Housecleaning service - One Time Only?

[princesspumpkin]

Has anyone ever hired a cleaning service/housekeeper to clean their house for one time only. Maybe in preparation for showing a house or for a major event being planned at the house? I don't have a housekeeper, but I would like a one time top-to-bottom thorough cleaning of my house, but I'm not sure if this is actually available anywhere (I'm in NJ). Has anyone ever had it done and if so, how much (app.) did it cost? Thanks

 

[barkley]

if you are looking to do it for the holidays be aware that it will be nearly impossible to book this late. beyond that i would advise (from personal experience) to avoid chains like "merry maids". i have tried them (from different offices in different locations) and found their cleaning very lacking. i have however found tremendous success with companies that do large scale janitorial cleaning. in fact one of the best companies i've used is called "serv pro" which specializes in coming in after fire and water damage for insurance jobs. since they are used to doing major clean ups, a general housing cleaning is a very quick and easy job for them.

you might try calling your homeowners or renter's insurance company (local agent) and asking who they use for insurance jobs (they tend to use those that are good and cost effective) or if you have any new housing developments around call and ask who they contract with for move in clean ups. local realtors are a good reference base as well-lots of home sellers invest in a one time cleaning prior to showing their houses.

most companies will come out and give you an estimate (just be clear on what you want done-most do not include cleaning windows, sliding glass doors or dusting underneath any knick knacks-they don't want to be liable for any breakage).

 

[bicker]

Keep in mind that many services and individuals will charge double for the "first" cleaning, and even more during December. YMMV.

 

[princesspumpkin]

Thanks for the advice. I'm not trying to find someone for December. I like the idea of the large scale janitorial cleaning companies. I've never had my house professionall cleaned, so it will definitely be a big job.

 

[Melrosgirl]

Yes, lol. Not that my house was super dirty, but I had friends visiting and I wanted everything to be perfect. I was majorly pregnant at the time, so I hired Merry Maids. $250 to clean my house (2200 sq. ft.). Did a very good job (they better have!), but looking back, that was crazy to pay. (That was their one time only fee. Had I signed up for regular service it would have been $100 every 2 weeks or so.)

 

[tkd lisa]

I had mine done when we moved out. They charged $150 and I tipped them $20. Complete cleaning, but of course everything was out of the house, so there was nothing for them to dust. It was money well spent!

 

[golfgal]

I had a company come in once when my dad was staying with the kids when DH and I were out of town. They came in and washed the kitchen floors, cleaned the bathrooms, dusted, vacuumed. It was about $60-70. I wasn't impressed by the job they did but I mainly didn't want my dad to have to worry about doing that.

 

[mtemm]

we hired The Maids to come 2x...once when we had first moved into our previous house. I was pg with twins and had a 20 month old and the previous owner had left the house so filthy I felt like no matter what I did I couldn't get it clean enough. The Maids sent 4 people who worked like crazy and left a spotless house...it was heaven. I want to say it was around $250 (not sure if that included the tip we gave them or not, I don't think so though).

We hired them one more time, I think when I had been on bedrest for a while but can't remember.

You can pick and choose what you want them to do. In our case we wanted everything, from windows to cabinets to regular dusting/mopping/vacuuming. You could even have them just come do kitchen/bath or whatever. They charged by the hour so if you have less for them to do, it will cost less.

 

[Disney Doll]

I never have but I have friends who have a child with an allergy to cats and they bought a house where there had been cats and they had Service Master come in and clean. They're a large company which may be a national chain.

They were quite pleased with the job they did.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I did it once when I was pregnant on bedrest from Merry Maids. Wasn't worth it. They charge more for big jobs, esp. if it is heavy duty cleaning.

If you have an entire house to do, top to bottom, I would think you need to hire someone to come in and clean regularly till it is finished. You will get better service this way.

My SIL cleans house, just started. She cleans a house better than her own, which is spotless.

 

[swanmom]

Depending on where you are in NJ, I might have an idea. If you're interested, just pm me.

 

[barkley]

just remembered to addnly use someone lic. and bonded-this protects you if they are injured on your premisis and also covers you if they do major damage (and don't think it can't happen-one dropped bottle of bleach onto the carpet could result in thousands of dollars in replacement cost).

 

[zippeedee]

I've had really good luck with Serv-Pro. They did an excellent job when our sewer line backed up into the washing machine (I didn't even want to go into the laundry room after that one) they practically needed a haz-mat team. They also did our hideous carpets when we first moved into this house and gave me a discount on window washing because our carpet cleaning was delayed when they had to respond to an emergency.

I've also had good luck with Service-Master referrals for other home-repair projects.

 

[princesspumpkin]

Thanks for the refererals everyone. I kind of expected it to be expensive, so I'm prepared. I'm not interested in having them continue to come, just a one time megga cleaning.