Post-Construction Cleaning in Ottawa
Debris out, dust down, ready for handover.
Post-construction cleaning is the clean-up after the trades finish: debris and offcuts hauled out, settled drywall and concrete dust taken off every surface, and a final detail so the space can be handed over or moved into. The same job on one kitchen or a finished basement is usually called post-renovation cleaning, and we do both. Most sites need it in three passes, rough, touch-up and final, timed around the trade schedule rather than crammed into the last day.
What we handle.
Post-construction cleaning is the clean that happens once the trades finish: construction debris hauled out, drywall dust taken off every surface, and a final detail so the space can be handed over or moved into. We work on renovations, new builds, and commercial fit-outs across Ottawa and Gatineau, at whichever stage you need. We also handle the pre-construction clear-out that gets a site ready for the trades in the first place.
- Construction debris and offcuts removed in the same visit
- Drywall dust off floors, fixtures, ledges, and vents
- Rough, touch-up, and final cleans on your schedule
- Clean wood, metal, and cardboard sorted for recycling
Everything the job covers.
Debris and offcuts hauled out first
Framing offcuts, scrap drywall, packaging, tile, protective film and stripped-out fixtures loaded onto our truck before any cleaning starts. Junk removal is our core service, so it is one visit and one invoice, not a second contractor booked around your schedule.
Drywall dust, which is the actual job
Joint compound sanded smooth turns into dust fine enough to hang in the air for hours and settle again on surfaces somebody already wiped. It lands on door tops, ledges, light fixtures, inside cabinets and behind appliances. We work top down and go back over it: one pass on sanding dust is never one pass.
Concrete and tile dust is a different problem
Cutting or grinding concrete, mortar, brick and tile produces respirable crystalline silica, a designated substance under Ontario Regulation 490/09 with an eight-hour exposure limit of 0.10 mg per cubic metre for quartz. Dry sweeping it puts it straight back into the air, so that surface gets vacuumed and damp wiped instead.
Vents, returns and registers
Sanding dust gets pulled into the HVAC system and blown back out for weeks after handover, which is why a space can look finished on Friday and be grey again on Monday. Registers and grilles come off and get washed, and the return is cleaned.
Glass, adhesive, grout haze and floors
Overspray and drips on glass, silicone smears on frames, label adhesive on appliances and hardware, protective film baked onto a south-facing window, cement haze on new tile. Scraping and solvent work by hand, and most of what separates a final clean from a tidy-up. Floors go last, and from November through April the salt and grit tracked in on every boot means entrances need a second look right before handover.
Pre-construction clear-out
The other end of the job, and the reason this page used to be called pre-construction cleaning. We strip a space before the trades arrive, clearing old furniture, fixtures, flooring and stored contents so demolition and framing start on day one instead of day three.
Start to finish.
Scope it against your trade schedule
Tell us who is still to come and what date the space has to be ready, and we tell you which passes you need and when. A final clean booked before the painters finish their touch-ups only means paying for it twice.
Debris out and sorted
The waste leaves first, because nothing gets cleaned around a pile. It is sorted as we load, since separated metal, clean fill and mixed waste are charged at different rates by every facility in the region, and that difference lands on your invoice.
Rough clean
After framing, drywall and sanding, before the finishes go in. Bulk debris gone, floors swept and vacuumed, dust off the high surfaces so the finishing trades are not installing cabinets into a grey film.
Touch-up clean while the trades finish
An optional middle pass on longer builds. It keeps the site presentable for meetings, walkthroughs and inspections without burning the final clean weeks before anyone takes handover.
Final clean, then we walk it with you
Glass, hardware, appliances, cabinet interiors and floors detailed last, then a walkthrough with you or your site super. Anything you point at gets done before we leave, not written onto a list.
What Ottawa charges to take your debris
Construction waste is not curbside garbage, and where it goes changes what the job costs. The City of Ottawa publishes the rates for its Trail Waste Facility Landfill at 4475 Trail Road, and the 2026 table is worth reading before anyone quotes you on disposal. Checked 2026-08-09: residential garbage is $172.70 per tonne with a flat $43.20 minimum under 250 kg, while a mixed load of garbage and recyclable materials is $345.40 per tonne. Almost exactly double, which is the whole argument for sorting as we load. Fill, meaning asphalt, masonry and concrete without rebar, is $144 per tonne and has to be free of waste including metal. Source-separated scrap metal and electronic waste are free, and cardboard is no longer accepted there at all. Two limits matter more than the rates: the City landfill does not accept commercial garbage, so waste off a fit-out goes to a private facility at that facility's rates, and it does not accept asbestos in any form.
