What after-construction cleanup covers
In every room
- Fine dust removed from walls, trim, doors and ledges, top to bottom
- Tops of door frames, window casings, crown molding and picture rails
- Light fixtures, ceiling fan blades, switch plates and outlet covers
- Vent covers, return grilles and exhaust fan covers
- Inside closets: shelves, rods and floors
- Baseboards wiped, floors vacuumed and washed, with a final pass after the dust settles
Kitchen
- Inside and outside of new cabinets and drawers, where sawdust and drywall dust collect
- Stickers, labels and film off appliances, sinks and faucets
- Appliances cleaned inside and out for first use
- Countertops washed, backsplash wiped, light grout haze lifted
Bathrooms
- Protective film off shower glass, mirrors and fixtures
- Tub, shower, sink and toilet cleaned for first use
- Light grout haze wiped from new tile
- Silicone smears and paint specks on fixtures and glass
- Vanity inside and out
Windows, doors and glass
- Window and sliding-door tracks vacuumed of grit and stray screws
- Stickers and film off new glass; paint specks lifted from glass and hardware
- Interior glass, sills, frames, door hardware and thresholds wiped
Dust from sanding and cutting keeps falling out of the air for a while, so the work runs top to bottom and the floors come last. Heavy grout haze that does not come off with a normal clean should go back to the tile installer, who knows what the grout and any sealer can take. New windows often need more than a wipe; window cleaning covers the glass inside and out, sills, tracks and screens. New tile floors: tile and grout cleaning. Carpet that caught drywall dust: carpet cleaning.
Not included: hauling construction debris, dumpsters or leftover materials, drywall or paint repairs, duct cleaning, and mold or water-damage work. Those belong to your contractor or a specialist.
Rough clean vs final clean
| Stage | When it happens | What it involves |
|---|---|---|
| Rough clean | During the project, often after drywall and before paint, trim and flooring | Debris and scraps removed, floors swept and vacuumed, so the next trade starts on a clear site. Usually handled by the contractor's or builder's crew. |
| Final clean | After every trade has finished | The detailed clean that makes the home livable: dust off every surface and inside cabinets, stickers and film off, fixtures and glass polished, floors washed. |
| Touch-up | Just before you move back in or a walk-through | A light pass for the dust that settled after the final clean. |
Most homeowners book the final clean. If a contract says the contractor will leave the site "broom clean", that usually means debris gone and floors swept, not ready to live in. Ask your contractor what their cleanup covers before the last day, so nothing is missed and nothing is paid for twice.
How the cleaning goes
- First pass, dry: every surface is vacuumed from the top down before any cloth touches it, because wet drywall dust turns into a paste that smears.
- Stickers, labels and film come off glass, fixtures and appliances, and the adhesive left behind is lifted.
- Second pass, damp: every surface wiped, cabinets inside and out, hardware and fixtures polished.
- Bathrooms and the kitchen are cleaned for first use, including the inside of new appliances.
- Floors are vacuumed and washed, then left to dry while the air clears.
- A last pass over flat surfaces and floors once the dust has settled, and a look at each room in low light for missed film or haze.
What to have your contractor finish first
- All the work, including the punch list: touch-up paint, caulk, trim and hardware. Any sanding or cutting after the clean puts dust back everywhere.
- Debris, offcuts, buckets and leftover materials hauled away, and the dumpster removed or closed.
- Floor protection and plastic sheeting taken down, so what was underneath can be cleaned.
- An answer from the tile installer on when new grout can be washed and whether it needs sealing first.
- The furnace or air handler filter changed if dusty work ran with the system on. We dust vent covers; the ducts themselves are not our work.
- In a home built before 1978, the lead-safe cleanup. The EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting Program applies to anyone paid to disturb painted surfaces in homes built before 1978 and requires lead-safe work practices (www.epa.gov/lead/renovation-repair-and-painting-program, read 19 September 2026). Lead-safe work is the contractor's responsibility; ask them to confirm it is finished before we come in.
Who books after-construction cleanup
- A homeowner after a kitchen remodel in Greenwich or New Canaan, where the dust traveled through the whole first floor even with plastic up.
