Buying a house too big to clean alone?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in a family of 8 in 2600 sq ft. Every Saturday morning, we all had chores. During the week, the older kids helped with laundry, dishes and we all picked up. There is something seriously grotesque about that amount of space. If your kids are going to live with such excess, the least you as parents should do is instill in them the concept that they clean up after themselves.

We have 7500 for a family of four. Save the comments - don't feel the least bit guilty about it.

Cleaners come twice a week(monday and friday) plus our nanny helps out on a daily basis.

Pretty comfortable with the way the kids are turning out and really no worries that they might have too much space. OP - I would expect that you should plan on twice a week especially with younger kids.

How do you even see your kids in a house that large?

What is the point?

Not the poster you are replying to, but the one with 6 peeps in a 10k sqft home. Regardless of the size of the home, there is always a core activity center that people cluster around. This is usually the kitchen, breakfast area, family room, and immediate surrounding areas. With a large home, however, I can have a huge kitchen, huge breakfast area that seats up to 10 people (close friends come over for casual dinner), a huge family room for activities, while still have a huge formal dining room, a huge study, a huge sunroom, and a huge livingroom/front-office. In addition we have a huge foyer, and a hall gallery for displaying our art acquisitions that makes for great stuffy conversation.

Our kids are still young (under 10), so they are still at the phase where they'll hunt me down no matter where I hide. We have a 20-zone intercom system so I can't even poop in peace. I figure when they get into the teens, that's when I'll really find it hard to locate them. As of how, the kids are constantly buzzing around, and occasionally climbing me like a tree if I happen to be stationary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Family of six here that just moved into a 10,000+sqft home earlier this year. The home only has a 4 car garage though, so it's a bit modest in that respect.

We use the same cleaner that used to clean our old house (6000 sqft). Instead of twice a month, however, she now comes once a week and charges the same $150 we used to pay at the old house. Cleaners are one of those things where once you find a good one, you hold on to them.

Ask your new neighbors if they have someone they can recommend.

A friend of mine has someone that clean five days a week for about $400 a week. This is an older 8000sqft home and she goes beyond just cleaning it. She does groceries, minor errands, the laundry, folding, ironing, dry cleaning pickup/drop off, and etc.

Keep in mind, it's not like the kids gets to just get up and leave the table after dinner, or have their rooms in a perpetual mess between cleanings. This is not Downton Abby. The family still has to do their own chores as you would in a smaller house. However, where as I am okay with keeping the floor in the kitchen clean, I haven't the time to dust and mop all 4000sqft of hardwood and marble on the main floor, and I am sure 8 people living in 2800sqft didn't have to do that either.

Having 10,000 sqft, I am finally comfortable. And once we finish unpacking, we will finally be able to pull all of our cars into the garage spaces.

why do you pay her the same amount when she now has 2000 more square feet to clean?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Family of six here that just moved into a 10,000+sqft home earlier this year. The home only has a 4 car garage though, so it's a bit modest in that respect.

We use the same cleaner that used to clean our old house (6000 sqft). Instead of twice a month, however, she now comes once a week and charges the same $150 we used to pay at the old house. Cleaners are one of those things where once you find a good one, you hold on to them.

Ask your new neighbors if they have someone they can recommend.

A friend of mine has someone that clean five days a week for about $400 a week. This is an older 8000sqft home and she goes beyond just cleaning it. She does groceries, minor errands, the laundry, folding, ironing, dry cleaning pickup/drop off, and etc.

Keep in mind, it's not like the kids gets to just get up and leave the table after dinner, or have their rooms in a perpetual mess between cleanings. This is not Downton Abby. The family still has to do their own chores as you would in a smaller house. However, where as I am okay with keeping the floor in the kitchen clean, I haven't the time to dust and mop all 4000sqft of hardwood and marble on the main floor, and I am sure 8 people living in 2800sqft didn't have to do that either.

Having 10,000 sqft, I am finally comfortable. And once we finish unpacking, we will finally be able to pull all of our cars into the garage spaces.

why do you pay her the same amount when she now has 2000 more square feet to clean?

Do the math.

It is 4000 extra square feet.

PP can afford a chateau because she is cheap and exploits her laborers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good Lord, why do you want such a large house?

+1

How fat are these people that each one needs 1200 sq ft to feel comfortable?

Who said it was needed. It's a desire we can finally indulge. Some of us enjoy having space for game rooms, a place to watch movies on a big screen, guest rooms for visiting family, lots of storage, dining rooms that seat large crowds, etc. If you don't want it that's fine but why is it an issue that some people do want those things?

For starters, it has a huge impact on the planet that we all occupy.

It is selfish and teaches your children that all that space is necessary. Which it isn't.

This x100. Totally wasteful. Just because you can do it doesn't mean you should. When I see these huge houses the waste of resources and energy is the first thing that comes to mind.

