Tell me about your cleaning service/maid?

[sherry7]

Okay, so I know this isn't exactly budget friendly, but I've been considering looking into a cleaning service/maid. DH and I both work full time, plus we have a 1 year old, and 3 cats. It never seems like there is time to clean, and my house is starting to look like a disaster zone since I went back to work after my maternity leave.

If you have a cleaning service, can you tell me how much it costs for each cleaning? Do you have it weekly, or every other week? How many square feet is your house? Do you live in a high, moderate, or low cost of living area? Exactly what kind of cleaning do they do when they come? Thanks.

 

[ceecee]

My mom has a girl come once every two weeks (little country town) and she pays her $30 it a 3 bedroom ranch house. She vacumms, dusts and wipes the kitchen counters.

 

[LovableGluttons]

I'm bumping this up because I want to know too!

I've promised myself for 15 years I'd hire some help with housework and I still haven't done it!

 

[churchpilot]

We have used a large service before and individuals. The large service was not for us. 4 ladies descended upon our home and 2 hours later were gone. We used them every week and not once was it the exact same crew and there was always someone "training". Things were missed (dusting certain areas, wiping down breakfast area chairs, etc.) every week. I did not feel comfortable with that many "strangers" in my home. They charged $100 a visit. We have used one individual and she would be at my home 4 hours every week. She concentrated on different "big projects" every week as well as doing dusting, moping, etc. every week. She did not do laundry, but did change the sheets on all the beds. She was $50 a week and did a great job. She quit the cleaning business to concentrate on her night school. We have 2 wonderful ladies that my neighbor recommended now and they are in my house 2-21/2 hours a week, depending on what all they do. They are very professional and have amazed me every week with what they decide do work on besides the routine stuff (completely reorganzied my hall storage closet last week). They are $70 a week and worth every penny. They are licensed and bonded and bring their own cleaning supplies. They do use my vacuum cleaner at my request. Hope this helps.

 

[LovableGluttons]

We have used a large service before and individuals. The large service was not for us. 4 ladies descended upon our home and 2 hours later were gone. We used them every week and not once was it the exact same crew and there was always someone "training". Things were missed (dusting certain areas, wiping down breakfast area chairs, etc.) every week. I did not feel comfortable with that many "strangers" in my home. They charged $100 a visit. We have used one individual and she would be at my home 4 hours every week. She concentrated on different "big projects" every week as well as doing dusting, moping, etc. every week. She did not do laundry, but did change the sheets on all the beds. She was $50 a week and did a great job. She quit the cleaning business to concentrate on her night school. We have 2 wonderful ladies that my neighbor recommended now and they are in my house 2-21/2 hours a week, depending on what all they do. They are very professional and have amazed me every week with what they decide do work on besides the routine stuff (completely reorganzied my hall storage closet last week). They are $70 a week and worth every penny. They are licensed and bonded and bring their own cleaning supplies. They do use my vacuum cleaner at my request. Hope this helps.

This helps a lot!

How did you find the people that did work out well for you?

If you don't mind my asking.

 

[dnbent]

I have a lady that comes into my home every other week. She spends 5 - 6 hours cleaning the three bathrooms, all the floors, kitchen cupboards, living room, dining room, rec room and 3 of our 5 bedrooms. She does the linens in the 3 bedrooms also.

Over the last 7 or 8 years I have had 4 different cleaning people. 2 were excellent, 2 were not. Only one brought her own supplies. The rest just leave me a list.

Currently I pay $125 per visit and I am thrilled to have someone do this for me.

I have always found my cleaning people via a recommendation from an aquaintance.

Good luck,

 

[LovableGluttons]

I have a lady that comes into my home every other week. She spends 5 - 6 hours cleaning the three bathrooms, all the floors, kitchen cupboards, living room, dining room, rec room and 3 of our 5 bedrooms. She does the linens in the 3 bedrooms also.

Over the last 7 or 8 years I have had 4 different cleaning people. 2 were excellent, 2 were not. Only one brought her own supplies. The rest just leave me a list.

Currently I pay $125 per visit and I am thrilled to have someone do this for me.

I have always found my cleaning people via a recommendation from an aquaintance.

Good luck,

I guess I need to expand my social circle as everyone I ask around here has no idea.

I don't mind doing my own laundry, cooking, stuff like that.

Between work, two active kids, my grad school, DH's work and scouting, there aren't enough hours left in the day!

I end up staying up after everyone else has gone to bed to get things done.


I'm not getting any younger here! LOL

Thanks!

 

[smidgy]

$30 a week, even for a ranch house, is a joke. you are getting quite a deal.
I would say $15-20 an hour. go with someone recommended.. an individual, not a service.

 

[beansmom]

yeah, my mind is boggled over the $30, too! Wow!

I live in a sort of 'well to do' neighborhood---the guy next door to us used to be the governor --so I'm sure the prices charged in this area are a bit higher than the average and the houses are pretty big...lots of floor space.

We pay $100 a week to have the house tidied up, floors swept and mopped and everything dusted and all the bathrooms done. Now my DS is my housekeeper now and he says he's asked other housekeepers in the area and they said they get about $200 per visit. I guess some of it depends on your area, etc.

I don't have a 'real job' altho I work with DH sometimes and I think the best money we spend is on the housekeeping. I simply do not want to do it.

 

[dawson5]

I refuse to have someone do that for me. (we were robbed a few years ago, just don't like strangers in my house now.) Anyways, my neighbor has cleaning people. She won't use a service, I don't know why though. She pays $20/hr. The last ones she had were never on time and just recently fired them, she works from home and waiting for them to show up, she was missing work. New people are not as good, but they are on time.

