Cleaning 4000 sq foot home

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do not know what people are talking about? If I have a clean house to begin with. Then it is easily 2 hours to JUST MAINTAIN everyday - daily laundry, daily light cleaning of bathrooms, daily making beds and quick vacuum of bedrooms, daily collecting of coffee mugs and such things from each rooms, daily recycling of mail and newspaper, cans, cups, dusting, straightening the living areas, daily watering of indoor and outdoors plants. The cooking, dish washing, cleaning kitchen - another hour

On the weekends - washing the floors, more detailed vacuum. dusting picture frames etc, cleaning cobwebs, cleaning appliances, wiping down cabinets, laundering bedsheets, towels. Cleaning showers, tubs etc. Sorting put pantry, cleaning refrigerators. I am not counting grocery shopping etc - which also takes time.

Those who clean once a week, I want to ask - are you pretty much ignoring everyday messes and living with it? Maybe your laundry piles up? Or your bathroom floors and toilets are a little unclean? I cannot imagine the house being clean for more than 1 day if you have kids. You have to do some cleaning. ANd if you are showering and using the bathrooms, there is no way that it does not require at least a quick wipe down with Clorox wipes everyday. So if you are not cleaning everyday you are actually letting your house grow dirtier everyday, until you get down to cleaning it on the weekends.

Bwahahah. Who's got that kind of time? Our house really doesn't get that dirty in between the weekly housekeeper. We do laundry 2x/week at most, sometimes just once depending on what sports season it is. I clean the kitchen after we eat - it takes a few minutes. No one is allowed to leave coffee mugs or food around the house so no collecting required.

It takes at least 2-hour worth of work from me everyday to make it ship-shape.

As for clothes, I wash at least two sets of clothes per person, each day. I have found that doing laundry is not a pain, but folding and putting them in dressers is a pain. And if I do not do laundry everyday, then it is unmanageable.

I cook a lot (at least an hour a day) - because my family is finicky about food. So, cleaning kitchen is a lot more involved than wiping down counters. I have to make sure that the floors are mopped everyday and every few weeks I need to clean the burner and the burner pans with oven cleaner.

I have tried to have my family make beds everyday before they step out of the house - but they do such a poor job (basically, they pull the comforter over the entire bed...ugh!) - that I have to redo it.

I have actually switched to white towels and white bedsheets to make weekly washing easier.

I don't think it is too much work - but cleaning a house (mine is 3500 sq ft minus basement) for me is a couple of hours worth of work - every single day.

I said 6 man hours and I was talking about a deep cleaning. My kids clean up every night before they get dessert: their toys, wipe kitchen table/sweep kitchen floor, put away laundry, etc., so I wasn't counting those. Those I think of as "chores" vs. what my housekeeper does every other week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do not know what people are talking about? If I have a clean house to begin with. Then it is easily 2 hours to JUST MAINTAIN everyday - daily laundry, daily light cleaning of bathrooms, daily making beds and quick vacuum of bedrooms, daily collecting of coffee mugs and such things from each rooms, daily recycling of mail and newspaper, cans, cups, dusting, straightening the living areas, daily watering of indoor and outdoors plants. The cooking, dish washing, cleaning kitchen - another hour

On the weekends - washing the floors, more detailed vacuum. dusting picture frames etc, cleaning cobwebs, cleaning appliances, wiping down cabinets, laundering bedsheets, towels. Cleaning showers, tubs etc. Sorting put pantry, cleaning refrigerators. I am not counting grocery shopping etc - which also takes time.

Those who clean once a week, I want to ask - are you pretty much ignoring everyday messes and living with it? Maybe your laundry piles up? Or your bathroom floors and toilets are a little unclean? I cannot imagine the house being clean for more than 1 day if you have kids. You have to do some cleaning. ANd if you are showering and using the bathrooms, there is no way that it does not require at least a quick wipe down with clorax wipes everyday. So if you are not cleaning everyday you are actually letting your house grow dirtier everyday, until you get down to cleaning it on the weekends.

