A renovated kitchen in Coral Gables looks finished the day the last trade packs up. Run a hand along the top of the fridge. Gray. Open a drawer. Gray in the back corners. Tap the AC return grille. A puff. That gray isn't dirt the way a lived-in home makes dirt. It's the powder left by cutting tile, sanding joint compound, and drilling block, and it behaves differently in a room. That difference is why our post-construction checklist is its own list, and why the site FAQ talks about two passes instead of one.
Why fine construction dust is a different job from a deep clean
Ordinary dust sits where it lands. Construction dust floats. Every time a door opens or the AC kicks on, it lifts off the fan blades and the tops of the door frames and comes down again somewhere we already wiped. Our service page says it plainly: construction dust settles for days, so we work in passes so the finish holds. One pass on the afternoon the drywall crew leaves looks clean for about an hour.
It's also not harmless powder. In a 2024 health hazard evaluation of a drywall-sanding crew, NIOSH described crystalline silica as a common mineral in construction materials that can harm the lungs once it's airborne, and the investigators saw visible dust clouds when a vacuum was emptied without a bag (NIOSH HHE Report 2023-0028-3396). Among NIOSH's fixes for that crew were a rule never to run the vacuum without a bag and a schedule for changing bags before they overfill (NIOSH HHE Report 2023-0028-3396). On our side of the job, the lesson is about order. Vacuum before you wipe. Bag what you pull. Never push it around with a dry broom or a leaf blower. A broom on a post-construction floor just moves the problem into the air.
Rough clean vs final clean, in the FAQ's own words
The post-construction FAQ on our site answers it in one line: "Many projects need a rough pass after trades finish and a final pass before handover. We can schedule both." Here's what each pass is in the room.
| Rough clean | Final clean | |
|---|---|---|
| When | After the heavy trades finish, before punch-list work | After the last trade is out and the site has sat |
| Goal | Get the bulk out so finishers and inspectors can see the work | Make it livable and photo-ready for handover |
| What moves | Packaging, film, drips, the heavy dust layer | The fine dust that came back down, plus every detail |
| Done when | Clean enough to work in | Clean enough to move a family in |
The position we take, and it's one a contractor can argue with: don't book a single visit and ask for both. A rough pass that turns into a final pass on the same day gets undone by the next trade's drill. A final pass scheduled for the morning the painter leaves gets undone by the dust still hanging in the air. We'd rather do the rough pass, leave, and come back for the final once the room has had a day to settle.
The final clean, in the order it happens in the room
Ceilings, fans, and vents first
We start high. Fine construction dust removed from every surface, high and low, is the first line on the checklist, and high goes first because whatever comes off a fan blade lands on the counter under it. Vents and return grilles come down, get wiped, and go back. Reachable heights only. High-ladder work is a published exclusion, so if the great room has a two-story ceiling, that fixture belongs to the electrician or the GC.
Windows, tracks, and the stickers
Next is glass. New impact windows arrive with labels on the pane and a bead of caulk residue at the frame. Windows, tracks, and frames cleared of residue and stickers is the checklist line. The tracks are where the tile-cut grit collects, so they get vacuumed before they get wiped, or the grit scratches the track.
Cabinets, closets, and hardware
Then the boxes. Cabinets and closets cleaned inside and out means every drawer comes open, because sawdust from the install lives in the back corners. Fixtures, outlets, vents, and hardware detailed means each outlet cover, each cabinet pull, each hinge. Those small parts hold a film that a wide wipe skips.
Floors last, finished per material
Floors go last because everything above them drops something. Floors vacuumed, scrubbed, and finished per material is the line, and "per material" is the part that needs the contractor's answer. Porcelain tile takes a scrub. New wood or a freshly sealed floor does not. Grout haze on new tile is a scrub-and-rinse; a haze from a sealer is a question for the installer before we touch it.
Debris staged, then the walkthrough
Debris and packaging staged for removal closes the list. We stack it by the door or wherever the GC tells us. Haul-away is coordinated separately rather than loaded into our vehicles. Then we walk the space with whoever is handing it over.
What the crew needs from the contractor before the final
The final pass only holds if the site is ready for it. Before we roll from Coral Gables, we ask for:
- Every trade done, punch list included. If the tile setter is coming back Tuesday, the final is Wednesday.
- Power, water, and AC running. The AC pulls dust out of the air and, in a Miami summer, dries the floor we just mopped.
- What the floor is, and whether it's sealed. Finished per material starts with knowing the material.
- Which protective film comes off and which stays. Tell us before we peel anything.
- Debris out, or a spot to stage it. We stage; we don't haul.
- Access. Key, code, lockbox, or doorman, and in a condo, the concierge or property manager's rules for the freight elevator and work hours.
We also walk the site before the estimate is final. The FAQ says why: the number has to reflect the real amount of dust and debris, and a photo from the framing stage doesn't show that.
Booking a handover date in Brickell, Doral, or Kendall
Post-construction runs on the contractor's calendar, not ours, so lead time matters. A few days ahead is plenty for most visits; weekends and move dates fill faster, and a handover is a move date. For a condo renovation in Brickell, we coordinate the visit with the front desk or property manager when the building requires it, and we plan the rough and final passes around the building's own work hours. It's the same crew on both passes, so the person who staged the debris on the rough pass knows where the tile grit was hiding on the final.
What we don't do on these jobs is also published: no exterior or high-ladder work, no mold remediation, no pest control, and no moving heavy furniture. If a slab shows moisture staining or a window frame is growing something, that's a call to the GC before it's a call to us.
Anything we missed, tell us within 24 hours and we come back. On a handover that usually means the client's own walkthrough finds a cabinet corner we didn't. Say so, and we fix it before the keys change hands.
The full checklist and the FAQ are on the post-construction cleaning page. To book, start at /quote with the square footage and your handover date, and we'll set the rough pass and the final pass from there.