“Broom Clean” in Your Renovation Contract Is Not the Same as a Clean House
Drywall dust keeps settling for days after the trades leave. One visit cleans it for about a day.
In short
Post-construction cleaning in the GTA runs about $0.30–0.70 per square foot — roughly $500–1,200 for a renovated main floor and $1,200–2,500 for a whole house. Several times ordinary cleaning, for a reason.
Construction dust is not ordinary dust. Drywall and sanding dust is extremely fine and clings electrostatically — it goes into vents, behind trim, on top of door frames, inside fixtures, and it keeps settling for days after the work stops.
Which is why the good crews do it in two visits: a rough clean once the trades are out, then a detail clean a few days later after the air has settled again. A single pass on the last day looks clean for about twenty-four hours.
What it costs
Market quotes, autumn 2026 — published by GTA businesses that sell the work, not an independent survey.
| Scope | Typical price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Single renovated room | $250–500 | Bathroom or bedroom |
| Renovated kitchen | $400–800 | Inside cabinets and drawers is most of the labour |
| Main floor renovation | $500–1,200 | $0.30–0.70 per square foot is the usual basis |
| Whole house | $1,200–2,500 | Two visits on most jobs of this size |
| Interior windows and tracks after construction | $8–20 per window | Film and paint specks; slower than a normal window clean |
| Duct cleaning after major work | $300–600 | A separate trade — see duct cleaning costs |
Read what your renovation contract actually promised
Most renovation contracts include some cleaning obligation, and it is almost never what the homeowner pictures. The common terms:
| What the contract says | What it means |
|---|---|
| Debris removal | Off-cuts, packaging and waste taken away. Nothing about dust |
| Broom clean | Floors swept, large debris gone. The house is not habitable-clean and the fine dust is untouched |
| Post-construction clean | The full detail clean described below — and if this is what you want, it needs to be named |
Find out which one you bought before the job ends, not on the final day when everyone is keen to leave. If it is broom clean and you want more, that is a conversation to have in week one, with a price attached. Our guide to reading a renovation estimate covers the same discipline for every other line.
What should be in the quote
Red flags
What to do next
Open your renovation contract and find the cleaning clause. If it says broom clean or debris removal, you know what you are getting — book the post-construction clean now, for a few days after the trades finish, rather than discovering the gap on the last afternoon.
Compare cleaning services in Ontario on Ontario24 and contact businesses directly. Ontario24 is a classified directory — we help you find and compare, and we do not vet anyone. Also useful: regular cleaning prices, duct cleaning and junk removal.
Before you call anyone, it helps to know what this job should cost and what the next one will. What things cost in Ontario in 2026 puts 75 service prices in one table.
Frequently asked questions
Market quotes commonly run $0.30 to $0.70 per square foot, so roughly $500 to $1,200 for a renovated main floor and $1,200 to $2,500 for a whole house. It is priced well above ordinary cleaning because construction dust behaves differently and the work is done in stages.
Because of what the dust is. Drywall and sanding dust is extremely fine, electrostatically clingy, and settles for days after the work stops. It goes into vents, behind trim, on top of door frames and inside light fixtures. A normal cleaning visit spreads it around; a post-construction clean removes it in passes.
Removal of stickers, tape residue and protective film; vacuuming with HEPA filtration; wet-wiping all hard surfaces including tops of doors, trim and baseboards; inside cabinets and drawers; light fixtures and vents; windows and tracks; and a final pass after the dust has settled again.
Often two. A rough clean once the trades are out and the debris is gone, then a final detail clean a few days later after airborne dust has settled. A single visit immediately after construction looks clean for about a day.
Check the renovation contract. Many include a broom-clean or debris-removal obligation, which is not the same thing as a post-construction clean. Knowing which you paid for before the job ends prevents the argument at the end.
Fine dust reaches ducts through returns during construction, which is why duct cleaning is often recommended after significant renovation work. Whether it is needed depends on how much dust-producing work was done and whether returns were sealed during it.
Before the renovation finishes, not after. Post-construction crews are a specialist niche and the good ones book out; leaving it to the last day means either waiting in an unusable house or taking whoever is free.
Sources and how current this is
Checked 19 September 2026. All prices are market quotes published by GTA businesses that sell the work, not an independent survey, and they vary with the amount of dust-producing work done. The description of what broom clean and debris removal typically mean reflects ordinary contract usage in the industry rather than a defined legal term — what your own contract obliges the contractor to do is whatever your contract says, so read it. Where you have a written estimate, your rights under Ontario’s Consumer Protection Act apply to the cleaning line as to any other. Cleaning is not a regulated trade in Ontario, so the checks that matter are a written scope and proof of insurance. Ontario24 is a classified directory and does not clean or vet the businesses listed.