NWMR: cleaning service

snicksnack · March 2014

I live in a mid- level cost of living area. We have a cleaning service that is bonded etc… although it is one person and a helper so kind of a hybrid between a private person and a service. My house is around 1,300 square feet 3 bedroom, 1.5 bath. They only clean one of the three bedrooms and spend about 2 hours in our house. They do an okay job, the woman who dusts is a little ADD and misses things, but the bathrooms and kitchen are good as they are done by the owner’s helper. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

We pay $100.00 a visit, which I find a little high but fair for our small house considering she consistently misses things like the fans and dusting baseboards. Well I think the owner thinks she should be charging us more. We are in the process of moving and she keeps asking about the new house. I told her we would get a quote from her but it would depend on cost as to whether we continued having the house cleaned. I said can you give me an idea of what you charge for larger homes? I also said I understand that the number is just round about as she would need to see the new home and what we want done. She said well we are changing how we charge people we have been spending too long in some homes and what is my bottom line… it just rubbed me the wrong way because I feel I am sometimes overpaying for my small home and what she does, her new helper is really slow compared to her old helper and I think 50 bucks an hour, which is what I am paying is on the high end. She does homes larger than the one we are buying and she knows how much stuff we have so a lose idea or range would not be hard to give. Additionally, they are often not spending two hours in my home as I am here. I want to at least have her out to the new house to get an estimate but I don’t want to give her my bottom line I want to know what she would charge and go from there. Whoever we hire we are only going to have that person do the kitchen, two full baths and vacuum/dust the family room/steps/hall and our bedroom. We can do everything else as we vacuum and pick up almost daily due to having cats. When she did the kids room, we were paying more, all she did was vacuum and dust it took less than ten minutes a room so not worth the cost to me given they trash it two seconds later and I am cleaning it up daily. So it would be not much more than what she does in my house now and should take her about the same time. I am thinking $125.00 would be fair given the extra bathroom but I woud go no higher than $150.00 bi-weekly. The kitchen is larger but the prep space is not and floors are wood so it would not be a hand and knee clean job. Do you think I am in a fair range? I am also looking into similar small business to get additional quotes. TIA

Avion22 · March 2014

Wow. I know that house cleaning is less expensive here, but we pay 9 pounds an hour (about $14-$15 depending on the exchange rate) and our cleaning lady is awesome. She spends 3 hours in our house every other week, and manages to clean our 2000 sq ft house (4BR / 2.5 bath) house more or less from top to bottom in that time. So we pay maybe $90 / month for two cleanings.

If I were you I'd get some other quotes for the new house. I also think it's fair to tell the lady that you haven't been 100% satisfied with the level of cleanliness they provide, and you feel their standards have been slipping. I've noticed that this happens over time (we've had to switch cleaners a few times, before we found the lady we have now). When you have some quotes, then you can see if your current cleaner can match or beat them, but I think it's fair to let her know that you will be trying other services out to see if they can provide better cleaning than she can.

snicksnack · March 2014

casey78 said:

I would get some other quotes. We hired the woman who worked for our builder. We have 3000 sq feet, 4 br, 2.5 bath, a baby, and a dog. We pay $90 every other week, and she always brings one helper. Occasionally she has two helpers. They are here about 3 hours each visit, sometimes a bit less, sometimes a bit more. Not all cleans are equally good, but she keeps baseboards and windowsills clean, wipes down cabinets routinely, etc.

Eta: we are also MCoL area: just outside major city.

Thanks. We are also outside a major city in the Baltimore area.

snicksnack · March 2014

thanks everyone I am going to start calling around

jf198400 · March 2014

We have a very similar house- 1500 sqft 3bed 1.5bath in MCOLA (Philly suburbs). We also pay $100 every 2 weeks, and they do the entire house. It is a husband and wife and it takes the 2 of them about 2hrs. So I think your current rate sounds about accurate, if you are pleased with their service. It sounds like you are not satisfied with the work they are doing, so I think the move t a new house is a good time to make a change. I would get some more quotes and see how they compare. You can always just tell the current cleaner that you can't afford to continue due to your increased living expenses.

chicagobride_07 · March 2014

Chicago burbs, 3800 square foot home with 1900 square foot finished basement. She charges 100 per visit, each month. She is at our house for 6 hours each visit. I also give a 20 tip. I thought this was a very good rate.

SunAndRain · March 2014

definitely get at least 3 quotes.

I pay an independent woman more than I think is reasonable BUT I received two quotes from cleaning services that were far higher that what she charges so...it really doesn't matter what I think but only what the data tells me is fair.

I would ask around for recommendations, too. I LOVE my cleaning lady because she goes above and beyond for me. Yes, sometimes she misses dusting something but she washes my sheets and remakes our bed, cleans the fridge, organizes our pantry... All random stuff that services wouldn't do or would charge a lot more for. Interestingly, two people I referred her to are not as thrilled with her as I am so I guess we all have different expecations.