+1

BTW, are you a Republican? Do you not "believe" in climate change?

Such a huge house is wasteful, as is having so many kids! Really, the impact you are making on the planet is huge -- all those kids and that huge house are consuming a lot of resources, far more than your fair share, should the resources of the world be fairly divided, which they never are, of course.

You probably drive gigantic gas guzzling cars too.

Nobody needs a 10K sq foot house. It's excessive and wasteful. My family of six lives just fine in a 2800 sq ft house. We're perfectly happy and don't want any more space. (yes, we can afford it, but we'd never indulge). Life is too short to spend it cleaning all that space! Possessions enslave, OP. You'll see.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good Lord, why do you want such a large house?

+1

How fat are these people that each one needs 1200 sq ft to feel comfortable?

Who said it was needed. It's a desire we can finally indulge. Some of us enjoy having space for game rooms, a place to watch movies on a big screen, guest rooms for visiting family, lots of storage, dining rooms that seat large crowds, etc. If you don't want it that's fine but why is it an issue that some people do want those things?

For starters, it has a huge impact on the planet that we all occupy.

It is selfish and teaches your children that all that space is necessary. Which it isn't.

This x100. Totally wasteful. Just because you can do it doesn't mean you should. When I see these huge houses the waste of resources and energy is the first thing that comes to mind.

+1

BTW, are you a Republican? Do you not "believe" in climate change?

Such a huge house is wasteful, as is having so many kids! Really, the impact you are making on the planet is huge -- all those kids and that huge house are consuming a lot of resources, far more than your fair share, should the resources of the world be fairly divided, which they never are, of course.

You probably drive gigantic gas guzzling cars too.

Nobody needs a 10K sq foot house. It's excessive and wasteful. My family of six lives just fine in a 2800 sq ft house. We're perfectly happy and don't want any more space. (yes, we can afford it, but we'd never indulge). Life is too short to spend it cleaning all that space! Possessions enslave, OP. You'll see.

Why do you assume Republican when the majority of people in this area and here on dcum are liberal?

I would assume hypocritical democrat before rich republican.

[Anonymous]

OP, I too, am a blended family of 8. I am not judging the size of your home. We have no idea how many generations will be together, who works from home, any handicaps, etc.

In my case, we have four little kids, two college kids who need a "home base", and two adults who each work from home and can't share an office. Our house is under 5,000 sf, and I have all the kids who are home tidy up each Sunday. I have a cleaning woman who comes twice a week and she brings two women with her. It takes them about 5-6 hours I think.

Right now I am only working part time while going to school, but once my business is going full throttle I will need to hire someone who is half nanny (afternoons, after school) and half ... household manager, who can do food shopping, handling repairmen, errands, dinner prep, etc. I will keep the cleaning service.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
NP here. I don't really care about your decisions, OP, but you can't imagine why people are offended at your inevitably high level of consumption? It's the same reason people hate those who drive Hummers or eat red meat every god damn day. It's selfish.

Why would any rational person be offended by the level of consumption of someone else, if that person was self sufficient and met all of the outstanding obligations that society has decided to burden him with in the manner of taxes, zoning laws, and etc.

Really? There are people that hate other people who eat red meat every day? Really? Why not turn all that energy into something productive so that you too can eat red meat more often?

Why is being selfish a bad thing? Selfishness is human nature. It's the reason you own private property, and why communism is a failure. Also, selfishness and charity are not mutually exclusive. People can be selfish and charitable at the same time.

It boggles my mind that there are people who think this way; it makes me sad that these people some times figures out how to vote.

Republican. Tea partier?

[Anonymous]

These threads are hilarious. Some of us like large rooms with big windows and tall ceilings. When I can afford it I hope to build my own large home (using one of my favorite estates as inspiration). I work hard so I can afford to buy the things I want. Not so I can buy the things YOU want.

I would love a breakfast room of this size:


A large formal living area away from the family room and kitchen to host parties in:



A huge bedroom with tons of light:


A cozy den/library:


And my very own grownup bar:



It isn't necessarily about # of rooms. For me it's about the scale

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Family of six here that just moved into a 10,000+sqft home earlier this year. The home only has a 4 car garage though, so it's a bit modest in that respect.

We use the same cleaner that used to clean our old house (6000 sqft). Instead of twice a month, however, she now comes once a week and charges the same $150 we used to pay at the old house. Cleaners are one of those things where once you find a good one, you hold on to them.

why do you pay her the same amount when she now has 2000 more square feet to clean?

Do the math.

It is 4000 extra square feet.

PP can afford a chateau because she is cheap and exploits her laborers.

Math is not the issue here, reading comprehension is. She charges me $150. I can't force her to work at a wage that she doesn't agree with. She volunteered this amount because the cleanings are twice as frequent so she spends about the same amount of time at each cleaning. Although there is more square footage, the number of rooms are similar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
+1

BTW, are you a Republican? Do you not "believe" in climate change?

