Hire a Carpet Cleaner Inner West Sydney NSW - Get Local Quotes

Carpet Work From Balmain Terraces to Rhodes Towers

Two councils cover the homes on this page, with Inner West Council in suburbs such as Leichhardt, Marrickville, Dulwich Hill and Summer Hill. The City of Canada Bay looks after Five Dock, Drummoyne, Concord and Rhodes, where unit blocks and riverside towers stand beside older houses. On a single day, one carpet crew might clean an upstairs bedroom in an Enmore terrace, then a share house in Stanmore and a unit in Rhodes. Each of those homes needs something different from the crew, from carrying a machine up a steep stair to booking a goods lift. A clear description at the start lets each business plan for the house it will actually find. Full price tables for every item, from stairs to flood work, are listed in our Inner West carpet cleaning cost guide.

Here the focus is on choosing and briefing a carpet cleaner for the homes found in this part of Sydney. If you want the main cleaning methods compared side by side, read our NSW carpet cleaning guide. Parking, building lifts and the rules for a tenant with an indoor pet come up across Sydney, and our Sydney carpet cleaner guide deals with them in detail. The sections below stay with matters that come up in older Inner West houses, shared rentals and the riverside unit blocks of Canada Bay.

Estimated 2027 Figures for Terraces, Semis and Units

Our 2027 estimate for a single bedroom or living room is $35 to $75, and every Sydney region page on this site shares that band. Whole studio and one-bedroom apartments carry an estimate of $80 to $170, while two-bedroom apartments come in at $110 to $220. Three-bedroom houses are put at $140 to $300, and that band suits a two-storey terrace with three bedrooms upstairs and a living room below. Larger houses with four or five bedrooms are estimated at $205 to $420, before stairs or treatments are added. Each of these figures assumes synthetic carpet with everyday soiling, so wool, pet damage or water damage will be priced on top.

Stairs can add more to a terrace job than the room count shows, because a terrace can have a full flight between its two levels. Our band for carpeted stairs is $3 to $6 per step, although some businesses quote $30 to $60 for each flight instead. Treating a spot stain during the clean adds about $15 to $45, and every visit has a minimum call-out estimated at $80 to $160. That minimum means one bedroom booked alone can cost nearly as much as three, so group rooms into a single visit where you can.

Lease work and water damage have their own price bands, separate from the room rates. End of lease packages are estimated at $110 to $200 for a two-bedroom home and $150 to $280 for three bedrooms. After a flood or burst pipe, extracting the water carries a band of $5 to $15 for each square metre, and drying equipment runs at $50 to $150 per day. Every band here is shared with our other Sydney region pages and overlaps the NSW carpet and upholstery cleaning costs, so ask the business to explain any quote that falls well outside them. Treat each figure as an estimate until a cleaner has seen the carpet, the stairs and the way in. Other Sydney areas have their own carpet issues, covered in our carpet cleaner guides for the Northern Beaches and the North Shore.

Room Rate, Access Charge or Area: Reading the Basis of a Quote

Room rates and whole-home prices assume the crew can park, unload and start work within a few minutes. Terraces with no driveway break that assumption, since the machine, hoses and chemicals may travel from a street park some distance away. Upstairs rooms add a second carry, and every trip up and down the stairs is paid time on the quote. Some cleaners build this into a higher room rate, while others show it as a carrying or access charge. Neither approach is wrong, provided the quote says which one it uses and you can compare it with the others. Distance matters, since a house two doors from a legal park takes less time to reach than one at the far end of a busy street.

Long, narrow halls are counted in different ways from one business to the next. One business may treat a hall as part of the nearest room, while another prices it as its own area or by the square metre. Measure the hall and the stair with a tape, or attach the floor plan from the rental or sales listing, so every cleaner works from the same numbers. Ask each business to write the counting method beside the total, so a hall is not free in one quote and charged in the next. Worn tracks down the middle of a hall may need extra brushing, which some businesses price as high traffic carpet cleaning. Halls that run the full depth of a house can be longer than any bedroom, so how one is treated on the quote can move the total noticeably.

