topic Re: Home housekeeping services in Home

Home housekeeping services

Evie2004 — Tue, 20 Sep 2016 01:41:00 GMT

My husband & I hired a lady to help us out while I was recovering from knee surgery..we just asked her help with cleaning our kitchen & 2 bathrooms every 2 weeks..she did a great job & then she offered to clean our entire home every month instead..so my husband thought this was a great idea..we were really looking forward to help with floor care, in particular, & I did tell her this.

We are clean people who pick up after ourselves..2000 sq feet, 3 bedrooms (1 used rarely, when we have family visit & other one is a den/office). We asked her to do what she normally does for a monthly clean, no laundry, windows, etc. Well, she was here last Saturday, called us after 90 minutes & said she was finished. I got a chance to look at the house today & the only thing she did to the 3 bedrooms was vacuum the carpeting..furniture was quite dusty, with no signs of anything being wiped..the bathrooms & kitchen were clean..but honestly, did not need much done to them anyway..

My question is this, is this what normally gets done with a monthly cleaning?

And, if you don't mind, what is the time normally spent on your home.. we paid her what we paid her for the previous cleaning of bathrooms & kitchen every 2 weeks...

Thanks for any input.

Re: Home housekeeping services

151949 — Tue, 20 Sep 2016 02:00:10 GMT

Dust all furniture, dust all the shutters, vacuum all rugs, mops all hard surface floors, scrubs toilets, tubs and showers and sinks, cleans mirrors.Wipes down the backsplash in the kitchen, wipes off the kitchen cabinets & counters, empties & cleans all waste cans. She probably does more but that is all I can think of right now. When she is done our house is pristine. If she left without doing anything I would call her to come back, but she has never done that. BTW I get my house cleaned every 2 weeks because my housekeeper makes it less expensive to get it cleaned every 2weeks insread of monthly.

Re: Home housekeeping services

birkin baby — Tue, 20 Sep 2016 02:10:11 GMT

How much do you pay? Why would you only pay the amount for whole house that you paid previously for cleaning kitchen and two bathrooms?

Re: Home housekeeping services

OnlyShopsOnline — Tue, 20 Sep 2016 02:12:10 GMT

I've watched sometimes when neighbors have had cleaning services. They are usually in and out in an hour or less. The houses in our neighborhood are between 1500 and 1800 sq. ft. It takes me that long to thoroughly clean one of our bathrooms.

I can't even do a quicky clean in an hour....unless I just run through the rooms that company will see.

Re: Home housekeeping services

GCR18 — Tue, 20 Sep 2016 02:20:53 GMT

I hired merry maids a couple years ago. My house is the same size as yours. I paid around $95 twice a month to clean. Two ladies came for 1.5 hrs. They cleaned, 1 bedroom, 1.5 baths, kitchen, eating area, living room and entry. Pricing was based on them skipping rooms. They dusted every surface, vacuumed, washed all tile floors, scrubbed toilets/sinks/showers/counter tops. Every time they would spend extra time in two rooms. They would dust the base boards, ceiling fans, pictures.

When my work travel schedule went away, I couldn't justify paying for it when I could do it. Loved them though.

If you keep the cleaner, write a list of what you want done and have her sign it. That will hold her responsible.

Re: Home housekeeping services

Annabellethecat66 — Tue, 20 Sep 2016 03:02:23 GMT

Both of my daughters (and their friends) have and have had cleaning people. My oldest daughter had one for a long time but said he had no interest any longer....They both cleaned the house BEFORE the maids came because otherwise they spent time picking things up and not doing what they wanted done.

My middle daughter has a full time maid and a nanny now. She said places like Merry Maids only dust and vacuum. The other daughter (who no longer wants one) said her house cleaner was good but wasn't worth the price.

I need to have someone clean my house but I don't trust many people. I envy people who have someone they feel like they can trust. There aren't many out there anymore.

Re: Home housekeeping services

Evie2004 — Tue, 20 Sep 2016 03:13:47 GMT

birkinbaby, we paid her $60. for the every 2 weeks, & now $120. for monthly clean..