My worst nightmare is a MIL like you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Or, you could have bought a home that was manageable. Why the hell do people think they need these crazy homes?

My thoughts exactly. These are the same people who complain about how much it costs to fill up their escalade. Welcome to planet earth, try thinking about the fact that you share it with other people sometime.

+2

Jesus, people. You are not zoo animals. You don't need a habitat of that size for 4 goddamn people.

Unless they are taking up more land than the families which came before them, I don't see any reason you should be complaining. It's their money, they can buy a big house if they want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do not know what people are talking about? If I have a clean house to begin with. Then it is easily 2 hours to JUST MAINTAIN everyday - daily laundry, daily light cleaning of bathrooms, daily making beds and quick vacuum of bedrooms, daily collecting of coffee mugs and such things from each rooms, daily recycling of mail and newspaper, cans, cups, dusting, straightening the living areas, daily watering of indoor and outdoors plants. The cooking, dish washing, cleaning kitchen - another hour

On the weekends - washing the floors, more detailed vacuum. dusting picture frames etc, cleaning cobwebs, cleaning appliances, wiping down cabinets, laundering bedsheets, towels. Cleaning showers, tubs etc. Sorting put pantry, cleaning refrigerators. I am not counting grocery shopping etc - which also takes time.

Those who clean once a week, I want to ask - are you pretty much ignoring everyday messes and living with it? Maybe your laundry piles up? Or your bathroom floors and toilets are a little unclean? I cannot imagine the house being clean for more than 1 day if you have kids. You have to do some cleaning. ANd if you are showering and using the bathrooms, there is no way that it does not require at least a quick wipe down with clorax wipes everyday. So if you are not cleaning everyday you are actually letting your house grow dirtier everyday, until you get down to cleaning it on the weekends.

My worst nightmare is a MIL like you.

Why? Do you intend to live with your MIL?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My house is 4000 sq feet. I can't keep up with the cleaning anymore.

My question: if you have a similar sized home, how long does it take to clean it?
If you have a cleaning service, how long does it take them?

I am thinking even if I can hire out part of it, that would help. We have hardwood everywhere. So if I can find someone to do bathrooms and floors, it would help.

Do you work? If not, then cleaning should be your entire job, as it would take you about 40 hours a week to scrub from top to bottom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would live in a 10 000 sq FT house if I could.

so you could have one wing while your spouse has another?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do not know what people are talking about? If I have a clean house to begin with. Then it is easily 2 hours to JUST MAINTAIN everyday - daily laundry, daily light cleaning of bathrooms, daily making beds and quick vacuum of bedrooms, daily collecting of coffee mugs and such things from each rooms, daily recycling of mail and newspaper, cans, cups, dusting, straightening the living areas, daily watering of indoor and outdoors plants. The cooking, dish washing, cleaning kitchen - another hour

On the weekends - washing the floors, more detailed vacuum. dusting picture frames etc, cleaning cobwebs, cleaning appliances, wiping down cabinets, laundering bedsheets, towels. Cleaning showers, tubs etc. Sorting put pantry, cleaning refrigerators. I am not counting grocery shopping etc - which also takes time.

Those who clean once a week, I want to ask - are you pretty much ignoring everyday messes and living with it? Maybe your laundry piles up? Or your bathroom floors and toilets are a little unclean? I cannot imagine the house being clean for more than 1 day if you have kids. You have to do some cleaning. ANd if you are showering and using the bathrooms, there is no way that it does not require at least a quick wipe down with clorax wipes everyday. So if you are not cleaning everyday you are actually letting your house grow dirtier everyday, until you get down to cleaning it on the weekends.

My worst nightmare is a MIL like you.

Is this your house?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Or, you could have bought a home that was manageable. Why the hell do people think they need these crazy homes?

My thoughts exactly. These are the same people who complain about how much it costs to fill up their escalade. Welcome to planet earth, try thinking about the fact that you share it with other people sometime.

You sound jealous, why not live in a huge house if you can.

Hmmm. Because it's SMARTER to live in a home that doesn't require outsourcing just to do basic things like cleaning and weeding a garden?

