5-Room HDB and Executive Maisonette Cleaning: Hours and Priorities
4 October 20266 min read
A regular clean of a 5-room HDB flat takes one cleaner about four to five hours, and an executive flat or maisonette about five to six. A deep clean of the larger units can easily take a full day or two cleaners. These homes aren't just bigger 4-room flats. Extra rooms, a study, a large yard and, in maisonettes, a staircase all add time and need their own approach.
Here's how to plan cleaning for the biggest HDB flat types.
Know your flat type
| Flat type | Typical size | What's distinctive |
|---|---|---|
| 5-room | Around 107 to 113 sqm in newer flats, often larger in older ones | Three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a larger living and dining area, sometimes with a study corner |
| Executive flat | Around 130 sqm or more, depending on era | Extra space for a study or family area, sometimes a balcony |
| Executive maisonette | Often 140 sqm or more, across two levels | Internal staircase, bedrooms usually upstairs, and in many units a large living area with high ceilings |
Executive flats and maisonettes were built mainly in the 1980s and 1990s and are no longer offered in new HDB launches, so most are now in mature estates. Exact sizes vary a lot, so check your flat's floor area in your HDB documents.
How long cleaning takes
Estimates for one cleaner:
| Type of clean | 5-room | Executive flat | Executive maisonette |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weekly regular clean | 4 to 4.5 hours | 4.5 to 5 hours | 5 to 6 hours |
| Fortnightly regular clean | 4.5 to 5 hours | 5 to 5.5 hours | 5.5 to 6.5 hours |
| Deep clean | 7 to 9 hours | 8 to 10 hours | 9 to 12 hours, often two cleaners |
| Move-out clean, empty | 7 to 9 hours | 8 to 10 hours | 8 to 11 hours |
For sessions over five hours, two cleaners working together are often more practical. The total hours are similar, but the job finishes in half the time.
Special areas in bigger flats
The maisonette staircase
Stairs are slow to clean well. Each step has a tread, a riser and edges where dust gathers, and the handrail and balusters are high-touch surfaces. A good method:
- Dust the handrail and balusters from top to bottom
- Vacuum each step, using a crevice tool along the edges
- Mop or damp-wipe from the top step down, so you never step on a wet tread
- Dry each step if it's polished timber or tile, because wet stairs are slippery
Never leave stairs wet if there are young children or elderly family members in the home.
High ceilings and upper windows
Many maisonettes have a double-height living area with tall windows and high light fittings. Interior windows that can be reached safely with a stable step ladder can be cleaned during a session. Anything that needs a tall ladder over a staircase void, or work on exterior glass that isn't safely reachable, is a job for a specialist. Our window cleaning service page explains what we can and can't do.
The study
Studies collect dust on bookshelves, computer equipment and paperwork piles. Ask your cleaner to dust shelves and wipe the desk, but sort the paperwork yourself beforehand. A cleaner shouldn't be deciding what's important.
The yard
Older 5-room and executive flats often have a larger yard or service area than newer flats, with laundry racks, a washing machine and sometimes a storeroom. Lint, detergent residue and damp corners make it a mould hotspot. Our guide to service yard and laundry area cleaning covers it in detail.
Bigger kitchens
Larger flats often have bigger kitchens with more cabinets, which means more surfaces to degrease. Wipe cabinet fronts weekly, and inside cabinets during a deep clean.
What to prioritise in a big flat
When a full clean takes most of the day, some households prefer to rotate the focus:
- Every session: bathrooms, kitchen, floors in living areas, rubbish
- Alternate sessions: bedrooms upstairs and downstairs, or the study and spare room
- Monthly: stairs in detail, window tracks, ceiling fans, yard
- Quarterly: deep clean of the kitchen and bathrooms, aircon filters, curtains
This way, a four-hour weekly session can keep a large home in good shape without needing six hours every week. Our guide to how many hours of cleaning you need helps you decide.
Older large flats
Many executive maisonettes and older 5-room flats have original parquet or timber floors, terrazzo, or older tiles. Each needs its own product. Parquet doesn't like being soaked, and acidic cleaners can damage terrazzo and stone. Our guide to cleaning older HDB flats covers materials in mature estates, and our floor cleaning service covers tile, vinyl, marble and timber.
Who lives in these flats
Larger HDB flats are often home to multi-generational families, families with three or more children, and households with a home office. That means more people, more laundry and more cooking, plus sometimes elderly parents who need safe, dry floors and tidy walkways. If that's your household, our guide to part-time cleaners for elderly parents may be useful.
What it costs
On a weekly or fortnightly plan, Cleaning Assistant charges $23 per hour, so a five-hour session works out to five times $23. A first trial session is $20 per hour, and on-demand one-off cleans are $26 per hour, with no agency fees or contracts. You provide the cleaning supplies, which is a real saving in a big home that goes through a lot of floor cleaner and bathroom products, and lets you choose the right products for parquet, marble or terrazzo. For a full overview, see our complete guide to home cleaning services in Singapore.
Frequently asked questions
How many hours does it take to clean an executive maisonette?
A regular clean usually takes one cleaner five to six hours, and a deep clean can take nine hours or more. Two cleaners can share the work and finish faster.
Can one cleaner handle a 5-room flat in one session?
Yes, for a regular clean of four to five hours. For a deep clean or a move-out clean, two cleaners, or splitting the work over two sessions, is usually more practical.
Do you clean the high windows in a maisonette living room?
Interior windows that can be reached safely with a stable step ladder, yes. Exterior glass or windows over a staircase void that can't be reached safely are not something we do.
How should maisonette stairs be cleaned safely?
Dust from the top down, vacuum each step, then mop from the top step downward. Dry polished steps afterwards so they aren't slippery.
Running a big household? Book a session for your 5-room or executive flat and tell us which areas matter most, or WhatsApp +65 8166 0891 to discuss one or two cleaners.