Carpet cleaning

[MrPahoehoe]

Hi, I'm moving out of my rental property and the landlord wants us to get the carpet in the hall/stairs/landing and two of the bedrooms cleaned, as it was new when we moved in and its now quite dirty, although no serious stains. Any ideas how much this should cost, i've no idea myself and would hate to pay over the odds. I'd estimate the floor area of this would be somewhere between 45-60 sq m, which is a very rough estimate.

[Ethel]

Ring a few numbers in your Yellow Pages for quotes, and make sure the companies are properly insured.

That's the best way of getting an idea of the rates in your area/

[queen 1954]

well i would rent a cleaner and do it yourself ,much cheaper, the rug doctor is a brilliant cleaner and you can rent it out from some supermarkets and other outlets dosnt cost much and then you just need to buy the shampoo to go with it.

[Ethel]

I would not recommend a diy job - it is not your carpet and you will not be insured if the carpet shrinks, discolours or has some other damage as a result of the cleaning.

Not all carpets can be cleaned by home cleaners. This from the Rug Doctor site:

Before you begin, you should know that Rug Doctor machines and cleaning products are safe for most carpets. HOWEVER, you risk damage to carpets not intended for water extraction method cleaning. DO NOT use the Rug Doctor machine or cleaning products on: Natural fibre oriental rugs (silk or wool), hand-loomed wool rugs, braided rugs, sisal or jute carpets, silk, Haitian cotton, brushed corduroy, leather or non-colourfast fabrics. Some stains require professional treatment.

[vivandorron]

Unless your contract for rental of the property has been claused to provide for your being responsible to ensure that the carpet is in the same condition as when you moved into the rented accomodation, I fail to see that you are under any legal obligation to get it cleaned

Perhaps your landlord would also like you re-decorate the walls etc!! Perhaps your landlord has not heard of the "Unfair Contract Terms Act".

I think you've got a question for the Law section of AB.

[msemma]

I agree it does sound a bit strange to be required to clean your carpets! I know our contract says the curtains should be clean but not the carpets! You would want to make sure you left your property clean and tidy but washing the carpets seems to be a bit much! Doesn't it come under the landlords estimated costs for running a property and included in his/her overheads?

[Hammer]

Unless they are dirtier than is reasonably expected I would tell him to poke it. Floors get dirty. Give it a good hoover and leave it at that.

[vivandorron]

I'm now even suprised that msemma is under an obligation to ensure that curtains are cleaned.

I would have thought that only items outside of 'fair wear and tear' could be included in a Tenancy Contract to make it legally binding. Hence my intimating that there's a question here for the Law section of AB.........Ron.