The type of fibre in the carpet can change the rate as well. For wool, our estimate adds 15 to 25 per cent to the price of cleaning synthetic carpet, since wool calls for milder products and slower work. Bremworth makes carpets from New Zealand wool and Victoria Carpets makes wool and wool-blend ranges, so a cleaner can confirm the fibre from a label or invoice that names the range. Without a record, the fibre may only be confirmed on arrival, and the price can then change from the phone quote. Telling every business the same thing about the fibre keeps their figures comparable.

Hoses, Pets and Paintwork When Everything Comes Through the Hall

Terraces and semis built hard against the footpath may have only one way in for people and equipment. With a truck-mounted machine, the cleaning unit stays in the van on the street and only long hoses run through the front door, down the hall and up the stair. Hydramaster makes truck-mounted carpet cleaning units, which are built into the van so that only the hoses come inside. Where no legal space is close enough, the crew may bring a portable machine inside instead, and Kärcher makes Puzzi spray extraction cleaners, including a 240 volt model that plugs into a power point. Both can clean well, but the choice depends on parking and hose length, so describe your street when you ask for prices.

Leaving the front door open for an hour or more brings its own small risks. Cats and dogs can slip out while the hoses are running, so plan where pets will stay before the crew arrives. Hall walls, door frames and newel posts, the heavy posts at the foot of a staircase, can be knocked by hoses and machines in a narrow space. Some crews fit corner guards or wrap the hose where it bends around a door frame, and you can request this when you book. Note any marks already on the walls and the stair before work starts, so nobody argues about them later. Rolling up a hall runner and moving a hall table out of the way also gives the crew a clearer path for the hoses.

Where the van can stop depends on the parking signs in your street. Inner West Council says residents in a permit parking area may be eligible for visitor permits, and it issues trade permits for development, compliance and quote-related works. Before a carpet clean, check what your own permit allows and whether a legal space is free near your door on the day. Parking time and fees are priced as separate lines in our Inner West carpet price guide.

Carrying a Machine Up Steep Terrace Stairs

Portable extractors with water in their tanks are heavy, and terrace stairs can be steep, narrow and turn at the top. SafeWork NSW describes manual tasks as using your body to lift, lower, push, pull, carry, hold or restrain a person, animal or thing. Businesses must remove the risk from hazardous manual tasks so far as is reasonably practicable, meaning as far as they sensibly can, or else reduce it with controls. Mechanical lifting aids are among the controls it lists, and it publishes a code of practice, a practical guide to meeting the law, on hazardous manual tasks. Reading that guidance on the SafeWork NSW website helps explain why a careful business plans how its gear goes upstairs.

In practice, a crew might empty the tanks before the carry, take the machine up in parts or send two technicians for a house with a hard stair. Nilfisk makes portable carpet extractors and Truvox makes Hydromist carpet cleaners, and a smaller machine of that kind is easier to carry on a tight stair. Sending a second technician adds labour time, so the quote may be higher than one for a single-storey house with the same carpet. Bring this up at booking, since a business that sends one person to a steep stair may not have planned the carry. Clearing shoes, baskets and loose items off the stair before the crew arrives makes every trip safer and quicker. Working stair lights and a firm handrail help the technicians as much as they help you.

Carpeted stairs also take longer to clean than their area suggests, because each tread and riser, the flat top and upright front of a step, is worked by hand with a small tool. Winding stairs, where the steps turn a corner, and stairs with a landing halfway take longer again. Count the steps and send a photo of the stair from the bottom and the top, so each cleaner can price it fairly. If the stair carpet is badly worn at the front edge of each step, a clean will not restore it, and replacement is a separate job.

Upstairs Carpet Laid on Timber Boards Above a Ceiling

In a two-storey terrace, the upstairs carpet is laid over timber floorboards, and directly below them is the ceiling of the room downstairs. Water that soaks through the carpet and underlay, the cushioning layer beneath it, can reach those boards, and too much of it could show as a mark on the ceiling below. Careful technicians control how much solution goes down, make extra dry passes with the wand and keep the machine from sitting in one spot. This matters most on stains and pet patches, where a technician may be tempted to keep rinsing until the mark has gone.

Low-moisture cleaning puts much less water into the pile, meaning the carpet fibres, and it can suit an upstairs room with light soiling. Hot water extraction, sold by some businesses as steam cleaning, sprays hot solution into the pile and sucks it back out, lifting more soil but needing strong suction to limit leftover water. How each method works is shown on our steam carpet cleaning and dry carpet cleaning pages. Prochem makes carpet cleaning chemicals for professionals, and the business should be able to name the products it plans to use upstairs. Before you choose between quotes, find out how each crew will limit water over the boards.

