Twice a month is semimonthly (or biweekly) not bimonthly. I can't believe it took this long for someone to point this out. Come on, DCUM, you're going soft!

Anonymous wrote:You need a service.

We have bi-monthly cleaning on our 2000 sf house. They are contracted 2 people for 2 hours (4 man hours). During that time, they:

Sweep, mop, vacuum all floors / stairs / hallways

Dust shelves, fans, blinds, knick knacks, windowsills

Clean kitchen, living room, dining room, 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms

We have two offices they don't clean, and a half bath in the basement they don't clean (our choice).

We pick up before they come, keep things tidy and clean up any messes in-between. But I don't "clean."

They stay until the job is done. Sometimes that means more than two hours, sometimes less. But they never leave before all that is done.

How much do you pay? I'm curious since that's abut the size of my house.

OP, two hours should be enough to clean your apartment.

I have a 2500 SQft ( 4 bedrooms and 3 full baths) that I clean from top to bottom bi-weekly during winter months . During summer months. I use a service of two women for 2 hours or less since I would rather garden than clean the house.

You may need to hire someone privately and "train them"

How do you have a guest room in a 500 sq ft apartment?

We have 1100 sq ft. Cleaner cleans kitchen, bathroom, dusts, and vacuums all spaces except master bedroom. 2 hours per week.

Anonymous wrote:Maybe your standards are unreasonably high?

Yeah, if OP is already cleaning twice a week PLUS having a twice a month service either her standards are ridiculous or she is incredibly messy.

Maybe your standards are unreasonably high?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wait- you're only paying for 2 hours and expect your bathroom kitchen and living room clean? I would think 4-6 hours.

For a 500 sq ft apartment!?

OP, are you picking up before she comes or does she need to do that?

Well I personally couldn't do all of that in 2 hours myself. Scrubbing a bathroom takes a long time, as does mopping.

I can't imagine scrubbing a bathroom takes two hours if it's done every two weeks,

Not two hours but there is soap scum, hairs, the toilet and the nastyness that comes with that. Mirrors, vacuuming. Even a 'clean' bathroom takes time. She would still have to clean it ad if it were dirty, maybe just not that much elbow grease.

Anonymous wrote:Wait- you're only paying for 2 hours and expect your bathroom kitchen and living room clean? I would think 4-6 hours.

+1. OP, if you were my boss, you'd be fired!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wait- you're only paying for 2 hours and expect your bathroom kitchen and living room clean? I would think 4-6 hours.

For a 500 sq ft apartment!?

OP, are you picking up before she comes or does she need to do that?

Well I personally couldn't do all of that in 2 hours myself. Scrubbing a bathroom takes a long time, as does mopping.

I can't imagine scrubbing a bathroom takes two hours if it's done every two weeks,

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks guys. Any idea how to find an individual? I won't use craigslist. Last time I did the cleaner broke my decantur.

The people on cleaning crews at work often mention they do houses on the side.

Neighborhood list serves are great for this. Or ask in your building. Cleaners would much rather spend a day in one neighborhood than spend time on travel.

Anonymous wrote:500 sq. ft. ? You're that filthy ? I could clean that space in an hour. Sparkling clean not some third world clean.

Yeah that's just weird. When I lived in 1000sq ft apt with two bathrooms it took two women about 2-3 hrs to clean everything super scrubbed. Now we have a house and it takes them 3 hrs to do everything and it's great. I use a service but it's local and I get the same team everytime. Never had to go back and reclean anything. I do have to ask separately for baseboards and Windows if I want that as it's an add on.

500 sq. ft. ? You're that filthy ? I could clean that space in an hour. Sparkling clean not some third world clean.

Anonymous wrote:Thanks guys. Any idea how to find an individual? I won't use craigslist. Last time I did the cleaner broke my decantur.

The people on cleaning crews at work often mention they do houses on the side.

All the above, plus, the common theme we see here with cleaning people AND services is that you still have to clean. They just keep you from cleaning as much as you would have and they also keep you on a schedule.

Anonymous wrote:Ah, a service. Honestly, i don't think a service will meet your expectations. Over time, you train an individual (who is probably cheaper) to meet your standards. A different team every time is just going to do the minimum they can get away with.

I disagree. I've usually used services and the agreement is X rooms. There is no time limit and they need to stay until the agreed upon rooms are complete. An individual who has other clients is the one that I've found will leave tasks incomplete because you pay them for a Y hour cleaning. So if they are doing a 3 hour cleaning, you get 3 hours and whatever is done.

OP--you need a different housecleaner whether an individual or a service. That's unacceptable and frankly I would not pay the person until they came back and finished the job. You don't get paid for doing half a job.

FYI, we have a 3500 sf house and it takes about 6 man-hours to clean (although there are a couple of rooms that are excluded, but it's still about 3000-3200 sf of cleaning). I think 2 hours should be enough for a 500 sf apartment. For the person who thinks it should take 4-6 hours to clean a 500 sf apartment, that's ridiculous. You can clean a standard apartment bathroom in about 20-25 min. A kitchen is probably about 45 minutes. Then you have about an hour to dust and vacuum the living room and bedroom. It can take longer if OP does not tidy up, but I can't imagine more than about 30 minutes extra. It's only 500 sf.