House Cleaning Services:

When it comes to housework, no one really likes to do it. Sure, we all do some tidying up when guests are due to come over, but for the most part we procrastinate and put the chores aside. With work schedules keeping most parents completely busy during the week and the kids and family taking over on weekends, who has time to spend 3-4 hours a week cleaning the house. Some jobs around the house are easy to do like vacuuming and light dusting, but cleaning bathrooms (especially toilets) and heavy cleaning never seem to be done adequately. My house is no different as my wife tries to keep up during the weekdays and I step in on the weekends. She is never happy with the end result of my work and I feel like she spends too much time cleaning things in the house. We decided to look into a house cleaning service to see what the options are and how much they cost. Surprisingly enough you can get a reasonable rate on house cleaning and potentially have your house back in order before you know it.

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There are many questions to be asked before you hire any maid service for your house (or office). How often will they come? What do they charge? What do they actually clean? The rate that house cleaners charge depends on what you have them do and how often they come to your house. As for how often, do you prefer once a week, twice a month, or monthly. Will you have them clean bathrooms, bedrooms, kitchens, carpets, etc.? All these factors go into what rate they will charge, but expect a minimum of $100/visit for a house that is 2500-3000 square feet. Prices are either more or less depending on your square footage and the services done. Most maid services will do a fairly thorough cleaning of rooms - dusting (lamps, fans, furniture, shelves, baseboards), remove cobwebs, vacuum carpets, empty wastebaskets, etc. As for kitchens, you will get clean counters, cabinets, tables, chairs, sinks, appliances, and floors. Bathrooms are the biggest problems in most households since no one enjoys cleaning them. A good house cleaning service should clean, scrub and sanitize sinks, bathtubs, showers, and toilets. Mirrors should be cleaned and floors washed. An initial consultation is always recommended and most house cleaning services will require this to get you an estimate on their fees. You want to make sure you get things very "clear" when the initial consult is done so that you know exactly what they will and will not do in your house. We have heard too many stories of maid services underperforming once the first few visits are done. As for background checks, most of the major house cleaning services screen all their applicants and potential employees. Many of the national services have local franshises that aren't always living up to the companies name. Some "fly by night" operations are the ones to watch out for as well with employees that come and go and shaky customer service histories. The top national maid services are Molly Maid, Merry Maids, and The Cleaning Authority. We went online to Yelp.com to read countless reviews on Merry Maids in the Bay Area and the findings were eye-opening. Consumer postings said the maids did a "terrible job", "charge too much per hour ($100)", and the service is "unreliable and not thorough". These could be isolated cases, but we take any non-biased reviews to heart. Reviews on Yelp and Citysearch for Molly Maid were more positive, although people still had a few complaints. I have had several friends try using brand name house cleaning services and it's about half and half in terms of satisfaction. Without naming names, some people just are never satisfied with someone else's work. We read quite a few user reviews on maid services where people had the company send employees out to 'correct' the job since it wasn't done right the first time. Unbelievably enough they were still not happy with the results even after a second visit. Either they are not communicating properly or they will just never be satisfied with the service. It's not easy to get any house cleaning service to do a 'perfect' job each time (though they guarantee it in their ads), so be reasonable on your expectations and don't let someone else clean your house if you know you are a control freak.

Should You Try Local Maid Services:

Sometimes national brands with local franchises get diluted and lose their core values and services. That appears to be the case with many of the larger house cleaning services that we looked into. One women noted that she had used a Molly Maid local service for years and then suddenly the service "disappeared" and the work suffered. After looking into the cause, she found out the local franchise had been sold and new owners were in charge. She subsequently dropped the maid service and found another to go with. The best way to get a house cleaning service is through good old 'word of mouth'. It's kind of a trite expression, but it definitely holds true in an industry like house cleaning. Employee turnover can be high, wages are low, and job satisfaction is not that high in many cases. Don't be afraid to say the job was not done correctly, but make sure you are clear and concise on what your expectations are. We went with a local cleaning service that received high praise from friends and so far we are happy with them. Instead of letting them clean out whole house, we have limited the process to things we are ok with letting an outsider do. Seems to work for us. Good luck in your house cleaner search.

House Cleaning Tips:

The most important thing when it comes to house cleaning is being organized. Too many people waste time or get side tracked and then somehow think the job is too hard or never gets done. When you actually put your mind to it and have a schedule, house cleaning can be an easy chore. The biggest issue most adults mention when it comes to keeping a clean house is that "clutter" is almost unmanageable. We strongly suggest getting some bins or shelves designated for certain things (toys, magazines, mail, etc.). Once you get the clutter out of the way, then cleaning can become a fast procedure. Kitchen and bathrooms are the hardest to clean since they get the messiest. Experts suggest giving your kitchen a good cleaning once a month so that the day to day routine will be easier. Try to keep a basket with your cleaning supplies in one place so that you don't have to keep searching for the rubber gloves or 409. As for bathrooms, the shower can be a spot where mildew, mold and soap scum build up over time. Many people are now buying the daily spray that you spray onto your shower walls after a shower to keep away the mildew. We also suggest putting a simple squeegee in the bath or shower so you can quickly squeegee the shower door or walls immediately after the shower to get soap and water residue off the walls/door. I do this and it seems to save me from having to clean the shower as often as I used to. Dusting is the hardest thing in my mind. TV screens are easy, but dusting in between knick knacks on tables and around furniture can be a hassle. I usually designate one room every day to give a quick 10 minute dusting to and by weeks end the house is dust free (at least temporarily). Try to get a schedule for cleaning your house and stick to it. Doing just a few minutes each day will make it seem like less of a chore than waiting 2 weeks and having 4 hours of cleaning in front of you. Most people do better when they do a little every day versus the "all at once" routine twice a month..

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