Paying house cleaners when we are away…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She is out of town three months. She pays $100 every three weeks. Three months equals 12 weeks. She is missing four cleaning appointments. 4 x 100 = 400. She's paying $500.

Is my math wrong?

Yes, she pays $200 every other week so it would be $200 x 2 x 3 months or $800.

Only she doesn’t have to work for those three months and has the option to take a semi-paid vacation, or find alternative work during that time, while being paid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are traveling for a couple of months this spring and will turn the water off and lock up the house. We have a bi- weekly house cleaner that we pay $200 per visit. (4 hours of cleaning). I’ve paid her when we have been on vacation in the past but this will be 4x in a row and feels a bit excessive. Any thoughts on how to best handle?

OP. questions what to pay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are snowboarding for the first time. Will be gone three months. I typically give her $100 to clean our upstairs once every three weeks.
I gave her $500 this Christmas to hold our spot until April. She was more than happy to do this.

Not OP. This poster is paying regular salary plus $100.

[Anonymous]

OP here- she came today and I showed her how to turn the water valve on and off. She will just come as usual and clean what she can and also water plants and things like that.

[Anonymous]

Op again- I am not the snowboarder- that is another poster who was describing how they pay when they are away.

[Anonymous]

Quick question how much does turning off the water actually save you.

Also, would you be open to allowing a management company to manage short term rental of your home while you are away? The home could generate an income that would cover expenses …

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Quick question how much does turning off the water actually save you.

Also, would you be open to allowing a management company to manage short term rental of your home while you are away? The home could generate an income that would cover expenses …

It’s to stop leaks and floods, not save money.

[Anonymous]

Yes- we aren’t trying to save money. Several years ago one of our neighbors went on vacation and a toilet on the upper level leaked for a week- they had to replace all of the flooring and drywall throughout their entire 3 story home and moved out for 6 months. They also lost a lot of sentimental items…. We always turn it off if we are going away for more than a few days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Quick question how much does turning off the water actually save you.

Also, would you be open to allowing a management company to manage short term rental of your home while you are away? The home could generate an income that would cover expenses …

I would not recommend this at all.

[Anonymous]

If they are great house cleaners, meaning you can depend on them to show up when they say they will and they do a very efficient job (pay close attention to detail!) plus they have not stolen anything from your home (trustworthy) then you may not want to lose them since having a good cleaner or cleaners who clean how you like them to is not always easy to find.

Give them a specific cleaning duty for the weeks that you will be gone, specifically have them clean something that is typically not one of their regular cleaning tasks.

Maybe have them scrub the oven or the interior of your refrigerator.

Or ask them to possibly organize the kitchen pantry or your primary bedroom’s walk-in closet.