Request a moisture reading before the crew packs up, so you have a figure for each room on the day of the clean. Protimeter makes moisture meters, and Tramex makes pinless meters that read through a surface without piercing it. If a stain on the ceiling below appears after the clean, photograph it at once and tell the business in writing the same day. Ceilings already marked by an old roof or bathroom leak should be photographed before the clean, so the two problems are not confused. Where water came from a hidden pipe, water leak detection can find the source before any more carpet work is done. Keep the reading, the photos and the invoice together until the carpet and ceiling have both stayed dry for a few weeks.

Drying Rooms in a House With Windows Only at Each End

Terraces and semis that share side walls with neighbours may have windows only at the front and back. Air then moves slowly through the middle rooms and the hall, and carpet there dries more slowly than in a room with windows on two sides. Opening the front and back doors at the same time can draw air through the house, if the weather and security allow it. Pedestal or ceiling fans pointed along the hall help as well, because moving air carries moisture away from the pile.

For an internal room with no window, a dehumidifier can pull moisture from the air while the carpet dries. Ionmax makes desiccant and compressor dehumidifiers for the home, and Dri-Eaz makes air movers and dehumidifiers used by restoration crews. Businesses that bring their own air movers should state whether they are included in the price or charged per day. Drying equipment left on site after water damage is estimated at $50 to $150 per day, so confirm in writing how many days it will stay. Keep internal doors open, and keep pets and shoes off the damp carpet until it feels dry right through.

Book the clean early in the day where you can, so the rooms have the afternoon and evening to dry before anyone sleeps in them. Put furniture back only once the pile feels dry, or stand the legs on plastic squares or foil pads to keep rust and timber stain off damp fibres. Carpet that still smells damp the next morning should be reported to the cleaner straight away. Damp underlay left too long can start to smell, and the earlier the business returns, the more it can do. Households with allergies may prefer low-residue products, and they can raise that when booking allergy and dust mite carpet cleaning.

Where the Lead in an Old Carpet Can Come From

If your Inner West home was built before 1970, the crew should handle the dust in its carpet with lead in mind. Interior and exterior paint in homes built before 1970 is on Inner West Council's list of places where lead can be found. The council also names dust in ceiling cavities, carpets and furniture, and notes that some of this dust may date from before the 1980s, when petrol contained high levels of lead. The NSW Government's LeadSmart guidance adds that lead paint went into most Australian homes built before 1970. The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) also warns on the EPA NSW website that lead is especially dangerous to children. The age of a house does not tell you how much lead is present, but it does change how dust in the carpet should be handled.

The concern for a carpet clean is dust that has built up in the pile over many years, along with fresh dust from any recent paint work. Old paint flaking from skirting boards, window frames and doors can be crushed underfoot and worked into the carpet. Renovation work such as sanding or scraping old paint can add far more dust, which is why it needs its own controls. To confirm whether paint contains lead, Inner West Council suggests an at-home lead testing kit. The council also states that it does not assist with removing lead contamination from homes. Businesses offering lead paint testing and removal can test and deal with the paint itself, which a carpet cleaner does not do.

Telling the carpet cleaner the age of the house is the first practical step. If the home was built before 1970, or you know paint was recently disturbed, mention it when you ask for quotes. The cleaner can then plan the dry vacuum, the containment of dust and the disposal of what the machine collects. Households with young children, or anyone pregnant or breastfeeding, have the most reason to raise it.

Pre-Vacuum, Dust Bags and Waste in a Pre-1970 House

NSW Government LeadSmart advice on household hygiene recommends a high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) vacuum cleaner where you can use one. A HEPA filter is designed to trap very fine particles of dust inside the machine. The same advice warns that sweeping and dry dusting stir lead dust into the air, where it drifts onto other surfaces. It recommends a wet mop for hard floors in place of a broom, and a damp cloth for shelves, furniture and toys. Shoes left outside and a doormat at the entrance are on the same list of hygiene steps.

