Cleaning 4000 sq foot home

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A good cleaning takes me six hours. That assumes you are cleaning and not picking up all the things that should be put away. It also assumes you are doing it at least once a week.

Do you actually do that every week? That's a lot.

What can I say, two stories plus a finished basement, five bedrooms, 4 1/2 baths. If you want the bathrooms cleaned, the floors swept or vacuumed, the baseboards done every so often, counters cleaned, etc. it takes a lot. I suppose you could do it every 2 weeks, but the point is that if you let it go too long, the cleaning gets a lot harder. Dust starts to build up and the showers and baths start taking a lot of elbow grease.

OP, do you also have 4 bathrooms?

Close off 2 of them and don't let anyone use them. You have now magically reduced the amount of time you need to clean bathrooms by 1/2.

[Anonymous]

Also -- if you have a family room/rec room/den and a living room or "parlor" -- shut off the parlour and do not let any kids or animals in there -- EVER.

Now that room is easier to clean as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A good cleaning takes me six hours. That assumes you are cleaning and not picking up all the things that should be put away. It also assumes you are doing it at least once a week.

Do you actually do that every week? That's a lot.

What can I say, two stories plus a finished basement, five bedrooms, 4 1/2 baths. If you want the bathrooms cleaned, the floors swept or vacuumed, the baseboards done every so often, counters cleaned, etc. it takes a lot. I suppose you could do it every 2 weeks, but the point is that if you let it go too long, the cleaning gets a lot harder. Dust starts to build up and the showers and baths start taking a lot of elbow grease.

OP, do you also have 4 bathrooms?

Close off 2 of them and don't let anyone use them. You have now magically reduced the amount of time you need to clean bathrooms by 1/2.

OP here. I can't do that. We have four bathrooms. Each of the Two kids have their own in their room that they use, we have our master bathroom we use. There is also a powder room on the main floor, that is used often as we aren't going to go upstairs to use the toilet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I have zero problem with you being house proud. I have a problem with you prescribing this as an only way to live.

There is a myriad of possibilities between living like hoarders and washing two sets of clothes per person per day (again, I have to wonder how this becomes necessary.)

We have people and kids over at least once a week. I don't wince when they walk in with their shoes on. I don't get heartburn if the sofa pillows are tossed about. I don't get constipated if an odd coffee cup lingers. Mopping floors, eh, if you can't see the dirt, I'm not mopping. My life is about my family and friends, doing things we enjoy with people we love. Unmopped floors and unmade beds do not interfere with this. Moderate messes do not disturb me. I choose sleep between cleaning and sleep. Anything major, the cleaners can deal with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also -- if you have a family room/rec room/den and a living room or "parlor" -- shut off the parlour and do not let any kids or animals in there -- EVER.

Now that room is easier to clean as well.

That's just not going to help.
The house is open concept, but we don't use the living and dining room. It still gets dusty and the floors get dusty too.

[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.

OP,

I have a suggestion for you.

Hardwood floors -
To sweep hardwood use the commercial grade flat floor duster - your hardwood floor will be clean in a jiffy. Use it dry.



To wash hard wood floors - use Hoover Floormate (http://www.amazon.com/Hoover-FloorMate-Deluxe-Cleaner-FH40160PC/dp/B00CM220CK/) - it washes and dries at the same time. It is a life-saver. I have two of them - one solely for bathrooms.

Bathrooms -
Use Scrubbing Bubbles - for tubs, sinks and showers. It really cleans up everything easily, without elbow grease. Tilex for mold does the same. Use Lysol toilet cleaner for your toilet pots.


If you can outsource it - great! But beware, there is always issues with the cleaning woman being unreliable - cleaning companies are pricier but much more reliable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

I don't hoard. Quite the opposite, I like spreading out. I like having a workout room, a theatre room for movie viewing, a craft room, a play room, an extra laundry on another floor. NO I don't have these things but they would be nice.

[Anonymous]

Geez, why the haterade for OP? If she wants a 4,000 sq ft home, it's her choice and lol at people calling 4,000 sq ft McMansions.....please.

OP, I went from a 500 sq ft apartment to 1900 sq ft home to now 2700 sq ft. It's a process to clean no matter what the size. If you can financially swing it, having someone at the very least to do a deep clean every other week helps very much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I have zero problem with you being house proud. I have a problem with you prescribing this as an only way to live.

There is a myriad of possibilities between living like hoarders and washing two sets of clothes per person per day (again, I have to wonder how this becomes necessary.)

We have people and kids over at least once a week. I don't wince when they walk in with their shoes on. I don't get heartburn if the sofa pillows are tossed about. I don't get constipated if an odd coffee cup lingers. Mopping floors, eh, if you can't see the dirt, I'm not mopping. My life is about my family and friends, doing things we enjoy with people we love. Unmopped floors and unmade beds do not interfere with this. Moderate messes do not disturb me. I choose sleep between cleaning and sleep. Anything major, the cleaners can deal with.

Did I say you have to live like I do? I said that it takes me 2 man-hours to keep it ship-shaped. If moderate messes do not annoy you - then great. I did not ask you to come and clean my house. Just because you do not clean your house does not mean - 1) you have more of a life 2) you entertain more 3) you are having fun. Keeping a clean house does not mean that you are not doing all those things and more.

I asked the question that if you do not clean everyday - is your house messy? You have answered that moderate amount of mess, unmopped floors and unmade mess do not bother you - in other words - your house is messier than mine. We do make a choice in how we spend our time. If my choice is a clean house everyday - then it will not happen automagically. I will have to get my butt moving or pay someone to do that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I have zero problem with you being house proud. I have a problem with you prescribing this as an only way to live.

