End-of-Lease Yard Clean-Ups in Cairns
Back to the condition the entry report recorded
Queensland tenancy law asks a specific question at the end of a lease: is the property in the same condition it was in at the start, less fair wear and tear. The answer comes from comparing the Exit condition report, Form 14a, against the Entry condition report, Form 1a, and the Residential Tenancies Authority's own vacating checklist names the outdoor work directly, including tidying and weeding gardens and mowing and edging lawns. Trisim does that yard work across Cairns for tenants, property managers and landlords, quoted before it starts.
- Veteran-Owned
- Fully Insured
- Police-Checked
- Local & Reliable
End-of-lease yard and garden clean-ups across Cairns, aimed at the outdoor items on the exit condition report.
Why Trisim Property Maintenance for end-of-lease yard cleanups
Done right the first time.
Bond disputes about yards are rarely about whether the yard is tidy. They are about whether it matches a document.
Queensland's system is a comparison. The Entry condition report, Form 1a, records the state of the property when the tenant moved in. The Exit condition report, Form 14a, records it when they leave. The two are compared to work out whether the property came back in the same condition, apart from fair wear and tear, and that comparison drives the bond refund. This is why the useful question at the end of a tenancy is not how good the yard looks, it is what the entry report said the yard looked like. A garden that was mulched and edged on entry has a higher bar than one recorded as rough.
The yard is unambiguously in scope. The RTA's own cleaning guidance for vacating tenants lists outdoor items alongside the indoor ones, naming cleaning balconies, tidying and weeding gardens, and mowing and edging lawns. It is not an area agents have invented pressure around.
Two things about responsibility are worth being straight about, because plenty of pages in this category are not. First, the RTA states that the tenant is generally responsible for yard work such as mowing, edging and weeding, though this should be specified in the tenancy agreement. Read the agreement rather than assuming. Second, and more importantly, the RTA is explicit that a tenant cannot be required to enter into a maintenance contract with a particular company. If an agent tells you that you must use their contractor, that is not how the rules work. You choose.
The practical difficulty in Cairns is time and growth. Vacate dates do not move, and the yard keeps growing right up to the day. Between January and March the region takes over 400mm of rain a month across roughly sixteen rain days each, so a lawn cut a fortnight before handover can be well past the entry photographs by the time the inspection happens. A yard that has been let go for a season is a bigger job again: one Trisim posted job of that kind ran eight hours and produced many tarp loads of grass. Booking the yard for the last few days before handover, rather than a comfortable fortnight ahead, is usually the difference.
How we look after your place
The lawn was cut, and it still came back on the exit report
It was cut too early. In the wet season Cairns takes over 400mm of rain a month across roughly sixteen rain days, and grass moves fast in that.
The comparison is against the entry condition report, and a lawn that has grown back before the inspection does not match it.
We book the yard as close to the handover date as the schedule allows, rather than whenever the diary happens to be free.
The garden beds were never part of anyone's plan
Bond cleaning is thought of as an indoor job, so the beds go unweeded while the oven gets three coats.
The RTA's vacating checklist explicitly names tidying and weeding gardens alongside mowing and edging lawns.
We work the beds, the edges and the lawn as one job, because that is how the exit report reads the yard.
The yard has been let go for a season and looks unrecoverable
Yard maintenance slips during a tenancy, and the growth rate here is unforgiving.
A badly overgrown yard is the scenario most likely to cost a bond outright.
Overgrown clearing is work Trisim already does. One posted job of this type ran eight hours and produced many tarp loads of grass. It is quoted before it starts, so the size of the job is known up front.
The agent said you have to use their yard contractor
It is a common assumption on both sides of a tenancy, and rarely challenged.
The RTA is explicit that a tenant cannot be required to enter into a maintenance contract with a particular company. Being told otherwise costs tenants money.
We quote the work and let you compare it. If you would rather use someone else, that is your right and we would rather you knew it.
Paths, driveways and patios let the whole yard down
Tropical humidity puts a layer of grime and growth on hard surfaces that no amount of sweeping shifts.