I just want to point out that if you do go individual or service, make sure they are bonded and insured. Good friends of ours, they hired someone and she ended up stealing from them. This would come into play, especially if you are leaving a key for them to clean while you are not at home.

Also, call around. Each person or service is different. What they do and how much they charge is different. You can negotiate price with some people. Some people charge two different rates, one for one-time only cleans and another for regular customers.

 

[2minnies]

I found our housekeeper through a personal recommendation. I had to wait 2 months for an open spot! $20 hr/5 hours per visit (every other week). Best. Thing. Ever. I tried a service and it wasn't for us - they rarely came during their designated time slot and it was always new people. I was constantly calling for someone to come back as they would "forget" to clean something.

 

[#1hoosierfan]

We have a cleaning lady that comes every 3 weeks (would love to have every 2 weeks, but not in the budget right now.) Our house is about 1500 square feet with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. We pay $75 per visit... I honestly have no idea how long she stays because we are at work when she comes. She does all of the normal dusting, mopping, etc each time and then deep cleans one area each time..... dusting baseboards, ceiling fans, pulling cushions from couch and vaccuuming it, etc.

With only having her every 3 weeks I obviously have to do some "between visit" cleaning but it is not too bad.

Dh and I tease that if we ever get in financial trouble we will go without food before we get rid of our cleaning lady.

 

[LuvLuvLuv]

i've really been considering this!! this thread is so helpful!! both me and my fiance work 2 jobs and between the two, we are at one or two 7 days per week. beyond that he plays softball (i had to quit because my workload is too heavy) a couple nights per week, and i still have things like shopping and grocery store on my one or two evenings off. we'll be out of debt (besides cars and the mortgage) within 2 years.

one of our biggest fights is cleaning. neither one of us has time and we're both exhausted. if only the dog could figure out the dishwasher

we have a condo and i'd LOVE to have someone every 2 weeks come in and help. it would be worth the cost to save our sanity. thanks for everyone who contributed!!

 

[jjsmom]

$30 a week, even for a ranch house, is a joke. you are getting quite a deal.
I would say $15-20 an hour. go with someone recommended.. an individual, not a service.

LOL Your mom is getting quite a bargain!
I thought I'd give a reverse opinion on this topic, since I earn my living cleaning houses. Here are my thoughts:
-All of my jobs have been referral based. My clients know and trust me. They don't have to be in the house watching over me.
-Details such as whether or not you will allow the TV to be on, how much time for a break/lunch etc. should be worked out in advance.
-Most of my clients prefer that I use their household products.
-Communicate in detail exactly what you want done. Do not assume that she will know what to do.
-$15-$20/hour is the standard rate
-A good housekeeper will always do a little more than is asked.
-My clients do their own laundry except one older lady.
Good luck!

 

[usnuzuloose]

I really need someone who is good, right now I have someone but I need to have a conversation with her she doesnt wipe all my appliances. I only have my microwave, a bread machine, a little coffee pot, and my popcorn machine. She isnt moving anything to clean underneath it either. I dont feel I should have to tell her to do those things or get to the cobwebs. I dont ask for a deep cleaning as I know its more. We have a 2 bedroom apt and she only cleans the 2 bathrooms, one bedroom, kithchen and living room. She misses alot of the dusting. I dont pay much 50 dollars and that was her quote. I guess I need to find someone knew.

 

[Vowelmommy]

I pay $30 a week for 2 hours. She does all the floors, the bathrooms, changes the sheets and vacuums/dusts.

 

[shortbun]

I have two women every two weeks. They mop swifer style every floor or vacuum, they clean three bathrooms, use a wool tool to clean all the ceiling corners and edges, they clean the kitchen, fronts, counters, empty the dishwasher and load it, they focus on two rooms every time they are here-doing jams, light plates, light fixtures, fans and clean my big windows-not the little ones, just the picture windows. My upstairs is 2200sq ft. and that's what they clean every two weeks and they clean it well, polished chrome and all for $130. It takes them two hours each. They are major cleaners, my house always looks good. They would do a load of laundry if I every had it organized for
them. They are honest, professional and pleasant women although they work hard so we don't chit chat. My mom had a cleaning woman who we all loved, but she talked the whole time and so my mom got so she'd just leave her a key.

 

[beansmom]

definitely agree about asking around for recommendations and for spelling out what is expected/allowed before they begin working for you.

again, housekeeping is not my idea of fun and i'd rather give up something else than my housekeeper.

 

[msmama]

Yep, my housekeeper came by recommendation, too. My neighbor uses the same woman (convenient for us all when she comes on the same day she only has to go across the street).

I pay $100 every 2 weeks. She does all the heavy work in the kitchen (including cleaning the fridge and oven though not every week), floors, bathrooms. She would change sheets but I don't have her do that usually. She does windows once or twice a year.

She brings her own stuff - there's something about taxes and being considered a "domestic employee" if they use your stuff or something like that.

I just love the way my house looks after she leaves!

Maybe have a look at Craigslist or your local paper. I have to say it seems a the good housekeepers are usually full and you have to wait until someone moves to get a spot.

 

[LovableGluttons]

I absolutely LOVE reading what your housekeepers do for you and for such a great price!

I worry I'll either get someone who does a terrible job, damages my things, or steals from me.

I was that kid who loved to go to other girls houses and clean their rooms! LOL I just didn't like to clean mine. My mother was sure I'd grow up to clean houses for a profession.

I know at least one other family in my subdivision who would love to have someone come once a week to clean as well.


If we had the same person/people/service, I know there are others here who would hire them.

They could just go house to house and be done, no travel time between!