She has a full time job in another field & has a couple of clients on Saturdays.

Re: Home housekeeping services

Evie2004 — Tue, 20 Sep 2016 03:23:25 GMT

So, 1.5 hrs x 2= 3 hours! Interesting..I like your idea of making a list to make sure we are on the same page..I do want to address the dusting issue with her..don't want to feel I have to do that before she comes. I think we will talk with her & try it one more time, esp with the holidays coming.

Re: Home housekeeping services

ECBG — Tue, 20 Sep 2016 04:24:31 GMT

@Annabellethecat66 wrote:
Both of my daughters (and their friends) have and have had cleaning people. My oldest daughter had one for a long time but said he had no interest any longer....They both cleaned the house BEFORE the maids came because otherwise they spent time picking things up and not doing what they wanted done.

My middle daughter has a full time maid and a nanny now. She said places like Merry Maids only dust and vacuum. The other daughter (who no longer wants one) said her house cleaner was good but wasn't worth the price.

I need to have someone clean my house but I don't trust many people. I envy people who have someone they feel like they can trust. There aren't many out there anymore.

@Annabellethecat66,Look on Angie's List. Wonderful people with references on every kind of service.

Re: Home housekeeping services

gmkb — Tue, 20 Sep 2016 07:19:10 GMT

I have a cleaning service that comes once a month. Two women share the workload.

One goes through and feather dusts all pictures on the wall, ceiling fans, tops of doorways, and all similar areas than cannot be reached easily.

The second woman begins with the kitchen. All cabinets, the sink, appliances, countertops, and floor are cleaned. Even the teakettle on the stove gets a polishing.

The bathroom cabinets, toilets, tub/shower, mirrors, sinks and floors are cleaned.

The bedrooms, living room, dining room, tv room are all dusted including window ledges and vacuumed. Mirrors cleaned also. The less heavy pieces of furniture are moved to clean under. The laundry room is wiped clean, including the floor.

Once a year all windows inside, all doors and woodwork, and all heavier furniture is moved and those areas cleaned. The charge is additional for this service and an additional person is sent.

For the monthly service the two women are here about 90 minutes.

Re: Home housekeeping services

CelticCrafter — Tue, 20 Sep 2016 09:51:58 GMT

@OnlyShopsOnline wrote:
I've watched sometimes when neighbors have had cleaning services. They are usually in and out in an hour or less. The houses in our neighborhood are between 1500 and 1800 sq. ft. It takes me that long to thoroughly clean one of our bathrooms.

I can't even do a quicky clean in an hour....unless I just run through the rooms that company will see.

Me too and it's a tiny full bath. I can't even fit a hamper in there.

Re: Home housekeeping services

ID2 — Tue, 20 Sep 2016 10:33:54 GMT

I've never had anyone other than me clean my house. I couldn't because I know I surely wouldn't be happy with someone elses work. Sounds like more of an aggravation. I used to clean my parents place when they got up in years. I found it fun and I earned a bit of pin money that my mom would slip me.

Re: Home housekeeping services

151949 — Tue, 20 Sep 2016 11:16:15 GMT

My housekeeper is working in my house for 4 hours , comes to clean every 2 weeks for $85 each time - if she only comes once a month she charges $200 so it is less expensive for her to clean every 2 weeks, because she says it gets too dirty in a month and it takes her too long to get it clean, so she prefers to come every 2 weeks and makes that financially attractive to her clients.

In between when she is there I tidy up the house daily, make the beds and do the dishes etc. I do the laundry - except she picks up the throw rugs from the bathrooms and washes and dries them, then puts them back down after she mops the floors.On the morning she is coming to clean I do get up early and tidy up - put everything away - esp. in DH's den - because she doesn't put things away due to not having any way of knowing where to put things. She does not do windows or anything outside - my DH does the windows and keeps the lanai clean.

Re: Home housekeeping services

gmkb — Tue, 20 Sep 2016 12:41:18 GMT

@OnlyShopsOnline wrote:
I've watched sometimes when neighbors have had cleaning services. They are usually in and out in an hour or less. The houses in our neighborhood are between 1500 and 1800 sq. ft. It takes me that long to thoroughly clean one of our bathrooms.