There is a myriad of possibilities between living like hoarders and washing two sets of clothes per person per day (again, I have to wonder how this becomes necessary.)

We have people and kids over at least once a week. I don't wince when they walk in with their shoes on. I don't get heartburn if the sofa pillows are tossed about. I don't get constipated if an odd coffee cup lingers. Mopping floors, eh, if you can't see the dirt, I'm not mopping. My life is about my family and friends, doing things we enjoy with people we love. Unmopped floors and unmade beds do not interfere with this. Moderate messes do not disturb me. I choose sleep between cleaning and sleep. Anything major, the cleaners can deal with.

Did I say you have to live like I do? I said that it takes me 2 man-hours to keep it ship-shaped. If moderate messes do not annoy you - then great. I did not ask you to come and clean my house. Just because you do not clean your house does not mean - 1) you have more of a life 2) you entertain more 3) you are having fun. Keeping a clean house does not mean that you are not doing all those things and more.

I asked the question that if you do not clean everyday - is your house messy? You have answered that moderate amount of mess, unmopped floors and unmade mess do not bother you - in other words - your house is messier than mine. We do make a choice in how we spend our time. If my choice is a clean house everyday - then it will not happen automagically. I will have to get my butt moving or pay someone to do that.

Actually, I didn't say anything at all about how much you entertain, or how much life you have. I have no opinion at all on your social activities. You made a comment, paraphrasing, that having a house and paying a mortgage is not worth it if you live like a hoarder, and told a story about your neighbor who is lonely and unpopular on account of your messy house. See how many judgments in one go? So it seemed fairly tame to point out to you, in response, that not cleaning with your particular brand of fervor doesn't equal a) hoarding, or b) being unpopular.

I agree that if you want to keep your house in your preferred state, it would take some effort. I was merely making a comment that your definition of "ship-shape" probably is miles off what most people understand by a clean house, and that if it takes you two hours that you miss, you could probably stop doing 50% of what you're doing, and no one besides you would notice. In other words, you do what you do because it pleases you to clean to your standard, not because the rules of good hygiene or sanitation require it. It is my totally unscientific opinion that 99.9999% of the world's population simply doesn't care if the bed is perfectly straightened out UNDER the comforter thrown on top of said bed.

[Anonymous]

Get a robot vacuum cleaner

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Are you saying most cleaning services in this are do not use Hispanics? Because that's simply untrue. Stereotypes are there for a reason and you know that's true. Inconvenient for you, but true nonetheless.

You may also want to enroll in a sort of charm school or manners class, judging by your salutation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I have zero problem with you being house proud. I have a problem with you prescribing this as an only way to live.

There is a myriad of possibilities between living like hoarders and washing two sets of clothes per person per day (again, I have to wonder how this becomes necessary.)

We have people and kids over at least once a week. I don't wince when they walk in with their shoes on. I don't get heartburn if the sofa pillows are tossed about. I don't get constipated if an odd coffee cup lingers. Mopping floors, eh, if you can't see the dirt, I'm not mopping. My life is about my family and friends, doing things we enjoy with people we love. Unmopped floors and unmade beds do not interfere with this. Moderate messes do not disturb me. I choose sleep between cleaning and sleep. Anything major, the cleaners can deal with.

Did I say you have to live like I do? I said that it takes me 2 man-hours to keep it ship-shaped. If moderate messes do not annoy you - then great. I did not ask you to come and clean my house. Just because you do not clean your house does not mean - 1) you have more of a life 2) you entertain more 3) you are having fun. Keeping a clean house does not mean that you are not doing all those things and more.

I asked the question that if you do not clean everyday - is your house messy? You have answered that moderate amount of mess, unmopped floors and unmade mess do not bother you - in other words - your house is messier than mine. We do make a choice in how we spend our time. If my choice is a clean house everyday - then it will not happen automagically. I will have to get my butt moving or pay someone to do that.

Actually, I didn't say anything at all about how much you entertain, or how much life you have. I have no opinion at all on your social activities. You made a comment, paraphrasing, that having a house and paying a mortgage is not worth it if you live like a hoarder, and told a story about your neighbor who is lonely and unpopular on account of your messy house. See how many judgments in one go? So it seemed fairly tame to point out to you, in response, that not cleaning with your particular brand of fervor doesn't equal a) hoarding, or b) being unpopular.

I agree that if you want to keep your house in your preferred state, it would take some effort. I was merely making a comment that your definition of "ship-shape" probably is miles off what most people understand by a clean house, and that if it takes you two hours that you miss, you could probably stop doing 50% of what you're doing, and no one besides you would notice. In other words, you do what you do because it pleases you to clean to your standard, not because the rules of good hygiene or sanitation require it. It is my totally unscientific opinion that 99.9999% of the world's population simply doesn't care if the bed is perfectly straightened out UNDER the comforter thrown on top of said bed.

Another ignorant person with a myopic world view who does not that around the world most people will make their beds everyday. But whatever! AND my hoarder neighbor also has the same excuse that she has better things to do with her time than clean the house. She is not unpopular but she has isolated herself from other because she does not want anyone to come to her house. Sad!

[Anonymous]

Get an Oreck Orbiter for your wood floors. Costs $400 and worth every penny-- cleans them very well, quickly, easily.

[Anonymous]

I like how people on here declare what size house other people "need." It's entertaining.