After builders cleaning in London is charged at £30 per cleaner per hour plus £32 for machines and products, from £212 when two cleaners work three hours.
Plaster sanding and tile cutting leave a fine grey powder that keeps settling for a day or two after the trades pack up. It lies on door tops, along picture rails, inside new kitchen units and in the tracks of sliding doors, and a dry duster just moves it from one ledge to the next. The cleaners start high in each room and work down, so whatever falls off a frame is picked up from the floor at the end.
Jobs on an after builders clean
- Dust off door tops, architraves, skirting, picture rails, radiators and the tops of wall cupboards
- Paint and plaster spots lifted off window glass with a blade, and off tiles and sills where they come away
- Window frames, sliding tracks and sills vacuumed out and wiped, inside
- Light switches, sockets and the rims of spotlights wiped
- Inside new kitchen units and drawers, where sawdust and drill dust gather
- Grout haze and plaster splashes cleared from baths, basins, taps and shower screens
- Hard floors vacuumed and then washed; carpets vacuumed
Some marks belong to the build. Paint on bare brick, plaster dried into textured tiles and silicone that set on a worktop edge may not shift without damaging the surface underneath, so the cleaner tests a small area and tells you what is left.
The hourly rate and the kit charge
Building work never leaves the same amount of dust twice, so this clean is charged by the hour. The rate is £30 per cleaner per hour, plus £32 once per job for the vacuums and products the cleaners bring. The shortest booking, two cleaners for three hours, totals £212; the longest is four cleaners over a full eight-hour day. A single redecorated bedroom sits at the small end. A flat with a new kitchen, a new bathroom and fresh plaster throughout sits much nearer the top.
Street parking or a pay-and-display bay goes on the bill at cost, never above £40. The hourly rates for every other service are on the prices page.
A viewing before larger jobs
For a full refurbishment, a loft conversion or an extension across the back of a house, book a viewing first. It costs £20. The person who comes looks at the ledges and the floors, checks the water and power are connected and works out how many cleaners and how many hours the job needs, so the booking is sized right on the first day. For a single room or a repainted flat, a description on the phone is usually enough to set the hours: which rooms had work, which trades were in, and whether the floors are carpet, wood or tile.
Timing the clean with your builders
Book it for after the last dusty trade has gone. Sanding, cutting tiles, chasing walls for cables and drilling all put dust back into rooms that were already clean, so a clean while the electrician still has sockets to fit means paying twice. The right day is usually after the snagging list is closed and before the furniture comes back in.
Water and power need to be on, with working lights in each room; a site still running on temporary lamps slows the clean. Rubble, offcuts and empty paint tubs should leave with the builders before the cleaners arrive. If the carpets stayed down through the work and have turned grey with plaster, book a carpet clean for the day after.
Questions about after builders cleaning
Is an after builders clean different from a deep clean?
Yes. A deep clean is for a lived-in home that has slipped: grease, limescale and the insides of cupboards, at £26 per cleaner per hour. After builders work deals with dust and splashes from the job, which take more passes to clear, so the rate is £30.
Can paint be removed from window glass?
Fresh paint spots on glass usually come off with a blade and water. Dried paint on a uPVC or painted wooden frame is harder, because the frame is softer than the glass and scratches easily, so the cleaner tries a hidden corner first.
Do you clean shops and offices after a fit-out?
Yes. A shop or office after a fit-out is priced on a call, with a viewing for larger units. The details are on the commercial and office cleaning page.
Does anyone have to stay at the property?
No. Someone has to let the cleaners in, which can be you, the builder or a keysafe whose code you pass on when booking. The keys are left where you agreed when the cleaners finish.