At Commercial Cleaning Chatswood, we’ve always focused on commercial cleaning. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve seen a lot of our clients start working at home which in turn has reduced the amount of office cleaning work available to us.

This is the reason we’ve started working with my long time friend and mentor Takumi Fuji from TAK Cleaning Services. Very grateful for the opportunity he has provided us which has allowed us to keep our staff employed during this difficult time. The vast majority of cleaning work available at this time is for sanitization services but surprisingly, we’ve also had an increase of after builders cleaning work due to the NSW Government extending working hours on construction sites in response to Coronavirus.

Due to the changes, I’ve decided to write this post explaining the different phases of construction cleaning to help those wanting to get into the builders cleaning industry or for home owners who wish to save some money by giving it a go themselves.  Takumi has also written a step by step process for construction cleaning here.

If you are planning to occupy a building that has just been constructed, it is good to ensure that the building undergoes post-construction cleaning before you occupy it. In this article, we are going to look at the 3 important phases of post-construction cleaning:

Initial Cleaning / Rough Cleaning

The first phase of post-construction cleaning entails removing all the construction debris like dust, paint overspray and any other leftover materials. To clean the building, surfaces like cabinets and floors are usually vacuumed, wet-mopped and dusted. This phase also involves the removal of adhesives and other masking materials.

If the surface of a building has any defects on the surfaces like cracks on flooring materials are often reported to the construction company or the building owner as it ensures that remedial actions are taken before the building is occupied.

Final Detail Cleaning

This stage starts by repeating what was done in the first phase of cleaning. The cleaning team will thoroughly clean the building’s interior surfaces like the cabinets, air ducts and floors or baseboards.

This final cleaning should be done using better tools and equipment like neutral cleaners and microfibre rags as this stage should ensure that the building is ready for occupation without leaving any residues from the substances used to do the cleaning. To prevent damage to the surface being cleaned, it is recommended that the right cleaning chemicals are used to do the cleaning.

Final Touch-up Cleaning

Final touch-up cleaning is the final stage of cleaning a building that has just been constructed before occupation. This cleaning is performed several days after the final cleaning was done. The major reason why final touch-up cleaning is done several days after the final cleaning is because it enables the cleaning team to know where they should focus on when doing the final touch-up cleaning as the dirt or dust will have settled.

This final stage takes a short time as the process focusses on removing smudges, fingertips and other cosmetic imperfections on the surfaces that were previously cleaned. Some people choose to perform post-construction cleaning all by themselves.

However, this is not a good idea as cleaning professionals know how to thoroughly clean the hidden sections of a building such as the air ducts and they may not be able to clean their building in the best way possible. A building that has not been cleaned by professionals may not be healthy as dirt that can pose a threat to the health and safety of the people may be left.

As such, it is good to look for a reputable cleaning company to do post-construction cleaning. You should only consider the DIY approach when you are sure that you will do a comprehensive job that will make the building ready for occupation.