Home Anyone hire a cleaning lady/person? How much does it cost?

[elrohwen]

I''m starting to think more about hiring someone to clean our house. It would take a lot of convincing to get FI to go with it, because he doesn''t like to spend money (I don''t either) but I''m just so sick of having a dirty house and I don''t have the time or energy to clean. I wouldn''t need anyone more than once every 2-4 weeks, since we keep things picked up, dishes done, etc. For reference, we live in a reasonably small townhouse.

How much do you guys pay to get your house cleaned? Is it based on square footage? Tasks they perform? How often do you have it done?

 

[zoebartlett]

We hired a cleaning lady right before we left for our wedding/honeymoon a year ago. It was the best thing! It was so nice leaving and coming home to a clean house. For our 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom, one floor condo (1000 sq ft), it cost us $60. I can't remember how long she worked but I want to say it was around 2 hours. I really can't remember though -- that could have been just a guess. We asked her to clean everything, dust, and vacuum.

ETA: we only had the cleaning lady come that one time. She came to do a thorough cleaning and it worked out great. I just couldn't justify continuing it, but I will admit, it was a very nice thing to treat ourselves to. If we did it again, we'd probably have someone come over once a month to do the same type of really thorough cleaning that just doesn't get done as often as I'd like.

 

[somethingshiny]

it completely depends on where you live and if you supply the cleaning supplies. My sis cleans houses for $12/hr in the rural midwest. I know a lady who drives to the city one or twice a week and charges around $30/hr. My sis doesn''t supply her supplies, the other lady does.

 

[somethingshiny]

Oh, and both of them charge an hourly rate but sometimes it goes up if they''re washing down walls or really heavy cleaning.

 

[TBjumper]

Hi There,

We have a lady that does our house.... I am not proud to say it,

but I can''t stand to clean!!!
Usually people will charge by the size of the house, i.e. how many hours they have to be there. Each person''s services are different.
I use an individual, not a service (merry maids etc) because I like having the same person every time, she knows my dog, and I just trust her. She cleans from floor board to ceiling. (She doesn’t do my laundry or anything, just cleans).

Usually you can pick your schedule with an individual; my lady comes 2 times a month. Usually if they only come once a month the cost per visit is a little more b/c they have to spend more time cleaning since your house is dirtier

For cost: my house is 1800 sq feet, and I pay my lady $65(x2 visits a month) a visit. If she were to only come once a month it would be $85 (x1 a month). I feel I am getting a great deal for all she does, windows, dusting, bathrooms, kitchen appliances and she brings her own supplies.

Hope this helps

 

[Burk]

Our cleaning lady charges $20/hr which is pretty typical in our area. I have her come for 2.5 hrs every two weeks and she doesn't clean my entire house (or she'd be here much longer). We have 2200 sq ft but she maybe cleans 1500 to keep costs down and because I clean in between cleanings and am pretty anal about keeping my kitchen/dining area clean daily

In addition to not cleaning the kitchen we also don't have her clean our two guest bedrooms because we're rarely in them and me cleaning them every once and a while is plenty. She does clean our 2 bathrooms, living room, office, master bedroom and our daughter's room. I clean in between cleanings but she does major dusting (working from ceiling down, including window treatments, lamps, ect), vacuums, scrubs floor.

If I were you, I'd call around and check on hourly rates and then interview some people (you want to trust the person who will be alone in your house cleaning) and see how long they think it will take them to clean your house. Our first cleaning lady took her sweet time and I think the hourly rate I paid her was more for her smoke breaks than her actually cleaning my house!

ETA: I supply all the cleaning products.

 

[NakedFinger]

I have one and I LOVE it! I dont get much down time with work, so I hated spending half of my saturday cleaning the house. Mine comes once a week, although since we arent home much, I am thinking of making it every other week since the house doesnt get that bad in a week.

The charges vary based on several factors:

1) The size of your house
2) If you have kids, dogs, smoke, how "dirty" your house is
3) They also see how many "knickknacks" you have, how much furniture, how much they'll have to move/clean around, etc.

I've had both options, a prof service (merry maids, the maids, etc etc):

PROS: They have reliable cars, bring their own products, insured, easy to communicate with
CONS: Much more expensive, not personal, the more you want done, the more they charge, and they charge HOURLY (even Half hourly)

I have also had a freelance person do it (had her own service), which is what i use now

PROS: Less expensive, she charges the same every week, just a flat fee that we negotiated the first time she came, not "how long it takes", Very thorough, lets my dog outside to play while she cleans, changes the sheets and does laundry at no extra charge
CONS: I need to supply my own cleaning supplies (that may actually be a pro for some people, guess its a matter of preference), drives her own car (so if something happens, she wouldnt be able to get to me), doesnt know much english so the language barrier gets in the way sometimes

All in all, I highly recommend getting one. Its so nice coming home to a clean house and if you work not wasting your limited free time cleaning a house. Of the two, I prefer my freelance lady, just make sure you get referrals and find one you trust.

