I've had the same cleaning service for about a year. The company came highly recommended. It costs about $200 per visit, which lasts about 5-6 hours. They will make beds if you provide clean linens. Services are scrubbing bathrooms and kitchens. Dusting, vacuuming and mopping everything else.
The first visit is usually about 30% more. After the first visit, I was very satisfied. Follow-up visit are very 2-3 weeks. After the first few visits, the owner stopping coming personally. The replacement women speak no English. They are nice, or at least they seem nice. They are hard working. They do not understand polished surfaces, and may ruin items if not watched. I found a large stainless steel scouring pad in the garbage disposal. If I hadn't found it, I hate to think of where it would have gotten stuck, and I would have had to pay to find out.
When you figure the cost per hour, it's a little hard to justify. For the first two visits, two women came and spend half a day. Now, one comes and spends a little more than a half day.
My fiancee, who is very finicky, was impressed with their work. They often fold the end of the toilet paper in a fan or shell shape, kinda feng-shui-ey. I have to say that walking into a bedroom to find a nicely made bed that you didn't have to do is one of life's pleasures.
I have a family member that owned a cleaning business for almost 30 years. Your 1st couple cleanings usually cost alot more because they involve more comprehensive cleaning to get things in order. The typical weekly cost is about 100$ per visit which last about 4 hrs. Keep in mind this is 1 person doing the work not a cleaning crew. Make sure they are bonded and insured because alot of companies use salespeople and the people who actually show up are from a 3rd world country and have no business cleaning a home. My old neighbor sued their cleaning company because the man who was cleaning their home flood mopped their brazilion hardwood flooring and the upstairs bathrooms. Lots of water damage and a nice lawsuit.
With so many people out of work or underemployed you might want to ask in your circle of friends and family if anyone is willing to do the work. We have several friends who do this on the side and would trust them in my home.
We had it for like 6 months. $100 every 2 weeks. I was starting to get pissed about the fact that she only really vacummed, dusted, and cleaned the bathroom. Everything else, as my wife says, was extra. Cleaning interior windows- extra. Cleaning behind furniture or under cushions- extra. I got fed up with that shit.
We've got a pretty good cleaning lady that comes every couple weeks. Like was stated the first time is usally a bit more but we now pay $75 to $100 a visit. She has her own cleaning supplies but does use our vacuum hence why it's cheaper than some cleaning services. She's American in fact her husband is a Howard County Sherrif. She's coming this week. PM me if you want her number and I'll talk to her to see if she needs more business. She works by herself.
well i'm closing on a TH/condo soon it's 1700 sq/ft... and it'll be empty... i want to hire someone to clean it from top to bottom.. it's already clean... but who knows how clean it really is....
My cleaning lady comes once every two weeks. Costs me 75 bucks for a 1600 sq ft townhouse. I could re-negotiate price if I wanted to but I'm not really that worried. She does a good job but will only work in montgomery county. Did I mention she is pretty hot?
I'm almost never home so really my house doesn't get very dirty but I HATE DUSTING!!!!! She will even change/wash your sheets and stuff like that. Sometimes I "accidentally" leave uniforms in the washing machine and she folds them.
We pay Molly Maids $137 every two weeks. They're good, but the house is pretty neat to start with. They dust, vacuum, clean the tile and wood floors, bathrooms change the beds, etc.
It's an optional expense that the wife is thinking of dropping. I've promised to take her out to dinner if she picks up the cleaning.
We were strongly advised by our financial planner to NOT hire individuals for this. Go through a company. You will be liable for Workman's Comp, insurance and other expenses.
My wife and I started using Merry Maids this past weekend. We scheduled them to come out once a month. I think it runs $135/month which didn't seem too bad. They came out this past Saturday for the first cleaning. It ran around $200 (excluding the basement. That's my man cave and I told them to leave it alone lol). We have a 3 bedroom townhouse. We went out all day Saturday and we came home when they were wrapping up. Holy crap the house looked amazing. Things I thought were clean looked cleaner! We keep our house relatively neat and clean, but it's nice to not have to worry about deep cleaning. We both work full time jobs and have 2 70 pound dogs (Boxers) and dusting and scrubbing my floors is the last thing I want to worry about on the weekends. They are bonded and insured but I still put my guns away in the "secret spot" when they come.
The lady who came out to give us a quote last week cracked me up. She saw a wedding photo of us in the living room and asked if we recently got married. We told her yes, about a month ago. She responded, "Oh, you guys are starting this marriage off right. Cleaning is such a trivial thing to fight over". My wife and I looked at each other and laughed because that's the reason we got them!
Man, now I'm thinking about doing this. Our housework has gone straight to hell since the kid arrived, and we were never all that great to begin with...
We use Carrol's Cleaning in Mt Airy. $85 every week (first two visits are more though) for a 1400 sqft house. They do a good job, but I don't know how far they travel.