Does anyone have a paid home cleaning service?

I don't know any professional cleaning service that charges by the hour. Maybe they're out there, but not in my suburban Chicago area.

Tom pays for our cleaning service, so I had to ask him, and I'm amazed it's not more. $75 a time for about 2-1/2 hours. That gets our 1100 sq ft 3-bedroom two bath one-story no-family room immaculately cleaned. They come twice a month. I should say "she" comes. She puts her head down, never stops. One of my favorite people. I give her $200 at Christmas and a bouquet of flowers probably twice a year. She's fabulous.

Mom had a lady who came twice a month for two hours for a whopping $28 a month thru her township's senior services. She didn't clean all that well, but keep mom good company.

Maggie, thanks for the information. I was a bit shocked at the rates, but I'm guessing that other large cities might have similarly high rates. $30 an hour for cleaning is more than I made as a contract administrator! But it does seem more reasonable in terms of the area cleaned - and that's a lot to clean in 2.5 hours.

Again, thanks for taking the time to answer. I also like the idea of special bonuses.

It is $17 an hour here if they send one girl for 8 hours or they charge by the size of the house and come do a walk through, and give you a quote. This way they can send several workers. The first visit is more. If they come every week it is less than if they come every 2 weeks or once a month. You may have to go through several services until you find one you like. Don't be shy about it. Many do not pick up so if you need that service you might consider finding someone through talking to friends. The services will pick up a glass, dust under it and put it back down instead of returning it to the kitchen. I had disasterous results with the services.
They would open drawers and just shove stuff in to get it out of sight. I have a woman I hired on a friends recommendation and she has been with us 5 yrs. Good luck. Good help is out there, you just have to look for them.

I pay $20 per hour for a once-a-month visit, three hours at a time. This wonderful woman sweeps, dusts and mops the approximately 1300-square-foot downstairs, scrubs the bath and kitchen appliances, makes two beds. She brings her own equipment and supplies.

Ironic that those who clean your house can command more money than the aides that wipe your mother's bum, isn't it?

There are many levels of cleaners out there, from the super efficient agencies that send two or more cleaners to the lady in the neighbourhood that just wants to pick up some extra cash. Remember, the agencies charge tax, the neighbourhood lady is self employed so she may not, or she may be working under the table. Agency employees are usually bonded as well, the independent contractor probably not. Ask for references!

My cleaning service comes every three weeks. Two—sometimes three, if they have a trainee—come for an hour to an hour and a half and I pay about $130. For extras, like oven cleaning, the charge is $39 per hour per person. The company, Maid Brigade, is "certified green." The house is just under 2000 sq. ft. I could hire someone

I could hire someone who works independently for a lot less, but the service is easier.

We have a wonderful cleaning lady who comes weekly. We've had her for iver 12 years. She used to come every two weeks at our old house. But we've moved into a bigger house and 4 adults and 2 dogs make a bigger mess. She gives us a break because she comes weekly. It's about $30 an hour but she is worth every penny! Our house sparkles when she leaves. Plus she sometimes comes to fix dinner for my in-laws if my husband and I want to go on a date. Our friends have Molly Maids and they love it. Not sure how much they pay.

Rates are usually by the job not the hour but when you figure it out 20-30 per is norm. You must remember if they are self employed and pay their taxes SE tax alone is 15% plus federal tax state tax and mileage. Many bring own supplies as well. As with caregivers you get what you pay for. And i would always opt for indep. over agency just because you know who is in your home, you build a relationship etc..just my opinion.

Thanks everyone for the very helpful information.

I don't particularly like the idea of shoving things in the drawers just to get them out of sight! That's a good tip so I can watch out for that.

$17 to $30 is quite a range; I assume some of that is geographic specific as well as the need and experience of the cleaning lady.

The issue of independent vs. agency employed was and now is the major issue. I do everything by the book, no room for error. So I was shocked when I called our insurance agent to increase the liability coverage for an independent worker that as an employer my father would have to carry worker's comp insurance with an annual premium of $750 to $1000. Ouch! That makes an independent worker more expensive than I anticipated.

If he doesn't carry it and the cleaner is injured, and if she is a paid employee coming to do work, she wouldn't be covered under any liability aspect of homeowner's insurance. That's a big concern for me. The issue is that she would be a paid worker, and not the same as someone who might be injured while just visiting. The liability aspect is different.

Dragonbait, I like the idea of a green cleaning company. Too many cleaners have harmful if not toxic substances, and my father has to live in this house after the workers have gone and the residues of the cleaning solutions might still be in the air.

To me, it's worth more to pay for green cleaning. I will check out the company you referenced.

One thing I've learned so far is, not surprisingly so, an independent person doesn't necessarily want to bother with self filing, may not want to be treated as an independent contractor and be obligated to file taxes herself, but doesn't want deductions taken out.

When I did legal temping, many of the law firms would not take deductions for just one week's of temp employment, so I was left to declare the wages myself. Now that I'm on SS, I wish I had asked the agency to take deductions, because there's a lot of revenue that wasn't subject to SS deductions, and I can use every little bit of SS I can get now.