(Its funny, because when my SO and I bought our first house together, we established I would be "inside" and he would be "outside". So when I hired a cleaning lady, we was like "fine, I'm hiring a landscaper!". Hehe now we have a guy come and cut the grass once a week too! lol)

 

[zoebartlett]

Date: 7/28/2009 2:41:42 PM
Author: Burk
Our cleaning lady charges $20/hr which is pretty typical in our area. I have her come for 2.5 hrs every two weeks and she doesn''t clean my entire house (or she''d be here much longer). We have 2200 sq ft but she maybe cleans 1500 to keep costs down and because I clean in between cleanings and am pretty anal about keeping my kitchen/dining area clean daily

In addition to not cleaning the kitchen we also don''t have her clean our two guest bedrooms because we''re rarely in them and me cleaning them every once and a while is plenty. She does clean our 2 bathrooms, living room, office, master bedroom and our daughter''s room. I clean in between cleanings but she does major dusting (working from ceiling down, including window treatments, lamps, ect), vacuums, scrubs floor.

If I were you, I''d call around and check on hourly rates and then interview some people (you want to trust the person who will be alone in your house cleaning) and see how long they think it will take them to clean your house. Our first cleaning lady took her sweet time and I think the hourly rate I paid her was more for her smoke breaks than her actually cleaning my house!

ETA: I supply all the cleaning products.

Burk -- just out of curiosity, what questions did you ask when you were looking for someone?

 

[elrohwen]

Thank you all for the help! I just started riding horses again, so I kind of doubt FI would be up for even $60-80 extra per month

But I was kind of expecting that''s how much it would be. I''ll do some research and see what FI says though. I just hate cleaning, but I love having a clean house. We end up putting it off for too long and then spending hours on a Saturday doing everything. Plus, FI is sooo slow and thorough, that I end up cleaning the whole house in the time it takes him to do half of the bathroom

I did tell him that when we have kids (many years from now) we''re absolutely hiring someone to clean and he agreed

 

[Mandarine]

I have one..

Love having one, don''t love the one I *have* right now. Today she stood me up again (third time in the last week!

). I''m too much of a chicken to fire her (I know...how silly is that?)...just because I know she really needs the money. DH says this is not chairity, but I''m just awful at stuff like this!.

Anyway...we pay $60 every two weeks (if she actually comes..hehe). Our house is pretty large (4 bedrooms+office)...but it''s super easy to clean because I do maintain it in between.

We decided to have one because we both work hard during the week and don''t want to spend the weekend cleaning bathrooms, floors, etc. I don''t feel bad about having one...it let''s us enjoy the time off to do things we actually enjoy doing!.

 

[nycbkgirl]

i was also considering it...?...do u lock your jewels and valuables?? always curious bc i never had one (as i loooved to clean before the kiddos arrived lol)

 

[TBjumper]

nyc: I don''t lock anything up... I don''t leave things hanging around in plain sight either. I want to say I was home for the first couple of times she came and cleaned. (wanted to make sure her and the pooch got along

)
My lady has been cleaning my house for a year and we usually exchange xmas cards, and leave little holiday presents for each other, I really would hate to think someone you have that kind of relationship with would steal from me.

I really think you have to be very comfortable with your person. I met 2 other people and asked for and called references on all of the people I was considering before going with my lady. That helped put my mind at ease a bit.

 

[Burk]

Date: 7/28/2009 3:00:14 PM
Author: ZoeBartlett

Date: 7/28/2009 2:41:42 PM

Author: Burk

Our cleaning lady charges $20/hr which is pretty typical in our area. I have her come for 2.5 hrs every two weeks and she doesn''t clean my entire house (or she''d be here much longer). We have 2200 sq ft but she maybe cleans 1500 to keep costs down and because I clean in between cleanings and am pretty anal about keeping my kitchen/dining area clean daily

In addition to not cleaning the kitchen we also don''t have her clean our two guest bedrooms because we''re rarely in them and me cleaning them every once and a while is plenty. She does clean our 2 bathrooms, living room, office, master bedroom and our daughter''s room. I clean in between cleanings but she does major dusting (working from ceiling down, including window treatments, lamps, ect), vacuums, scrubs floor.


