Anonymous wrote:Wow I can’t believe so many of you are paying so little to get 6,000 sq feet cleaned. I had been feeling cheap for only paying my cleaner $150 for cleaning my 2,000 sq foot home monthly (we do monthly for the same reasons as the PP who teleworks and has a napping kid). She works for 3 hours by herself or 2 hours if she brings a friend. She’s not very thorough but I don’t expect more for what I’m paying. When I interviewed cleaners, they all quoted me $150-250.

Agree. I pay 250 for 5000sq feet.

Anonymous wrote:If they come bi weekly, I think there should be an hourly agreed rate similar to a nanny. Otherwise how much deep cleaning can they do again after 3 or 4 days? If you want them to take on a role of organizing, ironing, etc the rate is different than deep cleaning. That would be more fair to the housekeeper and homeowner with clear expectations.

Biweekly in this sense means every two weeks. I know it can mean both, which is why I hate the bi- prefix.

Anonymous wrote:When I used one of the well-known services a couple of years ago for a "deep clean" I paid close to $500 for a team of 3 people. They got my house done in half a day. I tipped each $20 as well.

That isn't exactly what you are asking about, and you would be paying less, but I don't think you would be paying that much less. If possible, get an individual rather than a service. The services clean by a checklist, and don't stray from it. If you get an individual housekeeper you will have much more control over what she does, and will be able to ask her to focus on problem areas.

It does tend to cost less (per visit, anyway) if you hire weekly rather than biweekly.

Services charge more for a one time cleaning because it’s not necessarily maintained. I have a bi weekly service and pay 200 for my 5br 4ba house. One time cleaning would be probably double.

Wow I can’t believe so many of you are paying so little to get 6,000 sq feet cleaned. I had been feeling cheap for only paying my cleaner $150 for cleaning my 2,000 sq foot home monthly (we do monthly for the same reasons as the PP who teleworks and has a napping kid). She works for 3 hours by herself or 2 hours if she brings a friend. She’s not very thorough but I don’t expect more for what I’m paying. When I interviewed cleaners, they all quoted me $150-250.

$175 bi-weekly for three people to clean 2700 sq ft house. They usually stay about 1.5 hours. I don’t tip extra each time but give an extra $175 at holiday time.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I used one of the well-known services a couple of years ago for a "deep clean" I paid close to $500 for a team of 3 people. They got my house done in half a day. I tipped each $20 as well.

That isn't exactly what you are asking about, and you would be paying less, but I don't think you would be paying that much less. If possible, get an individual rather than a service. The services clean by a checklist, and don't stray from it. If you get an individual housekeeper you will have much more control over what she does, and will be able to ask her to focus on problem areas.

It does tend to cost less (per visit, anyway) if you hire weekly rather than biweekly.

This is just so ridiculous. Enjoy thorwing your money away. I have cleaners for 6000 every two weeks and it's $250. They are done in two hours.

It's not "ridiculous" and no one threw money away (why are you so reactionary about other people's money anyway?). If you read the PP you see that it was a "deep clean." That includes things they don't normally do -- such as baseboards, all windows including plantation shutters, ceiling fans, etc.

My regular cleaners so baseboards, ceiling fans and plantation shutters and window cills.

$175 for a 4 person crew bi-weekly for 6500 sqft.

The crew has been with us for well over 15 years.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I pay $250/once per week. She works 8 + hours straight (her choice, I tell her to take breaks but she doesn't). Does all of the laundry which is a HUGE help, plus will re-organize closets etc , cleans up the mess in my kid's room, etc.

How did you connect with her? We have a service but would love to have an individual like this come once per week to keep things clean, do laundry, etc. The service is annoying because they skip things like for example they won't clean under any furniture, so all the dirt and dust collects under there and we need to do it on weekends. They may do a really great shower cleaning one week, but then they seem to skimp for example on cleaning the kitchen that week or vice versa. Never a great cleaning throughout. I'm willing to pay for an individual who will customize the cleaning. Just not sure where to find that.

+1. I've only had great, consistent housecleaning overseas. I'd love something like this here.

Anonymous wrote:I pay $250/once per week. She works 8 + hours straight (her choice, I tell her to take breaks but she doesn't). Does all of the laundry which is a HUGE help, plus will re-organize closets etc , cleans up the mess in my kid's room, etc.

How did you connect with her? We have a service but would love to have an individual like this come once per week to keep things clean, do laundry, etc. The service is annoying because they skip things like for example they won't clean under any furniture, so all the dirt and dust collects under there and we need to do it on weekends. They may do a really great shower cleaning one week, but then they seem to skimp for example on cleaning the kitchen that week or vice versa. Never a great cleaning throughout. I'm willing to pay for an individual who will customize the cleaning. Just not sure where to find that.

$200 monthly.

We used to do bi-weekly ($150) but:

1.) We’re not really messy and we clean behind ourselves daily and do light whole house cleaning on weekends so the house is never that messy. Roombas on each floor working daily since we have a dog.

2.) Both wfh and found the bi-weekly cleaning to be a disruption in the day that they would come. The specific day didn’t really matter, it was more the prep beforehand, the noise, and re-organizing everything after they left.

3.) We have a toddler at home and it disrupted their nap schedule which had consequences for the remainder of the day.

So monthly works for us and we only have to deal with the disruption once a month. We may move to quarterly deep cleanings.

It makes a huge difference if you’re tidy or a slob.

I pay $250/once per week. She works 8 + hours straight (her choice, I tell her to take breaks but she doesn't). Does all of the laundry which is a HUGE help, plus will re-organize closets etc , cleans up the mess in my kid's room, etc.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I used one of the well-known services a couple of years ago for a "deep clean" I paid close to $500 for a team of 3 people. They got my house done in half a day. I tipped each $20 as well.

That isn't exactly what you are asking about, and you would be paying less, but I don't think you would be paying that much less. If possible, get an individual rather than a service. The services clean by a checklist, and don't stray from it. If you get an individual housekeeper you will have much more control over what she does, and will be able to ask her to focus on problem areas.

It does tend to cost less (per visit, anyway) if you hire weekly rather than biweekly.

This is just so ridiculous. Enjoy thorwing your money away. I have cleaners for 6000 every two weeks and it's $250. They are done in two hours.

Why is paying someone a decent wage throwing money away? A 6,000 sq ft house and you’re complaining about paying them an amount that is not all that much. You sure are cheap when it comes to paying people for work.

If they come bi weekly, I think there should be an hourly agreed rate similar to a nanny. Otherwise how much deep cleaning can they do again after 3 or 4 days? If you want them to take on a role of organizing, ironing, etc the rate is different than deep cleaning. That would be more fair to the housekeeper and homeowner with clear expectations.

while we are on this topic - do you tip your cleaners every time?

We usually just give a year end bonus equal to one or two cleanings..