not offer it. Ask the company directly whether extraction is included, quoted on top, or referred to someone else, before you book the day.
- Should the carpet be cleaned before or after the move-out clean?
- After, or as the last task of the same visit. Cleaning the kitchen and bathroom means walking back and forth across the floors, and dust from high surfaces lands on the carpet. Extracting the carpet last means nobody walks on it wet and nothing lands on it once it is done.
- How long does carpet need to dry before I hand back the keys?
- It depends on the carpet, the airflow and the weather, so plan for a gap rather than a fixed number of hours. Book the carpet early in the day, open windows, run fans or the ventilation, and keep people off it. A walkthrough on wet carpet is still possible, but it is better not to schedule one on top of it.