I can understand that cleaners might not want to report wages, but I'm also looking at potential liability issues. I see potential problems with options that sometimes make it more complicated for me to choose between a person who's good, really needs the money but probably won't file taxes, vs. an agency.

I did some cold calling yesterday and have more to do today. I'm changing my checklist to add comments that you have made, especially things I never would have thought of such as stuffing things away in drawers!

It really is a dilemma; I'd like to help someone who needs the money, but I need to balance the cost and time, and factoring in an insurance policy of $750 - $1000 annually really makes an independent worker more expensive relative to an agency paid worker.

Some more questions:

With your independent cleaners, do you treat them as independent contractors and provide a 1099 at the end of the year? Have you ever had any who became injured while on the job, slipped on ice, anything like that?

Do you provide them with an itemized checklist of what you want done?

Have you ever had any problems with theft?

I really appreciate the time you've taken; it helps me tremendously. Thanks again!

Re: stuffing stuff away in drawers

Cleaners are only human, you know, and often clients expect that their 2000 square foot home can be made spotless in 3 hours, despite the fact that there is clutter everywhere, they have multiple pets, hard water and glass bathroom doors and the cleaning supplies such as vacuums (if provided by the homeowner) are missing or don't work properly. I always made it clear to my customers...I don't do clutter. Yes, I'll attempt to tidy up that stack of papers or bring those dirty dishes into the kitchen, but don't expect me to go beyond that. It takes years of working with someone to figure out their preferences regarding exactly what needs to be saved/tossed, and where all their miscellaneous items should be stashed.
And one other thing, please, please put all your precious keepsakes and easily breakable items away, both for your own sake and that of the cleaners!

Good point CWillie. What we take for granted isn't obvious to others. And things we want out and close to us may seem like clutter to someone else.

If I do go with an agency, I'll raise the issue of an ongoing relationship so that we can both get to know each other.

I've noticed this is a problem with home care; same agency this time but an entirely different group of people, younger and judging from responses less experience with an older person. I wouldn't have thought I needed to raise the issue of age and age related habits, but I guess I do.

After reading all the posts, I think I'm going to draft a fairly specific work list so we're all "on the same page." (I wish whoever invents these catchy phrases would find a new one. The "same page" one has been around for over a dozen years. )

By the way --- Before hiring the lady who cleans our house for $20/hour (personal referral) I went to Angie's List. I was shocked to see that almost all the cleaners said they charged $50 an hour. These were not companies like Molly Maids --- I had them in my previous home for $80/visit, once a month, two workers. I suspect that the people who place ads on Angie's List to clean houses in our area have a formal or informal agreement among themselves to aim for $50. However, I think this is something close to price fixing, and have complained to Angie's List about it. In practice, I have found good help for as little as $10/hour (off the books, no agency).

GardenArtist, wow I never knew about needing extra homeowner's insurance if one has an independent contractor working on a regular basis in the home until this week. That is good to know. I had figured my umbrella policy would work, but apparently not for workers.

In fact yesterday when my sig other took over my Dad's over-due car insurance bill to pay to the Insurance company, he had mentioned that my Dad has caregivers in the house, and sure enough the Insurance person asked if my Dad had a workman's comp policy. Turns out he didn't need it because the Caregivers are from an Agency that has their own workman's comp for their employees. Whew.

I would love to have a cleaning service come in, but the prices can be high...my husband & I are caregivers to my Mom with early-stage Alzheimers, & he works nights, I have a bad back...he is the kind if person who doesn't want strange people in our home, touching all our things, so that makes it hard...he is a huge help with all facets of our lives, but with my Mom needing care & needing to be watched like a toddler, we don't get to the chores regularly...I'm a bit of a neatnik, he's clutter-blind, so it's a dilemma I live with constantly.

Realtime,

$50 an hour is really out of line, even if they would give massages, water the plants, walk the dog and cook a 5 course meal! I think you're right that there's collusion involved and were wise to alert Angie's List.

I think that List, which started as a good idea, has grown to be something respected but does have limitations. Last year one of the contractors who posed on a DIY forum wrote that he was unable to undertake a project b/c of physical limitations, hired someone recommended on Angie's List, and found the services to be unacceptable. I don't remember all the issues as they were technical, ones a contractor would know. I vaguely remember there were some code violations involved.

And last year I saw a plumber's truck with a big Angie's List endorsement on the van. I had hired them some years ago and found them to be very unprofessional. One guy using a reciprocal saw hit something and blew a fuse which ruined my phone/answering machine. He never offered to pay for a replacement phone. Another one working in the kitchen complained repeatedly about the difficulty of replacing a particular brand of faucet. I never used them again.

I think it must be really difficult to undertake such a massive endeavor of validating people only by customer experience, but I've never relied on Angie's list since then.

FF,

I was shocked as well. That might just be a state by state requirement too. The issue raised by your father's insurance company is exactly what I've encountered.

I think it might be because, if someone comes to visit you, they're there just for nonwork related purposes. But if you ask someone to come to perform services, they're there specifically for that purpose, for a commercial purpose, and not for a social purpose. They're performing on property maintained by you and have a reasonable expectation (love those legal phrases!) of a reasonably safe work environment, to which I think they're entitled.

