Moving out and want your full deposit back? It comes down to what the landlord or property manager actually checks on the walkthrough - and it's rarely what tenants focus on.
The kitchen (where most deposits die)
Inside the oven, inside and behind the fridge, the range hood filter, inside cabinets and drawers, and the backsplash. A wiped counter means nothing if the oven has baked-on grease.
Bathrooms
Grout and caulking (mold is an instant flag), inside and behind the toilet, the exhaust fan cover, the mirror, and hard-water stains on glass and taps.
The stuff people forget
Baseboards, window tracks and sills, door frames, light switches, closet shelves, and inside any built-ins. Empty units show every speck - dust on a baseboard reads as "not cleaned."
Walls and floors
Scuffs wiped, cobwebs gone, then floors vacuumed (every closet) and mopped last.
If you're out west, this is exactly the empty-unit reset our move-out cleaning in Etobicoke handles, and up north a full deep cleaning in Markham does the same - flat-rate, so you're not watching a clock while someone bills hourly.
Two tips that end deposit disputes: take time-stamped photos after the clean, and book it for the day before your final walkthrough, not the morning of (so there's time to fix anything they flag).
Bottom line: deposits are won in the oven, the grout, and the baseboards - the three things tenants skip and inspectors check first. Hit those and the rest is easy.
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