rates for cleaning your house

[Flynn]

I know lots of you are trapped in residency and a cleaning lady/person is NOT an option so I apologize in advance for posting this here.

In a major city we paid 25$ an hour for a cleaning person. Our house was SMALL but very used and not that easy to keep clean. Picked up, yes. Clean, no. I paid 50$ for someone to vaccuum 1000 square feet, scrub the HE** out of our (ONE) bathroom, wash the hardwoods, clean the kitchen and dust where we had a flat surface.


I now have a cleaning person I like here in our new location ( trust) and who is fast so she doesn't do a job by the hour, she does it by the job. I get that in theory but I'm a little confused what the going rate for her should be.

Can you guys give me an idea of what you pay for? I realize it varies by location quite a bit as far as price but it might give me some perspective.

First off, my house is large. I currently pay her 80$ to wash the hardwoods, clean three bathrooms, vacuum 70% of the house, and wipe down all appliances and counter tops in the kitchen. Thre is some light dusting in there too.

I'm trying to come up with a plan for her to come twice a month (insetad of every week ) and do a little more so obviously I pay more, BUT I save money for the month. My list I submitted to her was unacceptable (in a friendly way) in that it was too many jobs for the money I offered (100$). I like and trust her BUT my house is NOT THAT MESSY. It's a dream job actually. Everything is new so scrubbing is not really necessary for more than a few scrubs. Additionally, other than the kids and master bathroom, the showers are not used for example.

I'm wondering if I'm really out of touch from living in a smaller city, or we just have a difference of philosophy so we should just go our separate ways. OR -- I should keep the person I trust and come up with a plan that works for both of us. I'm torn. :huh: IF the job is done well, would you pay 100$ for two hours of work?

[Deebs]

I think it varies greatly depending on where you live. We pay $40 for 4 hours of work (yes, that made it affordable to have someone clean during residency). Our lady isn't the best, but I figure for $40, she helps get a little more on top of things, and I get what she misses. She generally does our floors, dusting, mirrors, bathrooms, and then one other things (cleans fridge if needed, etc).
In the Chicago suburbs, most people I know pay about $150 for 4 hours. This is typically for a cleaning service and they generally will do a little more like windows on occasion, etc. Most of my friends try to come in and out of the house because the person that comes varies and they don't trust them as much.
For a one time cleaning (like pre or post party) in the Chicago area can be around $400 total. This is more of a spring cleaning, where really deep cleaning is done.

[DCJenn]

I have no idea because according to everyone here I'm overpaying but I'm paying WAY less than I did for similar services in DC.

(like my lawn guy is 65 bucks to cut and trim 4 city lots! In DC I'd be paying 100+ because he edges and takes away the clippings)

I paid $150 e/o week for my cleaning ladies (maybe it was $200?) and got a team of 4 who did everything- bathroom, vacuum and wash the floors, dust, wash the windows, baseboards, etc. (Maid to Clean in Alexandria, VA if anyone there is looking for a great group of ladies)

They even played with Nikolai if they had time!

Jenn

[Vishenka69]

In NY $15/hr is average for non-agency. We pay $12, which comes out to $50 for 4 hours (I round up) for a small 2 bedroom/1 bath. After we move, I'm expecting to pay $100 per 4-5 hour visit for a larger 2 bed/2 bath. I think $50 an hour is ridiculous. I don't even make that much. Hmm... may be I should rethink this whole Finance thing.

[DCJenn]

There have been many days when I think becoming the pool girl would be the way to go.

Jenn

I've been keeping an eye out around here. Some people will give a quote for the whole house and a time estimate -- like your house will cost you $75 and these are the things we do. Most seem to do the hourly rate of $15-25/hr.

IMO, new or newer appliances can be easier to clean because they don't have the crusty goo of age but I still have to scrub our new stove because I get a little messy in the kitchen. We use it a lot and it shows by the end of the week. I do clean up big messes as I go but I don't know that it is a whole lot easier to clean.

Maybe part of what she does could be the less frequent items that keep the house feeling clean, like wiping down windowsills, cleaning out the fridge, blinds if you have them, cobwebs, wipe down walls at kid and dog height, etc. All things that might not be dirty now or need to be cleaned every time but sneak up on you after months.

[Vanquisher]

How do you find someone to do laundry, dishes, and pick up your kids playroom? If I could get all that done, that'd be something. I can't even hire what I need to get done.

I am just not a good housekeeper. I cannot keep on top of this stuff enough to have someone come in and deep clean. I am pretty good at deep cleaning once I get that far though. I've decided I need a live in housekeeper. It's the only way. Dream #48.

[Vishenka69]

Heidi, typically they'll do whatever you want, doesn't matter if it's laundry or floors. You're the employer and you dictate the rules.

Heidi -- I know someone who has just the laundry done. I'm not sure how she found this person but it must not have been too difficult. She does all the laudry, folds, and I think even puts it away.

[fluffhead]

We pay $80 for her to come every other week and do about 4 hours of work.

[Phoebe]

$85 every other week for 2.5 hours/two people or 4 hours with one person

[Malpka]

We pay 15 bucks an hour for a 3 hour job every other week. Totally worth every cent. Plus it motivates me to pick things up and organize, rather than endure the shame of the cleaning lady seeinghow we really live.

The going rate here (small town) is about $15/hr per cleaning person. In So Cal, it was about $20-25/hr per person. $50/hr for one person to run a vacuum cleaner, wipe off a little dust, etc. just seems like highway robbery to me. :huh:

Does she work for any other families that you know? You might want to ask them how much they pay her.

We quickly learned (after finding out that our gutter guy was charging us 3x more than the rest of our neighbors) that once people find out you are a medical family, they will charge according to how much you can afford instead of how much their service is actually worth.

[DCJenn]

We quickly learned (after finding out that our gutter guy was charging us 3x more than the rest of our neighbors) that once people find out you are a medical family, they will charge according to how much you can afford instead of how much their service is actually worth.

Isn't that the truth- we were quoted $65,000 to redo our kitchen during residency...we did it for 8k (including w/d and new refrigerator). (the entire two bedroom one bath house was only 1200 square feet! That tells you how big the kitchen was!)

They thought that because my husband was a physician and we lived in the historic district that we were rolling in the money. Asshats. My friend Julie (who was our realtor) managed to not laugh out loud until after he left.

Jenn

[Cumberland]

We pay $85 for the whole house-she cleans the whole house and brings all her own cleaning supplies.

We were paying $15 an hour and I would give that person a list. She was a lot cheaper but did a pretty poor job.