The exit inspection covers the outdoor areas, and a mown lawn beside a stained driveway still photographs badly.
Pressure washing driveways and concrete is documented work for Trisim, and concrete edging and pebble work sit alongside it, so the whole outdoor area can be handled in one visit.
The work that keeps a Cairns property looking its best
Exit Yard Clean-Up
Lawn, edges and garden beds worked as one job, aimed at the outdoor items the RTA's vacating checklist names.
Overgrown Yard Clearing
For yards that have been let go. Real work Trisim already does: one posted job ran eight hours and produced many tarp loads of grass.
Hard Surface Cleaning
Driveways, paths and concrete pressure washed, which is documented work in Trisim's job posts.
Green Waste Removal
The cuttings taken away rather than left in a pile for the next inspection to find.
A Cairns team you can trust with the keys
Trisim Property Maintenance is a veteran-owned family business run by Trina and Simon with a team of five to ten, working across Cairns since 2021 under ABN 24 306 689 336, insured for public liability and police-checked. For end-of-lease work that combination matters on both sides: a tenant is often paying for work at a property they have already left, and a property manager is letting a contractor onto a vacant property. The business serves property managers, real estate agents, landlords, vendors and tenants, and travels to the property from its Parramatta Park base. Work is quoted before it begins, so a vacating tenant knows the cost before committing rather than after the bond is already at risk.
Common questions from Cairns residents
Yes. The bond refund turns on comparing the Exit condition report, Form 14a, against the Entry condition report, Form 1a, to decide whether the property is in the same condition as at the start of the tenancy apart from fair wear and tear. The RTA's own vacating checklist names outdoor tasks directly, including tidying and weeding gardens and mowing and edging lawns. So the yard is assessed, and it is assessed against what the entry report recorded.
No. The Residential Tenancies Authority states that a tenant cannot be required to enter into a maintenance contract with a particular company. You are free to choose who does the work, or to do it yourself. If yard maintenance is covered by a contract between the property manager or owner and an external company, the RTA says that should be listed in the tenancy agreement, so the agreement is the document to check.
Generally the tenant's, but check the agreement. The RTA states that the tenant is generally responsible for yard work such as mowing, edging and weeding, however this should be specified in the tenancy agreement. Some agreements put yard maintenance on the owner, particularly for larger blocks or shared grounds. The entry condition report and the agreement together tell you what you signed up to.
As close as you can manage. Cairns takes over 400mm of rain a month across roughly sixteen rain days through January, February and March, and grass responds to that quickly. A lawn cut a fortnight before handover can be visibly past the entry photographs by inspection day. We book toward the end of the tenancy rather than early in it, for that reason.
It is still a job, just a bigger one. Overgrown clearing is work Trisim already takes on: one posted job ran eight hours and produced many tarp loads of grass. The important thing is that it gets quoted before anyone starts, so you know what the recovery costs against what the bond is worth. We will tell you honestly if the yard is a large job rather than discovering it halfway through.
Yes, both. Property managers and real estate agents needing tenant and bond-related yard maintenance are a core part of who Trisim serves, alongside landlords, vendors and tenants. For managed properties the relevant facts are usually the ABN, 24 306 689 336, the public liability insurance, and the police-checked team.
Guides that go deeper
Talk to the Trisim team
The fastest way to get a price is a phone call. If you would rather write it down, use the form below and include the property address so we can size the job before we call you back.
- Phone
- 0488 622 205
- Based in
- Parramatta Park, Cairns QLD 4870
- Servicing
- Cairns and Far North Queensland
- Hours
- Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 5:00pm
Trisim is a mobile service. We are based in Parramatta Park, servicing all of Cairns, so there is no shopfront to visit, but we come to you anywhere across Cairns.
Tell us about your place
Send through a few details and we will get back to you with a quote. Prefer to talk? Call 0488 622 205.
- Veteran-Owned
- Fully Insured
- Police-Checked
- Local & Reliable
Need end-of-lease yard cleanups?
Tell us the handover date and the state of the yard, and we will quote the work and book it as close to the inspection as we can.