Upgrades
Flip a House upgrades guide: every vacuum and scrubber from Pro to Cyber, the cleaner level that gates each one, and the order that gets you out of starter gear quickest.
Introduction
Flip a House splits its cleaning tools into two parallel lines that run six tiers deep. Vacuums deal with floor dirt, scrubbers deal with walls, tiles, counters and stained hard surfaces, and each tier of one line unlocks at the same cleaner level as the matching tier of the other. There is nothing in the game that lets you skip that gate except a Robux unlock pass. This section lists every vacuum and scrubber, the level that gates it, and the order that gets you out of starter gear the fastest. The short version: buy vacuums first at the low gates, switch to scrubbers once properties get big, and never buy a tier you are about to outgrow.
Vacuum and Scrubber Tier Ladder
| Tier | Vacuum + Scrubber | Unlock Gate | Clear Speed |
|---|---|---|---|
| S | Cyber Vacuum + Handheld Scrubber | Cleaner level 22 | Fastest clear speed in the game |
| A | Royal Vacuum + Industrial Scrubber | Cleaner level 17 | Comfortable multi-floor cleaning |
| B | Industrial Vacuum + Crystall Scrubber | Cleaner level 13 | First pair that feels genuinely quick |
| C | Plasma Vacuum + Electric Scrubber | Cleaner level 9 | Usually the first worthwhile purchase |
| C | Turbo Vacuum + Scrub Sponge | Cleaner level 6 | Better than starter, still slow on walls |
| C | Pro Vacuum + Smile Scrubber | Cleaner level 3 | The first real upgrade pair |
Gear Tier Breakdown
Cyber Vacuum + Handheld Scrubber
Level 22 — the endgame cleaning kit
Royal Vacuum + Industrial Scrubber
Level 17 — penthouse-ready tools
Industrial Vacuum + Crystall Scrubber
Level 13 — the mid-game workhorse
Plasma Vacuum + Electric Scrubber
Level 9 — first worthwhile purchase
Turbo Vacuum + Scrub Sponge
Level 6 — the patience tier
Pro Vacuum + Smile Scrubber
Level 3 — out of the starter kit
Core Mechanics
Both tool lines are gated purely by cleaner level, and the gates land at 3, 6, 9, 13, 17 and 22. Nothing about cash, property tier or playtime changes what you are allowed to equip: if your cleaner level is below the gate, the tool is not available to you at any price except a Robux unlock pass. Within a tier, the vacuum handles floor surfaces and the scrubber handles everything vertical or hard. That division is why upgrade order is not the same as tier order. Early properties are floor-heavy and cheap to clean, so a vacuum upgrade converts directly into saved minutes. Larger listings are wall-heavy, and once wall work dominates your clear time the scrubber becomes the better next purchase even though both unlock at the same moment.
Advantages
The tier ladder is one of the most legible progression systems in the game. Because each gate is a fixed level and each tier is a clean step in clear speed, you can plan purchases several gates ahead and know exactly what your money is buying. That predictability also makes the value judgement on unlock passes unusually easy: the low gates fall quickly through ordinary repeat flips, so paying to skip them is poor value, while the level 22 pair sits behind the longest stretch of play in the game and is the one place a paid skip is defensible. Upgrading also compounds with everything else, because a faster clean means more flips, more offers and quicker leveling at the same time.
Challenges
The main frustration is the wall gate at the start. Until cleaner level 3 you cannot buy any tool that touches a wall, and the starter kit leaves large parts of the first properties permanently dirty, which caps the quality rating you can reach. After that the curve is smooth, but there is a different problem: the exact clear speed of each tier is not published anywhere, so ranking the tiers relies on community testing rather than official numbers. Cost data is also thinner than it looks. The in-game shop lists unlock passes for every tool and property, but prices vary by item, so a general rule about whether skips are worth it has to be argued from level gates rather than from a single price.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I upgrade the vacuum or the scrubber first?+
Are the Early unlock passes worth the Robux?+
Can I skip a tier entirely?+
Quick Tips
Buy vacuums before scrubbers until properties get big. Floors are the larger cleanable area in small houses and vacuum passes are fast, so the vacuum line converts cash into saved minutes more efficiently at the early gates. Once you are working multi-room properties with long wall runs, switch the priority: the scrubber becomes the tool that decides how long a flip takes. The trap is buying both tools at every gate, which leaves you with no cash to move up a property tier and therefore no reason to own either upgrade.
Skip a tier in the middle, never at the top. Gates come quickly through the middle of the ladder, so keeping an older tool through one of them and banking the cash for a bigger jump later is a genuine saving. At the top the gap between level 17 and level 22 is the longest stretch in the game, and playing it out with a Royal Vacuum costs far more time than the purchase you skipped. That asymmetry is why paid skips make sense at the last gate and nowhere else.
Check your cleaner level before you shop, not after. Every tool tier is gated purely by level, so cash in hand does nothing if you have not reached the gate. Players who save up for a specific tool and then find it still locked often spend the money on furniture or an unlock pass out of frustration. Look at the next gate, work out how many flips it needs, and plan the purchase for the moment the level lands rather than the moment your balance looks big.
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