Leases don’t last forever. Businesses scale up, scale down, and relocate all the time. And whether your company is growing or relocating, at some point – you’ll be moving out of your office space.
If you’ve ever moved house, you’ll know how much effort and stress that can be. But moving offices? That’s like moving house twice – with a couple of extra families thrown in for good measure!
Not to get too into the weeds here, but if you’re an office renter, your landlord will probably have given you a checklist of cleaning and maintenance tasks in your rental agreement. And we’re willing to bet you haven’t looked at it since you signed the lease!
Even still, there are terms in this agreement that you need to stick to to get your deposit back. Don’t ignore it – you could lose a big chunk of your deposit if you fail to leave the office in the same condition as when you moved in!
So, how can you maximise your deposit return (or sale price if you own your office) when you move out? With an office deep clean, of course!
Your office move-out action plan
Nailing your office move might mean hiring a moving company, or giving your team some overtime to pitch in – but however you do it, you’ll need a plan.
Finding boxes, labelling everything up… It’s a lot. And the likeliest outcome is that you’ll leave the all-important cleaning and maintenance as a last-minute job. So, let’s try to order things out for you, with a little pre-planning for the big cleanout.
1. Empty the office of all employee belongings
First, you need to get your team on board. They’ll have to clear out everything that they own from the office, and take it home ready to move into your new space. Photos on their desks, their mugs, office plants, books, organisers and pens – that sort of thing. They’ll need to clear their drawers and sort between office stuff and their own items.
Next, you’ll need to clear out all your business equipment… So get your boxes, bubble wrap and labels ready!
2. Remove everything that’s not rented
Computers, desks, chairs, phones, printers, whiteboards… It’s time for all of it to move. Check your rental agreement for any rented furniture and white goods. You might find that some storage cabinets or furniture items are actually part of the property, or that the fridge is owned by the landlord. Store these out of the way, and give them a good clean if they need it.
Otherwise – if it’s not nailed down, it’s yours!
Don’t forget your kettle, microwave, crockery, and all the office supplies you’ve been collecting over the years. You’ll probably have a lot more accumulated than you’d think.
3. Check walls, carpets and flooring for marks and damage
Now that the space is practically empty, you’ll be able to see the true state of your floors, walls, and surfaces. And over years of use, they’re probably looking a bit sorry for themselves.
Walls get marked, accidentally kicked and scuffed – maybe even chipped when furniture gets moved. Holes drilled for hanging pictures or shelving might need filling as part of your agreement, too. You might get away with some minor paint touch-ups in some places, but might need to really give a fair few areas a lot of attention.
Oh, a note about sticky tack on walls: this stuff seeps its oil into plaster, can lift paint and plaster away, and generally does not come off cleanly. If you’re unfortunate enough to have it on your walls, remove it very carefully. Try using mild heat from a hair dryer to soften it, then gently roll it off into itself. For any bits left stuck on, roll over a bigger lump of sticky tack to lift it off, until it’s gone.
If you’ve got the dreaded oily residue, then you can try dabbing it off (not scrubbing) with hot soapy water, or a vinegar solution. Otherwise, it’s going to need a paint touch up.
Once the walls are sorted, it’s time to check the floors. If the office carpets look tired, then consider getting a commercial carpet cleaning service in to get them looking like new again before you move out – but don’t do them yet. Floors should be the last thing you do, because otherwise all the dusting and cleaning will undo the hard work!
4. Begin the deep clean…
Time for a top to bottom clean. Everything – from the strip lights on the ceiling, down to cleaning office radiators.
We’ve actually got an Ultimate Office Deep Cleaning Checklist that’ll guide you through the details of a total office deep clean, but let’s run through the basics at a glance:
Dust and disinfect
- Open all the windows
- Start up high: remove cobwebs from ceilings, doorways and lighting fixtures
- Dry-dust door frames and shelves
- Dry-dust blinds and window sills
- Dry-dust radiators, check walls for dust and cobwebs
- Wet-dust and disinfect all surfaces
Clean the floor
- Deep clean carpets, or
- Vacuum all carpets and check for stains to spot clean
- Vacuum, mop and disinfect hard floors
Say goodbye…
- Reposition any rented furniture
- Empty bins and take out the rubbish
- Check the fridge and empty all cupboards
- Pack up cleaning supplies and equipment
- Power down, lock up and say goodbye
That’s it – nothing left to do but move into your new business address!
Read more – How To Spruce Up Your New Business HQ (Before Moving In)
If all this cleaning malarkey sounds like something you’d rather leave to the professionals, then we’re here to help. We’ll give your office a farewell clean you won’t forget – helping you recoup more of your deposit and taking the stress out of moving day.
Office Cleaning for Moving Out
Get professional office cleaning when you’re off to pastures new – from The Abbey Cleaning Service. Call 029 2067 9323 today for a clean that’ll keep you in the good books.
