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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think people should actually clean their houses before moving out?

187 replies

vic1981 · 23/08/2014 02:14

I am more than somewhat annoyed. I spent ages cleaning my flat before moving out today, it was pristine. Also left a letter for the new owner with useful information about the house, such as where the stopcock was located etc with a card and bottle of champagne.

On arriving at my new place today have been confronted with an absolutely filthy house. Dirty toilets, not hoovered, deep in grime everywhere. Horrible smell pervading the house, previous owner has left things in the loft and garden. Oh, and the icing on the cake, cat shit on the bedroom floor.

Am I being unreasonable to think that you are supposed to make an effort to have a clean and tidy house when you move out?

OP posts:
MaidOfStars · 23/08/2014 02:30

YABU, because people like you move in and clean it!

OK, admittdly, cat shit is beyond the pale....

Original poster
vic1981 · 23/08/2014 02:46

Is that so? I had no idea! I thought it would be generally recognised that you should leave a house looking nice... Would not wish anyone else to feel like I have today ?? Is it also common to leave things in the loft? Not sure what to do about that...

OP posts:
FraidyCat · 23/08/2014 02:46

I read an account of moving house by a British woman living in Switzerland. She said it was not only the law that you had to clean on leaving, a government inspector had to check whether you'd done a good enough job. She spent several hours on cleaning the kitchen, including the tops of the cabinets, for example, but still failed her inspection, because she'd failed to dismantle the kitchen tap and remove limescale from the inside.

Original poster
vic1981 · 23/08/2014 02:58

Wow FraidyCat! I did clean the tips of the cupboards but I certainly did not dismantle the tap to clean inside it... Other end of the spectrum it would seem.

OP posts:
crazycanuck · 23/08/2014 02:59

YANBU. I may be biased having grown up as a military brat where we had to leave base housing spotless whenever we left it, but I would have though it was common decency at least. When we moved into our last flat, it was filthy, there were prescription tablets all over the floor, an old crutch, manky furniture left behind and the icing on the cake was a burnt rock hard Yorkshire pudding in the oven that had the consistency of a hockey puck. I like Switzerland's approach. Dirty people like your house's previous owners give me the rage (and the dry heaves).

Tikimon · 23/08/2014 03:06

Uhm... Maybe house selling works differently over there, but don't you actually tour the place before buying it? Over here realtors go the extra mile to make sure the house is beautiful and spotless so they can give a nice tour and sell the house.

If you do get a "fixer upper" house, you know before moving in. The point is, you know what you're getting into before you move in.

I have never moved into a dirty house or apartment, and rentals over here send you the cleaning bill if you don't clean up before you leave.

Original poster
vic1981 · 23/08/2014 03:07

I think you have nailed how I feel, crazycanuck using the phrase "common decency". It just seems to to be bloody selfish to leave your shit for someone else to clear up. (In my new house, human and feline!)

OP posts:
TeenageMutantNinjaTurtle · 23/08/2014 03:13

Couldn't agree with you more.

HowsTheSerenity · 23/08/2014 03:31

I don't think our house had been cleaned for ten years when we moved in. It was vile.

schokolade · 23/08/2014 03:36

We just failed our swiss inspection for having dust on top of the doors!! It wasn't a government inspector for us, but the people who would be moving in.

sleepywombat · 23/08/2014 03:39

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ExitPursuedByAKoalaBear · 23/08/2014 03:42

I love Switzerland.

JapaneseMargaret · 23/08/2014 04:14

YANBU. We had professional cleaners go through our place when we sold it, as we weren't going to have time to clean it ourselves.

We went to the place we'd bought (to be fair, not to move it; it was a buy-to-let as we were emigrating). And it was a tip. Absolutely no cleaning done at all. And whenever you move out of a place you churn up a lot of dust and dirt, as well.

Nothing more annoying that having to clean two properties, simply because some people are just basically feral. You can't help people like that. Grim.

Flipflops7 · 23/08/2014 07:15

YANBU, OP.

Leela5 · 23/08/2014 07:22

It should be in contract of sale that house should be clean on your entry. Speak to your solicitor. Take photos of the mess before doing any cleaning

firesidechat · 23/08/2014 07:22

YANBU.

Every single house we've ever moved into has made me want to cry on moving day. No one has ever cleaned the new house and it's exhausting to leave one house spotless and then to have to clean another one before you can unpack anything.

Some people have no empathy at all.

SanityClause · 23/08/2014 07:25

Once we sold a house with a longish chain. We were lucky enough to be in a situation where we didn't have to move out, then move in somewhere else the same day, and we had spent quite a bit of time cleaning, after we moved out.

I was so pleased that we did. Our buyer wasn't able to move in until about 5pm, because of delays in transferring the money down the chain. So I always felt a bit better that at least she didn't have to clean, as well.

firesidechat · 23/08/2014 07:27

Uhm... Maybe house selling works differently over there, but don't you actually tour the place before buying it? Over here realtors go the extra mile to make sure the house is beautiful and spotless so they can give a nice tour and sell the house.

If you do get a "fixer upper" house, you know before moving in. The point is, you know what you're getting into before you move in.

I'm in the UK and there can be months between viewing a house, putting an offer in and actually moving in. A lot can happen in 4 months. People keep their houses clean for viewings and then couldn't give a damn what they do after that. After all they will never have to see their buyers again.

catwithflowers · 23/08/2014 07:28

FraidyCat, I failed my apartment inspection in Switzerland too. Blush It really is crazy. I'm moving in three weeks and will leave my house clean OP. Just common decency.

RandomMess · 23/08/2014 07:30

As someone about to move long distance, I'm not actually sure how I'm going to do a final clean on moving day??? You can't clean till the removers have left and they're taking the hoover??? We actually need to be on the road to get to the new property at the same time as them?

Can't afford to pay a company. Do you just do a decent clean a few days before and cross your fingers that it isn't filthy by the time you leave?

catwithflowers · 23/08/2014 07:30

Should just say, for me the Swiss thing was many years ago (14!) but it seems times have not changed!

Onetwothreeoops · 23/08/2014 07:33

We move quite a lot and I've never moved into a place that's been left filthy. Having said that though, even if the house is spotless I still clean it all the way through just in case it hasn't been done to my standards umm and to make it feel like mine and also to erm get to know the house better Blush we almost always put in brand new toilet seats

George9978 · 23/08/2014 07:45

My current house was left a mess, she left behind furniture she couldn't get out, crap in the garage, plastic flowers and anything she didn't want to take to the tip.

I was away with work, my dh had to deal with it. I would have rang the solicitor as it's not on.

Cheeky bitch came back for her washing pole three weeks later. She cried hysterically as we had gutted the house. Made me feel better about the mess she left Blush as did finding money her late husband had stashed under the carpets...

Namechangeragain2014 · 23/08/2014 07:49

I've always cleaned when moving and luckily never had really bad experiences - not to my standards but not vile! But I take issue with crazycanuck my dad was in the army and standards were high but I was never considered a brat military or otherwise.

firesidechat · 23/08/2014 07:53

Random, I spend the week leading up to the move doing the cleaning. Not constantly obviously because it doesn't take that long.

  1. clean skirting boards, paintwork, kitchen cupboards, wardrobes, oven etc (these won't get dirty again, so can be done ahead).

  2. day before - do a thorough clean of the house including bathrooms.

  3. day of move - do a last hoover once everything is loaded and the hoover is the last thing put in the moving van. Give the kitchen worktops and bathrooms a quick going over and pack cleaning stuff in the car.

Apologies for how anal that sounds, but we've done a fair few moves and it's down to a fine art now.