If I were you, I''d call around and check on hourly rates and then interview some people (you want to trust the person who will be alone in your house cleaning) and see how long they think it will take them to clean your house. Our first cleaning lady took her sweet time and I think the hourly rate I paid her was more for her smoke breaks than her actually cleaning my house!

ETA: I supply all the cleaning products.

Burk -- just out of curiosity, what questions did you ask when you were looking for someone?

I asked about experience and asked for references. I didn''t use a service for either of my cleaning ladies so I had them give me the phone numbers of current clients I could call to check them out. I also asked some "what would you do in this circumstance" questions to see how they would react in certain situations. For example, what would they do if I called after a cleaning and said that it seemed the shower did not get cleaned. Would they come back? Would they get defensive? Would they ask how they could do better next time? That kind of thing.

 

[nycbkgirl]

Date: 7/28/2009 4:14:11 PM
Author: TBjumper
nyc: I don''t lock anything up... I don''t leave things hanging around in plain sight either. I want to say I was home for the first couple of times she came and cleaned. (wanted to make sure her and the pooch got along

)
My lady has been cleaning my house for a year and we usually exchange xmas cards, and leave little holiday presents for each other, I really would hate to think someone you have that kind of relationship with would steal from me.

I really think you have to be very comfortable with your person. I met 2 other people and asked for and called references on all of the people I was considering before going with my lady. That helped put my mind at ease a bit.

i feel like this is the nanny thread alll over again hahaha! thanks TB!...i dont trust easily as many already know when it comes to nannies etc and ppl i do not know,...would love to hear everyones input about the possessions...i keep a lot of my stuff on my dresser but i of course would put it away if someone came to clean but still wouldnt be locked and i wouldnt feel comfy hovering off the person while they were cleaning...so maybe the nanny cams are necessary

LOL! all kidding aside, i wouldnt feel too comfy so wondering what everyone does.

 

[LadyBlue]

The one we used ti have charges $60.00 if she comes every 2 weeks, and $80.00 if she comes every month.

nyc: I don''t lock my my jewelry, but my e-ring is always in my finger. My e-ring is the only pice that wold break my heart if I lose it. When she comes. I put my jewelry box in the closet. I do have small rubies, emeralds and sapphires displaying on a shelf. And I had not lose one stone. So that makes me trust her more.

 

[soocool]

One year as a birthday present to me, my DH hired a cleaning woman (recommended by a friend). I was very specific regarding what I wanted her to do and followed her around the first day to make sure she understood. The rooms that must be very clean are the bathrooms and the kitchen. In the bathroom I want the entire toilet cleaned not just the inside. Toilets are major dust magnets. In the kitchen I like the counters cleaned completely, not just around the cannisters. My house is not cluttered so cleaning the countertops and vanity tops is not a big deal. The first time she cleaned she did a great job; took about 4 hours to do the entire approx 3000 sq ft house (dust, swiffer, vacuum - mostly swiffer since we have hardwood floors. I clean my own kitchen and bathroom floors with a steamer) cost was $100.00 and I supplied the cleaning supplies. The next time I came back early and found her making long distance phone calls and looking through my closet .

After she left I checked and she didn''t clean as I had requested. DH said give her another try and let her know again what you want done (typed it up for her). The next time she brought her kids with her and they went through my DD''s room and DD came home to find them in there (DD''s room is off limits and not on the cleaning woman''s agenda)She never checked with me beforehand regarding bringing her kids. She didn''t see what the big deal was and when I inspected the bathroom, again she didn''t clean the bathroom as requested and overlooked some of the things to clean in the kitchen. I paid her only half and told her that her services were not needed anymore. She didn''t say anything and just left. A month later someone called me asking about her services. Apparently she put me on her list of references. I told the new client exactly what happened to me so she can make an informed decision.

So now I clean my house myself and do not have to redo what the other person didn''t do and I keep the $100.00 . If you find someone who cleans to your liking then you are truly lucky...keep her, otherwise, why pay for something you are not getting. A lot of people in my neighborhood have gotten rid of theirs and now clean their own homes. But of them hires the Merry Maids ever 3 months to clean her entire house top to bottom. She said they are worth every penny.

 

[Mara]

We have regular ladies that come every 2 weeks. they are LIFESAVERS. we pay them $80 for a 1550 sq ft house (but we paid $80 for our old 1850 sq ft house) and my Mom got them to do hers for $80 for a 2700 sq ft house. I keep thinking I should re-negotiate but honestly it's not that much in the scheme of things given the peace of mind we have knowing we don't have to spend 3 hours every other wkd cleaning our house. We are not very good at it and we don't like it...we'd much rather be out doing other things on our precious weekend time. During the weeks we don't get home til 7 or 8 at night anyway so the house is not DIRTY, it just gets dusty and things like bathrooms etc need to be cleaned.