In an older house, that advice means a carpet cleaner should not dry sweep hard floors near the carpet or dust in a way that sends particles into the air. The pre-vacuum, the dry vacuuming done before any wet cleaning, should use a fine-filter machine, and the collected dust should be bagged and sealed, not tipped into a garden bed. LeadSmart says to empty vacuum dust bags into the garbage bin, not into the garden. Miele makes vacuum cleaners with HEPA AirClean filters, Pacvac makes backpack vacuums for cleaners, and Festool makes CLEANTEC CTH H-class mobile dust extractors. Children should stay out of the room while vacuuming is under way, as the LeadSmart advice also suggests. Raise these points when you book, because the crew chooses its vacuum before it leaves for your address.

Where lead paint work has just been done, the carpet clean should come after the painter has finished the clean-up. For renovation work, LeadSmart recommends an industrial or HEPA vacuum that is not used for day to day household vacuuming. It also advises wet washing and wiping the work area and hard surfaces, including window sills and skirting boards. Once told that paint was stripped, the carpet cleaner can plan to start only when no fresh dust is settling on the floor. Booking in that order also stops new dust from settling into carpet you have just paid to have cleaned.

One Booking, One Invoice and a Pet-Owning Housemate

Student and share houses in suburbs such as Stanmore, Newtown and Camperdown can have several co-tenants on one lease, and the final carpet clean needs one person in charge. NSW Government guidance says co-tenants choose a principal tenant, who handles the bond in Rental Bonds Online on behalf of everyone. Bond steps are dealt with in our Inner West house cleaner guide, so this section stays with the carpet booking itself. Having the principal tenant book the carpet clean keeps the quote, the invoice and the bond claim with the same person. You can read the co-tenancy rules on the NSW Government website under sharing a residential rental property.

Each housemate should note the stains, spills and pet patches in their own room before anyone asks for quotes, so nothing is missed on the day. A crew taking instructions from four people can end up with four different requests, so name one contact on the job sheet. Settle in writing how the bill will be split before anyone moves out, and record who will pay the cleaner on the day. Where the lease has a valid pet carpet condition, our guide to end of lease carpet cleaning shows when a professional clean can lawfully be required.

Housemates who leave at different times affect the carpet as well, since an emptied room can sit unused for weeks before the lease ends. When a departing co-tenant requests their bond share, the guidance gives those staying 14 days to repay it, less rent owed or other reasonable property costs. Cleaning an emptied room early is possible, but foot traffic from the remaining housemates can mark the hall and stair again before the final inspection. One carpet clean after the last room is emptied avoids paying a second minimum call-out, which is estimated at $80 to $160. Moving out in stages is easier with help, and student removalist costs can be compared before the last housemate leaves. Keep the carpet invoice with the condition report, because the agent may ask to see it at the final inspection.

Older Unit Blocks and the Pre-1996 Strata By-Laws

Walk-up unit blocks in suburbs such as Ashfield, Concord and Five Dock may be older strata schemes, and some of them still use an earlier standard set of by-laws. That set is in Schedule 2 of the Strata Schemes Management Regulation 2016 on the NSW legislation website, and it covers only schemes that existed before the Strata Schemes Management Act 1996 began. By-law 13 of that set requires sufficient notice to the strata committee before an owner or occupier moves furniture or a large object through common property, meaning the building's shared areas. That notice allows the committee to arrange for its nominee, someone it appoints, to be present. Check with the committee whether it treats a carpet machine as a large object before booking a clean in a scheme with these by-laws.

By-law 14 of the same set deals with floor coverings, and it matters if you are deciding what to do about worn carpet. It requires an owner to cover or treat the floor space of a lot, meaning an individual unit, enough to stop noise likely to disturb the owner or occupier of another lot. Floor space in kitchens, laundries, lavatories and bathrooms is excluded from that rule. Cleaning the existing carpet keeps the floor covered, so it raises no question under this by-law. If a carpet is beyond cleaning and you are thinking of hard flooring, read your scheme's registered by-laws before you pull it up. When new carpet is the better choice, compare prices for carpet installation and replacement before the old one comes up.

Newer towers in Rhodes will have their own registered by-laws, and the building manager can tell you the contractor rules that apply. Those rules can cover lift bookings, insurance certificates and the hours contractors may work. Send them to each cleaner with your quote request, so the price includes the time the building's process takes. Marks left on corridor carpet or lift walls are a common property matter, and strata common area repairs are arranged by the owners corporation, the body made up of all the unit owners.