What drives the price.
Post-construction cleaning is priced on the mess, not on floor area alone. What moves the number: how much debris is left and how heavy it is, how many passes you want, the count of windows and glass surfaces, how many kitchens and bathrooms, whether the floors are finished or still under protection, how much adhesive and grout haze has to come off by hand, and access, since a third-floor walk-up costs more in labour than a ground-floor unit with a loading door. Disposal is its own line and it moves with the weight and the sorting, off the published facility rates rather than a figure we invented. Show us the site or the drawings and we quote it up front. Call (613) 852-4059.
Post-Construction Cleaning, answered.
Still unsure? Call or text (613) 852-4059 and we will tell you straight.
Same work, smaller footprint, and the word changes with the size of the job rather than with what we do. A post-renovation clean on one kitchen or a stripped basement has the same three problems as a full build: debris and offcuts to haul, sanding dust that settles twice, and adhesive, grout haze and paint spots that only come off by hand. What changes is that the rest of the house is occupied. Dust control at the doorway matters more than it does on an empty site, and the route between the work and the front door often takes as long as the room itself.
A rough clean happens after the messy trades finish and before the finishes go in: bulk debris removal, sweeping and vacuuming, so the next trade is not installing into a pile of scrap. A final clean happens once everything is painted and installed. That one is detail work on glass, hardware, fixtures, appliances, cabinet interiors and floors, taken to the standard the space is handed over at.
Work backwards from the inspection, not from the move-in. The City of Ottawa asks permit holders to book each inspection 48 hours in advance so an inspector is available, and its Occupancy stage says a person may occupy a dwelling that is not fully complete only once the Building Official has issued an Occupancy Permit. Slot the final clean after the last trade, touch-up painting included.
Because sanding dust is fine enough to stay airborne for hours and then settle on surfaces that were already wiped. Cleaning bottom up, or cleaning at all while sanding is still happening anywhere on site, guarantees it. It also gets pulled into the HVAC system and redistributed every time the fan runs. We work top down, let the air settle, then go back over the high-touch surfaces.
Yes, and it is usually the first thing we do. Offcuts, packaging, scrap drywall, tile and stripped-out fixtures go on the truck in the same visit, because junk removal is our core service. Worth knowing if you plan to run it yourself: the City's Trail Waste Facility Landfill does not accept commercial garbage, so waste off a fit-out has to go to a private facility.
Cleaning, yes. Anything noisy is limited by the City of Ottawa's Noise By-law No. 2017-255, which defines construction to include demolition. Section 13 bars construction vehicles and construction equipment between 10 pm and 7 am, and before 9 am on any Sunday or statutory holiday. Infill housing is the one carve-out and it is stricter rather than looser: section 14 stops that work at 8 pm on a weekday, and between 7 pm and 9 am on a Saturday, Sunday or statutory holiday. Exemptions are granted by the Chief, By-law and Regulatory Services on application.
We clean what a cleaner should. Registers and grilles come off and get washed, the reachable part of each boot is vacuumed, and the return is cleaned. We do not run rotary-brush duct cleaning equipment. If your system ran through the sanding stage without filters in place, a duct cleaning contractor is the right call and we will say so.
Then it stops being a cleaning question first. Ontario Regulation 278/05 requires the owner, before arranging the work, to have an examination carried out to establish whether material likely to be disturbed is asbestos-containing, and to give any prospective constructor a copy of the report. Removing under a square metre of drywall with asbestos joint compound is a Type 1 operation, with a ban on using compressed air to clean dust off any surface. We are not an abatement contractor, and the City landfill will not take asbestos.
Where these facts come from
One regulation and one rate table. O. Reg. 278/05 sets the duty to establish whether material is asbestos-containing before the work is arranged, and that duty belongs to the owner; the City's rate page carries the 2026 tipping figures quoted above, which are republished every year.
Need post-construction cleaning?
Call or text for an up-front quote. Same-day and next-day service across Ottawa and Gatineau.