My husband was reticent but he finally agreed after a few years and now he agrees that they are great. We used the ones our neighbors/friends were using and now it has been 2 years and they are wonderful. They have broken a few things from time to time but are always apologetic, leave a note and offer to pay. I am afraid one day it will be something that is priceless to me, but I guess that's a potential price we might pay. I don't lock up anything that isn't already secured, and we have not had a problem (knock on wood).

I have other friends who have a diff crew and they love them and highly recommended them too. I would prob only use a crew that I know friends have used for at least a year or more and never had an issue with...the recommendation is huge, there are lots of shoddy crews out there and I agree if you can do better why pay? However, we DEF don't do better. Hehee.

 

[vespergirl]

It depends where you live - where I used to live in FL, it was $70 to clean a 3 bed/3 bath house. Now I live in the metro DC area, and it costs about $100 to have my 4 bed/3.5 bath house cleaned, with us providing the cleaning supplies.

 

[phoenixgirl]

We use the Merry Maids. I know I could find someone on Craigslist for cheaper, but the horror stories on here are why I want a company backing up what the maids do. It''s $85 every two weeks (it was $95 but I renegotiated by telling them I was considering canceling service). Our house is 1600 square feet and they also clean the bathroom in the basement (they don''t clean the rest of the basement). It takes two people about an hour and a half or three people about an hour to clean our house.

I absolutely could not do it myself. I do some spot-cleaning in the kitchen and bathrooms in the interim but I would drive myself crazy if I felt like I had to clean the whole house myself. I guess if I were as efficient as the Merry Maids it would only take me about an hour and a half a week, but oh how I would hate those 90 minutes!

 

[pennquaker09]

We have a lady that comes weekly (sometimes once, sometimes twice, it depends). I have OCD and I really have to have the house cleaned really well. I'm constantly wipping something down/off.

She usually comes at 8:00 and cleans for about two and half hours. We have quite a few windows and the main floor is mostly tile, so that takes up quite a bit of her time. We don't have her clean our bedroom, but she does clean the bathroom. The twins rooms and the playroom. Our house is about 4300 sq ft. and I would estimate that she cleans maybe 3000 of that.

I've never had to walk around behind her to inspect her work. She just comes in and goes to work wherever. Like, if she sees that I haven't had time to load the dishwasher, she will do that. Sometimes she will do a little laundry. Sometimes, we clean together (if the twins are not home, or if they are occupied).

She charges $45 an hour, so it's usually around $113 a week. And I make sure to have the coffee she likes on hand, lol.

Btw, I don't lock things up and if something happens to be laying out, I leave it there. I've checked her out and I'm not worried.

 

[packrat]

It varies here. One woman I talked to when I was going to start doing it a few months ago charges $12/hr, but could easily get $15 she said. There are a few here that charge $20/hr. My mom did it when we were younger..some of the places she could bring us to. We helped her when she cleaned rooms at a motel, taking linens off beds etc. She used to clean the country church by us too, so we''d help with that. Some offices. I remember one older couple she cleaned for, used to hide spare change and such underneath things to see if she''d find them, to know if she was cleaning properly.

 

[deegee]

I have a cleaning company that comes in every 2 weeks, and they charge $60. They don''t clean my whole house, though. It''s just me and my hubby and we don''t use most of the rooms in our house, so we only have them clean the kitchen, the upstairs & downstairs family rooms, and 2 bathrooms. If we want them to clean the master bedroom & bathroom, they charge an extra $30. The neighbors tell me there are usually 2 or 3 people, and they''re done within 2 hours. They do an awesome job cleaning the carpets and hardwoods, and getting the pet hairs off of the furniture!

 

[iheartscience]

Oooh I would LOVE a cleaning person. The prices seem totally reasonable, too. To those who have a cleaning person-do they pick up and organize your stuff or just straight up clean things? I''m a bit messy at times

so I would probably feel like I''d have to clean for the cleaning people!

 

[luckystar112]

Same as the others--the cleaning lady came twice month about it was about $60-$80 each time.

We haven''t had a cleaning lady in a while but MAN do I miss it! There is nothing like leaving a house semi-dirty and coming home to it sparkling clean and smelling good! One time the girl even pulled our oven out from the wall and mopped under it! It was amazing.