Flood Certificates and Ground-Floor Carpet in Flood-Prone Streets

Inner West Council says flooding across its area can generally be described as flash flooding, which means it is sudden and unexpected. The same council page says it typically comes within six hours of the contributing rain, so there is little warning to lift rugs or move furniture. The council lists overland flooding through valleys and drainage channels, riverine flooding when creek or river banks are exceeded, and coastal effects along the Parramatta River and harbour foreshore. Its nine primary catchments, the areas of land that drain to one waterway, include Marrickville Valley, Johnstons Creek, Whites Creek, Dobroyd Canal and Hawthorne Canal. Overland flood studies for eight of the nine catchments, and the Cooks River Flood Study, are listed on the Inner West Council website.

Council flood certificates give flooding information for the area near a property, drawn from the council's official flood studies. They can show how far floodwater could spread, how dangerous it could be and the flood levels for the events those studies model. Checking one before laying new carpet in a ground-floor room helps you decide on underlay, rugs and what to keep off the floor. Tenants can ask the landlord or agent whether the property has a flood history before choosing where to keep valuable rugs.

Once water has reached the carpet, the job becomes restoration work, meaning extraction and drying, and not a routine clean. Our 2027 band for extracting water runs from $5 to $15 for each square metre, and an emergency water damage call-out sits at $150 to $300. Replacing underlay that is too wet or contaminated to save adds an estimated $15 to $30 per square metre. Before booking, read what flood and water damage carpet cleaning involves and how long the drying can take. Photograph every room before anything is moved, since an insurer or agent will want to see the damage as it was.

Getting Ruined Carpet Collected in Inner West and Canada Bay

After a flood, or when pet stains have ruined the pile, the old carpet has to go somewhere, and the two councils run different clean-up services. Inner West Council's booked clean-up takes no more than two cubic metres per collection, and it will not take items that two people cannot lift. Its list of accepted bulky items includes used or damaged rugs, but the page does not mention wall-to-wall carpet, so check with the council before putting a roll out. Building materials and asbestos are not accepted, and items go on the street the evening before collection, not earlier. Bookings are only confirmed once you receive a reference number, and changes must be made 48 hours before the collection date. Clean-ups are for properties that pay the domestic waste management charge, so check the rules with your agent or building manager first.

The City of Canada Bay lets houses and small apartment blocks book up to four bulk household collections each financial year. Large apartment blocks and estates get four scheduled collections a year, which the council arranges, so a Rhodes tower resident may need to wait for the next date. Its limit is also two cubic metres per collection, and asbestos, fibro and items too heavy for two people are not taken. Rejected material that is not removed from the kerb straight away can be treated as illegal dumping, with fines of $1,000 to $8,000. Call the City of Canada Bay Waste Hotline on 1300 551 659 to confirm whether carpet will be accepted.

In a house built before 1970, lift old carpet with lead dust in mind. LeadSmart advice for renovators says to wet down dust and debris on old carpet with a water spray bottle and fold or roll it inwards. It also suggests sealing collected waste in heavy-duty plastic, and Inner West Council directs lead-contaminated waste to its Community Recycling Centres or an EPA-approved waste facility. If vinyl tiles or black felt appear under the carpet, stop and arrange asbestos testing and inspection before anything more is lifted. For large loads that will not fit a clean-up, rubbish removal in Sydney is a paid alternative.

Looking Up a Carpet Business Before It Comes Inside

NSW Fair Trading publishes a complaints register that lists businesses which received 10 or more complaints in a month. The register is published in the second half of each month and covers the month before. It shows the types of complaints received, but it does not show their outcomes or any penalties issued. Being listed is therefore a reason to ask questions, not proof that a business did anything wrong. If a business is not listed, it only means it did not reach that threshold, so check reviews and paperwork as well. Search the register under the trading name on the quote and under any other name on the invoice or van.

Basic checks still apply, such as a current Australian Business Number (ABN) and a certificate of public liability insurance dated for the job. Owners of an older house can ask whether the crew has cleaned pre-1970 homes before and what it does with the dust there. Terrace owners should find out how many technicians will attend and how the machine will reach the upper floor. Share houses need an invoice that shows the address, the rooms cleaned and the date, since the agent may ask for it. You learn more from those answers than from a list of logos on a website.