Such a huge house is wasteful, as is having so many kids! Really, the impact you are making on the planet is huge -- all those kids and that huge house are consuming a lot of resources, far more than your fair share, should the resources of the world be fairly divided, which they never are, of course.

You probably drive gigantic gas guzzling cars too.

Nobody needs a 10K sq foot house. It's excessive and wasteful. My family of six lives just fine in a 2800 sq ft house. We're perfectly happy and don't want any more space. (yes, we can afford it, but we'd never indulge). Life is too short to spend it cleaning all that space! Possessions enslave, OP. You'll see.

Wow, a liberal makes it clear just how irrational their thought process really is.

Having kids is wasteful? "more than your fair share"? Wow. If anything, *YOUR* kids are wasteful as they are diluting the quality of the human gene pool. The world benefits from successful people like me having more kids. I have what I have because I worked hard, created value, and society rewarded me according to the market value of my contributions. I pay just about 50% marginal income tax - every additional dollar I make, I give 50 cents to the government so that people like you don't have to pay your "fair share".

Luckily, no one, especially not people of your ilk, gets to decide who needs what, or what is excessive and wasteful in terms of personal consumption. The beauty of our society is that your family of 6 can live in a 2800sqft home and a rational person like me wont pass judgement on you and feel the need to shame you because my parents housed our family of four in a 600 sqft room that was part of a condo shared with 2 other families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
NP here. I don't really care about your decisions, OP, but you can't imagine why people are offended at your inevitably high level of consumption? It's the same reason people hate those who drive Hummers or eat red meat every god damn day. It's selfish.

Why would any rational person be offended by the level of consumption of someone else, if that person was self sufficient and met all of the outstanding obligations that society has decided to burden him with in the manner of taxes, zoning laws, and etc.

Really? There are people that hate other people who eat red meat every day? Really? Why not turn all that energy into something productive so that you too can eat red meat more often?

Why is being selfish a bad thing? Selfishness is human nature. It's the reason you own private property, and why communism is a failure. Also, selfishness and charity are not mutually exclusive. People can be selfish and charitable at the same time.

It boggles my mind that there are people who think this way; it makes me sad that these people some times figures out how to vote.

Republican. Tea partier?

Right... throw around a label without even an attempt to substantively address the points made. If this is how you dismiss all opposing views, it's no wonder you remain a mindless liberal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
+1

BTW, are you a Republican? Do you not "believe" in climate change?

Such a huge house is wasteful, as is having so many kids! Really, the impact you are making on the planet is huge -- all those kids and that huge house are consuming a lot of resources, far more than your fair share, should the resources of the world be fairly divided, which they never are, of course.

You probably drive gigantic gas guzzling cars too.

Nobody needs a 10K sq foot house. It's excessive and wasteful. My family of six lives just fine in a 2800 sq ft house. We're perfectly happy and don't want any more space. (yes, we can afford it, but we'd never indulge). Life is too short to spend it cleaning all that space! Possessions enslave, OP. You'll see.

Wow, a liberal makes it clear just how irrational their thought process really is.

Having kids is wasteful? "more than your fair share"? Wow. If anything, *YOUR* kids are wasteful as they are diluting the quality of the human gene pool. The world benefits from successful people like me having more kids. I have what I have because I worked hard, created value, and society rewarded me according to the market value of my contributions. I pay just about 50% marginal income tax - every additional dollar I make, I give 50 cents to the government so that people like you don't have to pay your "fair share".

Luckily, no one, especially not people of your ilk, gets to decide who needs what, or what is excessive and wasteful in terms of personal consumption. The beauty of our society is that your family of 6 can live in a 2800sqft home and a rational person like me wont pass judgement on you and feel the need to shame you because my parents housed our family of four in a 600 sqft room that was part of a condo shared with 2 other families.

+100

[Anonymous]

^^^^^^

+1,000

Where do people get off, honestly. I am the 7500 SF, 4 person PP


I haven't told anybody how to live, how dare somebody say what I have is wasteful. I grew up with nothing. Everything we have, we have earned.

For somebody to say that it's 'too much' is beyond insulting. Live your life any way you want - it doesn't impact me and I really don't care. Judge me too, while you are at it. It is actually pretty boring - as usual with every thread on this site - if you can't have it, pretend you don't want it and when necessary, criticize others for having it.

[Anonymous]

To be fair the person in the 10k SF house is contributing more to the community in taxes and hiring people than the one's with smaller houses. You should appreciate them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good Lord, why do you want such a large house?

+1

How fat are these people that each one needs 1200 sq ft to feel comfortable?

That is about optimal. With such a large family, travelling is difficult, so you are home A LOT.