What's Included in a House Cleaning Service?

Booking a cleaning company without knowing exactly what is included is how you end up surprised on cleaning day — sometimes happily, often not. Here is the room-by-room breakdown of what a professional Florida house cleaning service actually covers on a standard visit, what is normally an add-on, and the questions worth asking before the first booking. No marketing fluff.

Quick takeaways

• Standard cleaning = recurring maintenance of everyday surfaces.
• Deep cleaning = a full reset including baseboards, vents, inside appliances.
• Common add-ons: inside oven, inside fridge, interior windows, laundry, inside cabinets.
• Most pros do NOT include: dishes, exterior windows, garage, biohazards, mold remediation.
• Confirm in writing — a quote and an inclusion list — before the first visit.

#What's included on a standard recurring visit

Kitchen

• Counters, backsplash, sinks shined.
• Stovetop wiped (including knobs).
• Microwave inside and outside.
• Appliance exteriors (fridge, dishwasher, microwave).
• Cabinet fronts spot-cleaned.
• Floor swept and mopped.
• Trash emptied, can wiped.

Bathrooms

• Toilets — bowl, seat, base, floor around.
• Showers, tubs, glass doors scrubbed.
• Sinks, faucets, mirrors.
• Counters and accessible cabinet exteriors.
• Floors mopped.
• Trash emptied.

Bedrooms and living areas

• Dusting top-to-bottom on all reachable horizontal surfaces.
• Picture frames, lamp bases, decor wiped.
• Beds made (linens you provide; remake from same set).
• Carpet vacuumed.
• Hard floors swept and mopped.
• Trash emptied.

Whole home

• Doorknobs, light switches, and high-touch points sanitized.
• Cobweb removal in corners and along ceilings.
• Mirrors and reachable glass cleaned.
• All trash bagged and replaced.

#What's typically an add-on

These take meaningful extra time and are usually priced separately so you only pay for what you actually need:

• Inside the oven — 30–60 minutes; usually $25–$50.
• Inside the refrigerator — empty needed; $20–$45.
• Interior windows — many small panes; ~$5–$10 per window.
• Inside cabinets (empty first) — kitchen or bath; $25–$75.
• Laundry (wash, fold) — usually by the load.
• Dishes (hand-wash or load dishwasher) — many companies decline this entirely.
• Patio/lanai — separate from interior.
• Garage — separate service if available.

#What is included in a deep clean that isn't in standard

A first-time deep cleaning takes roughly 1.5–2x the labor of standard because it adds:

• Baseboards hand-wiped.
• Door frames, switch plates, vent grilles wiped.
• Ceiling fan blades dusted.
• Top of cabinets and refrigerator dusted.
• Inside oven and fridge typically included.
• Grout in showers spot-treated.
• Behind reachable furniture (couches, beds when accessible).

#What most pros do NOT include

• Exterior windows (call a window-cleaning specialist).
• Pet waste cleanup or biohazards.
• Hoarder-condition properties (separate specialty service).
• Mold remediation.
• Heavy construction debris.
• Climbing on roofs or out of arm's reach.
• Moving heavy furniture by themselves.

#Questions to ask before you book

• Do you bring all supplies, equipment, and your own vacuum?
• Will I have the same crew every visit?
• Are your cleaners W-2 employees, background-checked, and insured?
• What is your re-do policy if I find something missed?
• Can you email me the inclusion list in writing?
• How do you handle natural stone (granite, marble, travertine)?

#Does Florida change what's included?

The core checklist is the same nationwide, but a Florida house cleaning service leans harder on a few things. Coastal humidity feeds mildew on grout, caulk and AC vents, so bathrooms and kitchens get more disinfecting attention. Salt mist films windows, screens and stainless on barrier-island homes. And oak and grass pollen recirculate through vents and ceiling fans for months, so damp dusting rather than dry sweeping is the standard here. What a cleaning service will not do is remediate active mold — that is a licensed specialty, and the EPA's mold guidance explains when to call one.

If you are weighing your options, our side-by-side of what a standard vs deep clean includes breaks down exactly where the two differ and which one your home needs first.

#How pricing usually works

Most reputable companies price by the home, not by the hour, once they know bedrooms, bathrooms and condition — so you get a flat, guaranteed quote before anyone arrives, and add-ons are itemized on top. First-time cleans cost more than recurring visits because they do more work; a recurring cadence of weekly, every two weeks, or monthly then keeps the price down because there is far less buildup to fight each time.

#How Captain Duster does it

Captain Duster brings everything — products, equipment, the vacuum — and runs background-checked W-2 employees with full insurance. We offer standard cleaning, deep cleaning, and move-in/move-out cleaning across Vero Beach, Sebastian, Melbourne, Palm Bay, and the rest of the Treasure and Space Coast. Get a guaranteed quote in minutes — no in-person visit required.