Look for reviews from people in homes similar to yours, for example a narrow terrace, a walk-up unit or a share house at the end of a lease. Find out whether the person who arrives is employed by the business or works as a subcontractor under its name. Godfrey Hirst makes carpets and publishes care guides, and sending your maker's guide with the quote request lets each cleaner explain how its method fits. For regular house cleaning and keys, our Inner West house cleaner guide covers the checks for that trade.

When a Visit Marks the Hall or Wets the Ceiling Below

Damage in a narrow house tends to happen on the way in and out, such as scuffed hall paint, a knocked newel post or a wet patch on the ceiling below. The Australian Consumer Law guarantees that a service is carried out with acceptable care and skill, as the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) explains. Write to the business first, attaching photos with the date showing, and say plainly what was damaged and what you want done. Damage caused during the visit may also fall under the business's public liability insurance, so ask for the insurer's details. Let the business inspect the damage before you pay another trade to repair it.

Stains that come back as the carpet dries are a different problem from damage to the house. As the pile dries, moisture moving upward can bring old residue from the carpet's backing to the tips of the fibres, and a return visit can deal with that in some cases. Report it within the period the quote allows for return visits, since a later call may be charged as a new job. Keep the quote, the invoice, your photos and every message together, because they record what was agreed and what happened.

When a business ignores you or refuses to fix the problem, you can lodge a complaint with NSW Fair Trading, which may contact the trader. Disputes that still are not settled can go before the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal, whose consumer claims limit is $100,000. An application has to be made within three years of the date the problem with the service arose. Bring written repair quotes for any paint, timber or ceiling damage, since they show what the damage costs to fix. Where the carpet itself is ruined, a written replacement quote serves the same purpose.

What to Look Out For in Quotes for Inner West Terraces and Units

A good quote for an Inner West home covers how the crew gets inside as well as the rooms. For a terrace, it names the machine, says how the crew will reach the upper floor and states how many technicians will come. In a house built before 1970, it mentions a fine-filter vacuum and how collected dust will be bagged and removed. For a unit, it confirms the crew has your building's contractor rules and any lift booking. It should also name the spot where the machine's waste water goes and give a drying time for the rooms. When these points are missing, you cannot compare how each business plans to handle your house.

The right place for the machine's waste is a sewer-connected toilet or laundry tub, or the holding tank in the van. Inner West Council says its area lies mainly within the Cooks River and Lower Parramatta River catchments, and stormwater picks up pollution from roofs, roads and footpaths. Polluting waters is an offence under NSW law, and emptying a waste tank into a kerb gutter sends that water toward the waterways in those catchments. Some offers deserve caution whatever their price, such as a promise that every stain will come out before anyone has seen the carpet. Be wary too of a low room rate that leaves out the stairs, the carrying time or the minimum call-out, since those lines can reappear on the invoice. Any quote that sits well under the rest for identical rooms is likely missing one of these lines, so compare them one by one.

Sending Three Inner West Cleaners the Same Job Sheet

Put the whole job on one page and send that same page to each business you approach. List the suburb, whether it is a terrace, semi, house or unit, the year it was built if known, and each carpeted room, hall and stair. Add daylight photos of each room, the stair from top and bottom, the front door and the street outside. Mention any stains, pet areas or recent paint work, and say whether the job is for a share house leaving its lease. For a unit, attach the building's contractor rules and lift booking details, or the by-laws if the scheme is older. Give the latest date the work can be done, which matters most when a final inspection has been set.

Request written quotes that show the rooms, steps, extras and any carrying or parking charge as separate lines. Settle a start time, a likely finish and the drying period, so the household can plan the day around the damp rooms. Lounges and rugs can share the visit, and adding them to one booking avoids a second call-out fee. Owners who want the kitchen and bathrooms done the same week can compare Inner West house cleaning costs before booking. Pet urine that has reached the underlay is priced separately under pet stain and odour removal.

With three written quotes based on the same job sheet, you can compare them line by line and not only by the total. Choose on the lines that matter for your home, such as two technicians for a hard stair or careful dust handling in an old house. After choosing, confirm the date, the rooms and the price in a written reply, and file it with the invoice when it arrives. Those records are useful if a mark comes back, a housemate disputes the cost or the agent wants proof of a professional clean.