What a Move-Out Clean Has to Cover to Protect a Deposit
A landlord inspects an empty property against a condition standard, not a tidiness standard. That is why move-out cleaning is judged almost entirely on the places nobody touches while they are living somewhere: inside the oven, behind the refrigerator, the top edge of every door, cabinet and drawer interiors, and the tracks under sliding doors.
The bar being applied is the property's condition when you moved in, less ordinary wear and tear. It is a higher bar than “clean,” and it is the reason a unit can pass a friend's eye test and still come back with a cleaning deduction attached to it.
Timing carries as much weight as scope. Book us after the movers have finished and before the landlord's walkthrough — floors, baseboards and closet interiors cannot be brought to inspection standard around furniture that is still in the room.