- A family moving back into an addition or a finished basement, with the rest of the house needing a catch-up at the same time.
- A buyer of a new build in Carmel or Wappinger before the movers, when every window and appliance still wears its sticker.
- A builder or general contractor handing a finished home to a client and wanting the final clean done by someone else.
- A landlord after a bathroom or flooring replacement between tenants, combined with a turnover cleaning.
- A seller after pre-listing repairs: new paint, refinished floors, a replaced vanity, then the photos.
Book by the project, not the calendar
Renovations finish in every season, and the searches show it. In the New York metro area, the busiest month for "post construction cleaning" searches in Google Trends was a different month in each year from 2021 to 2025. So the date that matters is your contractor's: send the expected finish date when you ask for a quote, then confirm once the punch list is done. Leave a day or two of slack between the last trade and the cleaning.
Builders and contractors finishing a home for a client can ask for a quote the same way homeowners do: the address, the rooms involved, whether the home is occupied, how to get in, and the date it has to be ready. Replies come by text or email. We work in homes across our five service counties in New York and Connecticut.
What changes the time and the quote
- How much of the home was worked on
- Whether the work area was sealed off with plastic
- Number of windows, fixtures and appliances with stickers or film
- Paint and grout haze
- Cabinets and closets to clean inside
- Whether you are living in the home during the work
Every project is different, so we quote from your details rather than a per-square-foot rate. See how we quote and use the quote form. If the renovation was small and the rest of the house just needs catching up, a deep cleaning may be the better fit.
Common questions about post-construction cleaning
What is post-construction cleaning, and what does it include?
It is the detailed cleaning done after construction work in a home, to remove the fine dust, stickers, film, paint specks and grout haze that the work leaves behind. It is different from the contractor's cleanup, which usually means hauling debris and sweeping. Post-construction cleaning starts where that ends: every surface dusted top to bottom, inside cabinets and closets, vent covers, window tracks, fixtures, glass and floors, so the rooms are ready to use. Debris hauling, repairs, duct cleaning and heavy grout haze are not part of it.
How long does post-construction cleaning take?
It depends on how much of the home was worked on, whether the work area was sealed off, and how many windows, fixtures and cabinets there are. It usually takes longer than a deep cleaning of the same space, because fine dust sits on every surface, including inside cabinets, and floors need a final pass once the dust settles. Send the rooms involved and your finish date.
How much does post-construction cleanup cost?
We quote each project, because a single bathroom remodel and a whole new house are very different jobs, and a per-square-foot figure would be wrong for both. The main factors are the size of the area, how far the dust spread, the number of windows and fixtures with stickers or film, paint and grout haze, and cabinet interiors. Quotes are free. Our pricing page lists what to send with a request like this.
Is construction dust harmful, and how do you get it out of a house?
We are cleaners, not doctors, so we will not make health claims. What we can say is that fine dust from drywall, tile and wood keeps settling for days, and that in a home built before 1978 dust from disturbed paint is why the EPA's lead-safe rule exists. Ask your contractor what was cut indoors and whether the area was contained. Getting it out is a matter of order: vacuum first, wipe second, floors last, then repeat once the air has cleared.
What is the difference between post-construction cleaning and a deep cleaning?
A deep cleaning removes months of ordinary build-up: grease, soap scum, dust on baseboards and fans. Post-construction cleaning removes what the work left: fine dust in places ordinary dust never reaches, such as inside new cabinets and on top of every frame, plus stickers, film, paint specks and grout haze. It takes multiple passes because the dust keeps settling. If only one room was renovated, we can combine the two: a post-construction clean there and a deep cleaning of the rest.
Do you clean walls and windows after construction?
Walls, yes. Painted walls are dusted top to bottom and, where the paint is cured and washable, wiped; fresh paint is left to cure and only dusted. Windows: the interior glass, sills, frames and tracks are part of the cleanup, and stickers and paint specks come off the glass. Exterior glass, screens and a full inside-and-out wash are window cleaning, which can be booked for the same visit.