I can't even do a quicky clean in an hour....unless I just run through the rooms that company will see.

@OnlyShopsOnline I think the difference is when we clean our homes, there are distractions like telephone, stopping to look at the tv a few minutes, taking a sip of coffee,etc. I do agree that one hour is probably much too quick to do a good job.

The two young women that clean my home are there about 1 1/2 - 2 hours. They come in, say hello and never stop working for the rest of the time. They have their duties divided between them and never stop till finished. Of course they are in their 30's, so their energy level is still high.

Re: Home housekeeping services

Brigitta — Tue, 20 Sep 2016 12:46:05 GMT

I have a mother and daughter come every other week to clean my villa. We have 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms, a dining room, living room , klitchen, and utility room.

They charge $70 and are here about 1 1/2 hrs. They work very efficiently and do a great job. I am very happy and thankful that I am able to have them here to help me.

Re: Home housekeeping services

qualitygal — Tue, 20 Sep 2016 13:57:50 GMT

My home in my younger days use to take me 2 hrs to clean every Sat., that's when I could move like an Elk through the woods. I just suggest, mentioning to her about your dusting wants. People seem in such a quandry sometimes about situations when I think all we have to do, is talk about it. I'm sure you could handle that, you did a great job posting.

Re: Home housekeeping services

Libbylady — Tue, 20 Sep 2016 14:21:47 GMT

I have had my cleaning lady for 28 years, since we built our house. She had been hired by my builder to clean before we moved in. We got to talking and she agreed to clean me every 2 weeks.

She has been a godsend to me, and I was able to thank her by getting her 5 new clients who have kept her almost as long as I have.

She is here 5 hours and I pay $140. I always pick up the house the day before she comes so she can concentrate on dirt & dust, not clutter. I leave out clean towels for all the bathrooms (3 1/2) and empty the trash cans (she comes on my trash day anyway).

I find that I can get so much more accomplished after she has come because I am not distracted by things that need to be tended to in the house.

I love a clean house but no longer can manage to do what I used to do in a day. She is slowing down also and has reduced her client load to 3 people a week. I dread the day she retires... she is 15 years younger than me.

Re: Home housekeeping services

LonestarBabs — Tue, 20 Sep 2016 14:35:13 GMT

We have a cleaning crew every 2 weeks. 2800 sq ft house. 3 bedrooms 3 bathrooms. One story. Two ladies. $125 each time. They take about 90 minutes for the maintenance cleaning. The first visit was 3 ladies and they took longer to get everything really clean for the bi-weekly maintenance.

Get referrals from within your neighborhood via NextDoor. That's what we did and now the same cleaning crew serves several people in our neighborhood!

They have a checklist of what they do each visit -- for exmple, the plantation shutters are wiped down once per month, not each time. But each time the floors are vacuumed and mopped, all surfaces dusted, kitchen counters polished, bathrooms cleaned (showers, tubs, toilets, sinks), cabinet doors dusted/wiped, etc. Very comprehensive.

Re: Home housekeeping services

stargazergal — Tue, 20 Sep 2016 17:29:00 GMT

I clean a 2300 square ft. home, with master bedroom, master bath,

with 3 bedroom, hardwood floors, family room, library, of course

kitchen, livingroom It takes me a good 5 -7 atleast hours to wash all bedding, towels,

sweep, mop, vacuum, make beds, dust, clean windows.... atop that I have

I scrub and sanitize bathrooms. Hands and knees cleaning floors in bathrooms,

clean all mirrors. this is a two story home It is a guest house, I have it hotel ready for

the next guest to arrive.

I take pride in my work and it shows....... $ 85.00

Re: Home housekeeping services

Snoopp — Tue, 20 Sep 2016 18:01:35 GMT

I want a cleaning lady in the worst way. I used to have that service for years and loved it. These days i am too slow and don't have the energy to tackle the whole house in a day.