I have the feeling you have other people raise your infants also while you Metro an hour each way into DC to slave away at a job that lets you live in a tacky McMansion that Juanita and Marisol poke around in every few days while they are barely lifting a finger to clean.

Listen, bitch

My nanny "raises" my kids each morning from 6:30 to 9:30 b/c I'm at work by 7 am. (short commute)

And no, we don't live in a McMansion. We live in a 2400 sq. ft. home in the outer burbs b/c my husband likes land.

So stop being such a goddamn extremist.

There are many of us who work, who have nannies/other childcare, and who outsource our cleaning.

Get a grip, lady.

love your use of Hispanic names, by the way . . . As an Hispanic, thanks for perpetuating stereotypes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do not know what people are talking about? If I have a clean house to begin with. Then it is easily 2 hours to JUST MAINTAIN everyday - daily laundry, daily light cleaning of bathrooms, daily making beds and quick vacuum of bedrooms, daily collecting of coffee mugs and such things from each rooms, daily recycling of mail and newspaper, cans, cups, dusting, straightening the living areas, daily watering of indoor and outdoors plants. The cooking, dish washing, cleaning kitchen - another hour

On the weekends - washing the floors, more detailed vacuum. dusting picture frames etc, cleaning cobwebs, cleaning appliances, wiping down cabinets, laundering bedsheets, towels. Cleaning showers, tubs etc. Sorting put pantry, cleaning refrigerators. I am not counting grocery shopping etc - which also takes time.

Those who clean once a week, I want to ask - are you pretty much ignoring everyday messes and living with it? Maybe your laundry piles up? Or your bathroom floors and toilets are a little unclean? I cannot imagine the house being clean for more than 1 day if you have kids. You have to do some cleaning. ANd if you are showering and using the bathrooms, there is no way that it does not require at least a quick wipe down with Clorox wipes everyday. So if you are not cleaning everyday you are actually letting your house grow dirtier everyday, until you get down to cleaning it on the weekends.

Bwahahah. Who's got that kind of time? Our house really doesn't get that dirty in between the weekly housekeeper. We do laundry 2x/week at most, sometimes just once depending on what sports season it is. I clean the kitchen after we eat - it takes a few minutes. No one is allowed to leave coffee mugs or food around the house so no collecting required.

It takes at least 2-hour worth of work from me everyday to make it ship-shape.

As for clothes, I wash at least two sets of clothes per person, each day. I have found that doing laundry is not a pain, but folding and putting them in dressers is a pain. And if I do not do laundry everyday, then it is unmanageable.

I cook a lot (at least an hour a day) - because my family is finicky about food. So, cleaning kitchen is a lot more involved than wiping down counters. I have to make sure that the floors are mopped everyday and every few weeks I need to clean the burner and the burner pans with oven cleaner.

I have tried to have my family make beds everyday before they step out of the house - but they do such a poor job (basically, they pull the comforter over the entire bed...ugh!) - that I have to redo it.

I have actually switched to white towels and white bedsheets to make weekly washing easier.

I don't think it is too much work - but cleaning a house (mine is 3500 sq ft minus basement) for me is a couple of hours worth of work - every single day.

I said 6 man hours and I was talking about a deep cleaning. My kids clean up every night before they get dessert: their toys, wipe kitchen table/sweep kitchen floor, put away laundry, etc., so I wasn't counting those. Those I think of as "chores" vs. what my housekeeper does every other week.

