Moving out of a Jalandhar flat: the checklist that gets your deposit back

What actually gets inspected

In order of how often they cause a deduction:

1. Kitchen grease. The chimney hood, the tiles behind the hob and the cabinet fronts. A kitchen wiped daily still accumulates a polymerised oil film that needs a proper alkaline degreaser. This is the single most common deduction.
2. Bathroom scale. Not dirt — mineral scale on taps, tiles, shower screens and the WC. A landlord sees white crust and concludes the bathroom was not maintained. It needs a descaling acid and dwell time, not scrubbing.
3. Wall marks and nail holes. Bluetack marks, scuffs behind furniture, picture hooks and any patch where paint came away with tape.
4. Floor condition. Usually scuffs and, in the case of marble, dullness from years of mopping with the wrong product.
5. Fixtures and fittings. Geyser, exhaust fans, light fittings, window grilles and the balcony drain.

The order to do it in

Order matters more than effort. Working in the wrong sequence means redoing work.

1. Empty and declutter first. Cleaning around belongings takes twice as long and misses everything behind them. Get the flat empty before anyone starts.
2. Ceilings, fans and light fittings. Dust falls. Anything done below them first gets redone.
3. Kitchen. Degrease the chimney, hob and backsplash. This takes the longest and is the highest-stakes room.
4. Bathrooms. Descale and disinfect, including the exhaust grill and the floor drain.
5. Wardrobes and cabinet interiors. Vacuum and wipe. Landlords open them.
6. Walls. Wipe marks, fill nail holes, and touch up with the original paint if you have it. If you do not, a small tin matched at a paint shop is cheaper than a deduction.
7. Floors last. Machine scrub and, if they are marble, get them buffed rather than mopped.
8. Windows, grilles, tracks and balcony. Easy to forget, immediately visible.

Photograph everything, before and after

This is the part that wins disputes. Photograph each room in daylight from the doorway before you clean, and again from the same position after. Date-stamped, on your phone.

Photograph anything already damaged when you moved in, and any pre-existing defect you reported in writing during your tenancy. A deposit deduction for damage that was there before you arrived is not defensible if you have the photograph, and it is unwinnable if you do not.

Then do the handover walkthrough in person, with the landlord or their agent, rather than posting the keys. Anything they raise gets discussed while you are standing in the room and while a cleaning crew can still fix it. Disputes that happen by phone three days later go worse for the tenant every time.

What it costs, and what it saves

A move-out clean for a 2 BHK is ₹9,500–₹11,900 on the full-flat rate card, which includes two bathrooms and one kitchen. If you want it targeted rather than whole-flat, the kitchen is ₹2,490–₹4,490 and each bathroom ₹890–₹1,190.

Against a typical Jalandhar 2 BHK deposit, that is usually well under the deduction it prevents — and a receipt from a professional clean is itself useful evidence that the flat was handed over in good condition.