Logistics of getting new house cleaned on moving day

[Heslomonik]

Hi, I'm new to mumsnet (or to any discussion forums for that matter) but I'm getting myself stressed about the prospect of moving house, so thought I might alleviate some of my worries here! I read forum threads quite a lot, and usually get most of my answers that way, but this time I just can't seem to get the answers I need...

Anyway, we're aiming to move house over the next few weeks, but our new house didn't look superbly clean when we viewed it, and it smelt very strongly of curry! I was thinking it would be a good idea to get the house professionally (deep?) cleaned on moving day but wasn't sure how this would work practically speaking? I imagine as soon as we get the keys for the new house, the removal men will be bringing all the furniture/boxes in straight away and so we'd have lost the opportunity to get the house cleaned before its stuffed to the gills with our junk for ever more. Also the removal men might find that the cleaner is getting under their feet. And how would you know what time to tell the cleaner to arrive as I often hear stories of keys being released very late in the day, and so the cleaner might arrive before we can even get into the house?

On a slightly different note, it looks as if we'll need to buy new fridge/freezer, washing machine and dishwasher for the new house as they're not being left by the current owners. Our own white goods aren't really worth the hassle of moving as they're pretty old and ropey. With two young DCs, I don't want to be without a washing machine and dishwasher for too long, so is it possible to order new ones in advance of moving and then get the store to deliver them to the new house on moving day? Or is that too risky given we might not know what time we'll be in the house by? Is this something you might arrange for the following day perhaps?

I know I have a habit of worrying about things no-one else would think twice about, but any advice would be gratefully received.

You can't arrange any times for cleaner as you don't know when you will get the keys. One property of mine, I got at 5 o/clock.
Arrange your white goods to be delivered the next day. I think you can survive for 24 hrs.
There's no easy way to move. We had to send our last removal men to a cafe to have a meal, while waiting for keys.

You could ask your removal people to keep your property in their lorries overnight so it would give you time on the following morning to clean. This would incur more expense though obviously.

Definitely order white goods for the next day or couple of days. You won't be doing washing on the first day!

Professional cleaning companies can clean with goods in the property.

If you don't unpack, it would be easier for them, though.
Can you stay away for the first night, and book the cleaners for the next day once you have a fixed moving date? Not ideal, obviously.

Our property was vacant by the time we exchanged. We were on good terms and arranged via the estate agent to have carpets cleaned. Also we requested access to the garage to store some non valuables. Obviously you take some risks and lawyers would likely advise against but it is quite common according to EA. I would mention that even deep clean does not rid of some lingering smells. You may find that replacing carpets and decorating will only do that.

There was a big screw up on our moving day and we didn't end up getting the keys until 4.20pm. We were less than half an hour from it not happening that day. Was unbelievably stressful!

Anyway, when we finally got the keys, the kitchen was grubby and disgusting. I got my friend around and we all cleaned the kitchen and vacuumed whilst the removal men brought our stuff in. As we were getting all new carpets upstairs 2 days later, we had all our stuff put downstairs, apart from the mattresses to sleep on. We then moved it to the right rooms after that. Could you do something like that? We got a lot of loft stuff up straight away so that wasnt in the way.

Get white goods delivered next day. You aren't going to get in and do washing instantly so will manage for a day or 2, just do as much washing as you can before you move to minimise the amount that you will need to do after moving. Takeaway for the first night.

Thanks so much for all the responses - you've all made such sensible suggestions and it's really helped me focus my mind on what's important and how things will actually pan out on the day of the move and the immediate aftermath. I think I'd panicked myself by reading other forum threads where people had casually mentioned 'getting the new house deep cleaned on moving day to take advantage of the property being empty' and I just couldn't for the life of me work out how this could be done.

Anyway I think what I'll do is definitely order the white goods to arrive a day or two after moving as it's been helpfully pointed out that there's not much prospect of me doing a ton of washing straight away. And I'll get some cleaners in the following day and they should be able to clean around the boxes etc particularly if we leave most of them unpacked. I do fancy getting new carpets downstairs ASAP to help eliminate the food smells, so I might try and get most of the boxes stored upstairs at first even if eventually the contents will be used downstairs, so I can get the downstairs carpets done as a priority without too much faffing about moving stuff for the carpet fitters.

Thanks again for everyone's suggestions.

Have you had any quotes for a deep clean yet? I got one for the house we now live in and was at the price. Just did it myself over the course of a week in the end.

Not had any quotes yet although I got the impression from other threads that it wasn't going to be that much but maybe i'll be in for a big shock!

If you ask for an end-of-tenency clean (although its not an end of tenancy) then they'll do a decently thorough job. Should cost around £300 for a 3-4 bed house.

I would suggest you do get cleaners in & irrespective of moving in/unpacking get kitchen & bathros well cleaned. If you are changing carpets then nothing to be done there (make sure you negotiate the price well for any such reductions). Where you aren't changing carpets you may need to move furniture to allow steam cleaning. It's more a hassle to do after moving in - but definitely possible.

We arranged for our cleaner to come in but as other said our sellers didn't get out finally until 5pm so we may as well have not bothered.

Depending how dirty it is, you could get someone to come in and give the kitchen a really good clean; cupboards and oven etc. carpets and the rest of the house will get dusty and dirty again as you unpack but it depends how bad they are if you'd want them cleaner asap. Ours were hideous so we had them cleaned 3 days after moving as soon as we were unpacked.

Boots appliances did 2 hour delivery slots and came first thing the day after we moved which was handy. And then our supermarket delivery came just after! I am a planner though..

Good luck with the move.