So, pretty much same as my house, except I am also doing light cleaning of bathrooms, vacuum of bedrooms and making beds. My 2 man-hours makes sense. You can call it chores, kid's job, whatever - but to have a clean house - either you light clean everyday - or you learn to live with some mess and do a deep down cleaning every weekend. No getting away from it! Even if you clean as you go, you will cumulatively spend that much time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do not know what people are talking about? If I have a clean house to begin with. Then it is easily 2 hours to JUST MAINTAIN everyday - daily laundry, daily light cleaning of bathrooms, daily making beds and quick vacuum of bedrooms, daily collecting of coffee mugs and such things from each rooms, daily recycling of mail and newspaper, cans, cups, dusting, straightening the living areas, daily watering of indoor and outdoors plants. The cooking, dish washing, cleaning kitchen - another hour

On the weekends - washing the floors, more detailed vacuum. dusting picture frames etc, cleaning cobwebs, cleaning appliances, wiping down cabinets, laundering bedsheets, towels. Cleaning showers, tubs etc. Sorting put pantry, cleaning refrigerators. I am not counting grocery shopping etc - which also takes time.

Those who clean once a week, I want to ask - are you pretty much ignoring everyday messes and living with it? Maybe your laundry piles up? Or your bathroom floors and toilets are a little unclean? I cannot imagine the house being clean for more than 1 day if you have kids. You have to do some cleaning. ANd if you are showering and using the bathrooms, there is no way that it does not require at least a quick wipe down with clorax wipes everyday. So if you are not cleaning everyday you are actually letting your house grow dirtier everyday, until you get down to cleaning it on the weekends.

My worst nightmare is a MIL like you.

Is this your house?

Better this house than two hours of life wasted on cleaning every day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would live in a 10 000 sq FT house if I could.

so you could have one wing while your spouse has another?

No, I love my husband, but I love having space for everything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It takes three women 2 hours to clean my house. They charge $130. Just hire a cleaner for the kitchen and baths if you don't want to pay the full amount. It saves so much time.

It is 6 man-hours. And it seems right for the price.

Do they do your laundry?
Take care of clutter?
Change sheets?
Fold and put laundered clothes in dressers?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Hmmm. Because it's SMARTER to live in a home that doesn't require outsourcing just to do basic things like cleaning and weeding a garden?

I have the feeling you have other people raise your infants also while you Metro an hour each way into DC to slave away at a job that lets you live in a tacky McMansion that Juanita and Marisol poke around in every few days while they are barely lifting a finger to clean.

If you clean your own house, the market clearly doesn't think you're as smart as you believe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do not know what people are talking about? If I have a clean house to begin with. Then it is easily 2 hours to JUST MAINTAIN everyday - daily laundry, daily light cleaning of bathrooms, daily making beds and quick vacuum of bedrooms, daily collecting of coffee mugs and such things from each rooms, daily recycling of mail and newspaper, cans, cups, dusting, straightening the living areas, daily watering of indoor and outdoors plants. The cooking, dish washing, cleaning kitchen - another hour

On the weekends - washing the floors, more detailed vacuum. dusting picture frames etc, cleaning cobwebs, cleaning appliances, wiping down cabinets, laundering bedsheets, towels. Cleaning showers, tubs etc. Sorting put pantry, cleaning refrigerators. I am not counting grocery shopping etc - which also takes time.

Those who clean once a week, I want to ask - are you pretty much ignoring everyday messes and living with it? Maybe your laundry piles up? Or your bathroom floors and toilets are a little unclean? I cannot imagine the house being clean for more than 1 day if you have kids. You have to do some cleaning. ANd if you are showering and using the bathrooms, there is no way that it does not require at least a quick wipe down with clorax wipes everyday. So if you are not cleaning everyday you are actually letting your house grow dirtier everyday, until you get down to cleaning it on the weekends.

My worst nightmare is a MIL like you.

Is this your house?

Better this house than two hours of life wasted on cleaning every day.

Really? I am quite house proud. Why buy a house and pay mortgage if you live like the people in "Hoarders"? I have a neighbor like that, she does not call anyone and her kids do not play with anyone because their house is filthy.

Do not think of it as 2 hours of your life, think of it as 2 man-hours and divvy up the work with your family members. Maybe if you all work together - it will be just 20-30 minutes of your time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would live in a 10 000 sq FT house if I could.

so you could have one wing while your spouse has another?

No, I love my husband, but I love having space for everything.

So . . . if you want 10,000 sq ft to store your stuff, what I'm imagining right now is the much smaller home of a hoarder.

good thing your husband loves you