Deposit-back standard
Move-out and move-in cleaning in Merced County
This clean has one job: get you through the walkthrough with your deposit intact. Everything in a deep clean, plus inside every cabinet and drawer, closets and shelving, the microwave, light fixture glass taken down and washed, and the garage swept. Inside the oven, inside the fridge and interior window cleaning are priced add-ons — add the ones your landlord actually checks. 6 to 8 hrs for a 3 bed / 2 bath, flat rate, empty home.
Why it's worth paying for
A cleaning fee is cheaper than a withheld deposit
A lot of Merced County rents, so turnovers happen here constantly, and every one ends with someone walking a unit with a clipboard. A landlord who finds a greasy oven and dusty window tracks doesn't deduct the cost of cleaning it; they deduct the cost of hiring someone at short notice, which is always more.
We price a move-out at a flat rate by home size, and the full checklist is published on this page, so if a property manager questions anything you can point them straight at it. Where we can, we photograph the finished kitchen, bathrooms and oven interior; that's often the fastest way to end a disagreement about what condition the unit was left in.
The same clean works in reverse. A move-in clean on a unit you're about to occupy is the same list at the same price, and it's the only realistic way to feel good about the cabinets you're about to put your dishes in.
The added list
Everything in a deep clean, plus the empty-home items
The full deep clean happens first: baseboards detailed, door frames, fans and fixtures, window sills and tracks dusted, cabinet exteriors degreased, hard-water treatment. Because the home is empty, we can then reach the things a deep clean can't. Inside the oven, inside the fridge and interior window cleaning are priced separately on this clean, same as on a deep clean.
Kitchen
- Inside all cabinets and drawers
- Behind and under the fridge
- Under and behind the range
- Inside and under the sink cabinet
- Pantry shelving washed
- Microwave inside and out
- Floor edges and corners by hand
Bathrooms and closets
- Inside vanity cabinets and drawers
- Medicine cabinet and shelving
- Closet shelves, rods and floors
- Linen closet shelving
- Hard-water film off shower glass
- Rust, limescale and hard-water deposits removed where possible
- Toilet ring, base and bolts
- Exhaust fan covers dusted
Whole unit
- Window sills and tracks dusted
- Ceiling fans wiped
- Light fixture glass removed and washed
- Every baseboard, detailed
- Door frames, jambs and door tops
- Switch plates and outlet covers
- Garage swept out
- Blinds dusted where safe to handle
- Cobwebs removed where reachable
What we don't do on a move-out
Exterior windows · patching or painting walls beyond spot-cleaning · hauling away furniture or trash left behind · hoarding conditions · appliance repair. If the unit still has belongings in it we can't do a move-out clean — see the empty-home requirement below.
Flat rates
Move-out and move-in prices
One number for the whole list. Same price whether you're leaving or arriving, since it's the same work.
Table scrolls sideways on a phone.
| Bedrooms | 1 bath | 2 baths | 3 baths | 4 baths | 5 baths | 6 baths |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 bed | $260 | $290 | $340 | $390 | $440 | $490 |
| 2 beds | $300 | $330 | $380 | $430 | $480 | $530 |
| 3 beds Most common | $345 | $375 | $425 | $475 | $525 | $575 |
| 4 beds | $410 | $440 | $490 | $540 | $590 | $640 |
| 5 beds | $490 | $520 | $570 | $620 | $670 | $720 |
| 6 beds | $570 | $600 | $650 | $700 | $750 | $800 |
Travel: Atwater, Winton and Merced free · Livingston, Ballico, Cressey, Le Grand +$15 · Turlock, Delhi, Hilmar, Planada +$25 · Los Banos, Modesto, Chowchilla +$40. Interior window cleaning is $10 per window, and inside the oven ($40) and inside the fridge ($40) are priced add-ons on this clean. Rush booking inside 48 hours +15%.
Property managers and realtors: we set up recurring turnovers at a fixed per-unit rate so you're not re-quoting every vacancy. Tell us the unit types you manage and we'll put the rates in writing. Listing photos are easier to schedule around when the cleaner is already on the calendar.
The walkthrough
What landlords check most
Inspections are more predictable than people expect. Four things account for most deductions, and all four are on our list first.
1. The oven
It's the single most common deduction, because it's the one thing nobody cleans on the way out and it's impossible to fake. Add it to your move-out for $40 and we do the interior walls, the racks, the underside of the door and the door glass, where baked-on residue is most obvious.
2. Baseboards
A landlord runs a finger along one. Scuffed and dusty baseboards read as "not cleaned" for the whole unit, fairly or not. Every baseboard in the home gets scrubbed by hand, not wiped as we pass.
3. Window tracks
Central Valley dust packs the tracks solid, and an inspector opens a window to check. We scrape the tracks out, vacuum them, then wash them, plus the sills and the interior glass on every window in the unit.
4. Inside cabinets and drawers
Crumbs in a drawer or a sticky shelf liner in a kitchen cabinet is what a walkthrough finds when everything else looks fine. Every cabinet and drawer in the kitchen, bathrooms and laundry area gets emptied out, vacuumed and washed.
The home has to be empty. No furniture, no boxes, nothing in the closets or cabinets. We can't clean inside a cabinet that's full, and we won't move or store your belongings; that's how things get broken and blamed. Movers first, then us, ideally the same day or the day after. If the unit isn't clear when we arrive we'll reschedule, and the rush fee doesn't apply to that reschedule. On an occupied home — a standard or deep clean — the rule is gentler: we clean around what's in the way rather than reschedule.
FAQ
Move-out questions
Will this get my deposit back?
Cleanliness won't be the reason it's withheld. We can't do anything about nail holes, carpet stains, a broken blind or normal wear on paint. Those are repair items, and no cleaner can fix them. What we can do is make sure the oven, baseboards, window tracks, cabinets and bathrooms are not on the deduction list. Ask your landlord for their move-out checklist and send it to us; if there's something on it we don't normally do, we'll tell you before we book.
When should I schedule it?
After the movers are done and before your final walkthrough. The same day works if the truck leaves in the morning; otherwise the day after. Book a week ahead if you can; move-outs are long visits and they fill up around the end and beginning of the month, which is when almost everyone needs one. Inside 48 hours is +15% if we have the slot.
Do you clean the carpets?
We vacuum thoroughly, including edges and closet floors. We don't shampoo or extract stains, because that needs a truck-mounted machine and it's a separate trade. Most Merced County leases require professional carpet cleaning with a receipt anyway, so you'd be hiring a carpet company regardless. Schedule them after us, since carpet cleaning is wet work and should be last.
Can you handle a whole building or several units?
Yes, and that's the work we'd like more of. Give us the unit mix and we'll quote a fixed rate per unit type, then hold slots for you as vacancies come up. Recurring turnover clients skip the quoting step entirely: you email us a unit number and a date, and the rate is already agreed in writing.
Is the price different for a move-in versus a move-out?
No. It's the same checklist and the same flat rate, because it's the same amount of work on an empty home. The only practical difference is timing: a move-in clean should happen before your furniture arrives, which usually means the day you get keys.
Moving soon? Lock in a date.
Send us the address, bedrooms and bathrooms, and your walkthrough date, and you'll have a written quote within two hours.