Our maid neatened up for us, but she used common sense while doing it. For example, if she saw a bunch of textbooks lying on the floor she wouldn''t put them away, she''d just put them in a neat pile for me.

 

[Pandora II]

I''m in the UK, but I have a cleaner who comes every week for 3 hours - she cleans the whole house, tidies up a bit and does the ironing! For us she is a necessity not a luxury! I pay her £10 an hour. We give her double pay at Christmas, plus a Christmas present and something when we come back after our summer holiday. (She always brings us back sausages or chocolate from Poland

)

We''ve used the same Polish lady now for 7 or 8 years. She''s not necessarily the greatest ''detail'' cleaner - if I want things like the taps polished I need to ask - but she''s great at the bigger stuff - the floors are spotless and the kitchen looks great after she has been. Above all she''s a lovely person - even if she disapproves of how I look after Daisy

: she''d like her swaddled and treated like she''s made of glass. She also can''t bear it if shhe cries for a moment and swoops in to pick her up instantly - and I''m not someone who does CIO at all. It''s a complete nightmare when she goes to Poland on holiday (like now

)...

I have no worries about anything going missing, DH often leaves cash lying around and I have left jewellery out - never had a problem. The worst that ever happens is that she breaks a glass or something. She always offers to pay for new ones - which is totally ridiculous and I wouldn''t dream of charging her. Anything valuable is insured anyway.

My parents have always had cleaners as well and nothing has ever gone missing. They have a large house so some tasks aren''t done every week - for example my mother likes all the brass door handles polished so they are done once a month. At Christmas she likes all the copper items in the kitchen to be polished so her cleaner will start a month before and do some every week.

We''ve always found them through word-of-mouth. Sometimes my cleaner says she has space in her schedule and I''ll do a ring round to see if any of our friends are looking for one.

I recommend that you work out exactly what you want done and write it all down for them at the beginning - but be realistic about how long things can take.

 

[phoenixgirl]

Date: 7/29/2009 12:08:32 AM
Author: thing2of2
Oooh I would LOVE a cleaning person. The prices seem totally reasonable, too. To those who have a cleaning person-do they pick up and organize your stuff or just straight up clean things? I''m a bit messy at times

so I would probably feel like I''d have to clean for the cleaning people!

How messy are we talking? You''ll probably need to pay more for somebody to straighten as well since that will add to the total time.

It all depends on who you hire and what your expectations are. The Merry Maids tend to leave things untouched if they''re too messy. Yesterday I cleaned off DH''s "pile" on his dresser (I love the man so I must accept the fact that no matter how neat I keep the house/how many places I give him to organize his stuff, he will just pile crap he doesn''t need on top of his dresser, like our friends'' plane ticket stubs???) because my super neat college roommate was coming to see the house for the first time. When I removed the stuff I noticed how dusty it was up there. Obviously the maids are like, hmmm, pile of crap, not going to touch that . . . They also don''t do anything if DH leaves piles of clothes on the floor. (The other day I said that I was a neater person than DH, and he was like, "You used to be, but I''m neat now!" [shakes head])

For me, having the maids come is good motivation to keep the house orderly. Once you get the house really clean and organized one time, it''s easier to maintain that way. In the two weeks between cleanings, it''s hard to let things get too messy.

At the very least, I''d try to contain the mess to your closet or, dare I say, the top of your dresser and just resolve not to worry if that small part is messy/dusty.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Date: 7/29/2009 12:08:32 AM
Author: thing2of2
Oooh I would LOVE a cleaning person. The prices seem totally reasonable, too. To those who have a cleaning person-do they pick up and organize your stuff or just straight up clean things? I'm a bit messy at times

so I would probably feel like I'd have to clean for the cleaning people!

This is our problem too. We'd LOVE to have a cleaning lade, but we're clutter bugs. It takes us so long to pick up the house that by the time the cleaning part comes around we're psyched to do it. I think the cleaning is the easy part.

 

[I Love My Sailor]

Well I cant say that I had my place clean regularly but when my husband and I were leaving our Guam duty station, We called for cleaning quotes on the house we were renting. They told me $70 for 3 hours of cleaning. I think it would be a little more expensive here in the states.

 

[atroop711]

I need one badly in NYC..any recs???

 

[steph72276]

Well, I can''t justify the cost right now since I am a SAHM, but as soon as I go back to work, a cleaning service will be at the top of my list of people to call! Our house is not huge or anything (4 bedrooms), but it takes me about 6 hours to clean it top to bottom. I hate every minute of it, but I do it every week b/c I have to have everything clean and clutter free or else it puts me in a bad mood!