I recall that years ago there was a distinction between guests and invitees in terms of property liability but don't know what the issues are now.

Still, $750 a year is $62.50 a month and $1,000 a year is $83.33 a month, and for that I could get a few extra hours of work through an agency.

The liability issue scares me as well. I know that some people will sue for anything. And the issue of vetting an individual is time consuming.

After reading the posts here as well as considering some very wise private advice, I've decided to stick with an agency.

Gramzie, I can understand your husband's concerns. That's one of the reasons I intend to furnish masks and gloves for use. You never know what kind of environment the workers have had to work in before coming to your house.

We received a quote for the kitchen only, $65.00, but who knows how long she would have stayed or what she would have done. She was referred by a neighbor who pays her a fortune plus the wife slipped in a tip on top of that! Maybe not that much in comparison, but I have concerns about getting in trouble hiring people without a green card.
Another neighbor offers to do housecleaning. Did I want the whole neighborhood to know if my mattress was really lumpy, or anything at all about my home, or life?
I don't hire gossips, just don't.

Another issue: When help comes in with bags, leaves with even more filled up bags! Happened across the street, a whole team of 6 comes in, just under two hours, the homeowner was not the suspicious type. Leave your purse, bags, and cell phone outside in your car please. The home was not cleaned well.
I would like to pay only $10/ hr., and if it works out, once a month, give them $55.00 for 4 hours work. I like to pay what I am offering, not what they are charging. There is more for the housekeeper once they are found reliable, efficient, honest, and a good cleaner. I don't count benefits, gifts or meals as their income, I just love to share.
I once hired a friend to do housekeeping, that did not work out because 1) she told other friends in our group of friends that there was nothing really to clean;
2) when we went out with friends after she cleaned, it was too tiring for her, and I understood. She fired me! Ok with me!
Nowadays, if help came in, I wouldn't be able to straighten/clean before the help arrived.

After letting loose of some money that I would have paid out to help, I bought extra cleaning supplies, buckets, and a safe step stool, cleaning slowly, as I am able.

GardenArtist, those national rating services I usually take with a grain of salt. We have a local consumer rating group that I have always trusted and found excellent workmen and vendors... yet on those national rating services and social media rating services there seem to be too many negative reports, even though I had excellent results.

I would hate to be a workmen/vendor who has always given great service only to be trashed by whomever writing on the national and social media websites who probably never used said workmen/vendor. So very unfair. No wonder we are seeing more lawsuits popping up over defamation.

Yes it is definitely necessary for We the Caregiver's to consider hiring a cleaning service to relieve Us of cleaning Our home. I find preparing three meals daily, plus attending to Mother's, doing the shopping..gardening..maintenance + whatever needs doing..Today for instance I was washing the green algae from the footpaths and the garden walls etc.
While I do keep Our home presentable and tidy, I fail miserably to reach the very high standard of a pro.
I have read all of Your comments with great interest as I had been thinking of this for quiet a while Myself.

I use a small business, but they are licensed and bonded. They do the bed changes, vacuum all, clean toilets and tubs and showers, and all kitchen floors and counters. All the hard stuff! Weekly. Two women, one hour. Helps me a lot (this is for ME).

I'm calling services now. If anyone wants to share the name of services they use, feel free to PM me.

I'm finding that it's not easy to tell which ones are really good; as FF wrote, reviews aren't that meaningful, and I don't know anyone in my area who used a cleaning service before.

Look online and check "living social" and "Groupon" deals locally they normally run great specials as a way to get to know companies....many 1/2 the normal price. They would be licensed and bonded. I don't where you are located I have fabulous trustworthy gals I love!!!! Yes, my so called "friend" that was in a fundraising group ripped off me and others in the group.....nuts. The new gals(I have known them 8 years now) are fabulous leave out jewelry, money etc....they pick it up clean and put it right back and many are "green" these days and bring all their supplies! They will do laundry, iron, meals, organize.So worth a bit more.Good Luck!

I interviewed some companies, including green companies. All were expensive, at least $25 per hr. for 1 person and double for 2 people. Most brought their own cleaning supplies. The area of our house I wanted cleaned was about 1600 sq. ft. Some rooms we just don't need the service.

That was too expensive to me and we waited on a list for a local lady I already knew and for several years now she cleans for $15.00/hr. for about 2 hrs. and sometimes longer. For twice a month cleanings we are paying $60.00/month which I can live with. She does a good job, is reliable and we have no concerns about her stealing anything. She is flexible and will help us with almost anything we ask. We prepare by putting things away that might be in her way as she goes to clean each room. She doesn't rearrange or stuff items in drawers. This is the ideal relationship for our family. Best of luck to you in your search!

My only other comment is think, "would i work for 10.00 an hour". Why is it people believe those who do manual labor are worth so much less? It fries me to hear people say I only want to pay 10.00 an hour, its the same with caregiving you want good help trustworthy, reliable and you want to pay them less then they could make at McDonalds. You get what you pay for. As for companies just remember you may have different people each week, they work for minimum wage ( company gets rest) and if you are not a smoker make sure you request only nonsmokers. Bad experience when workers left coats on furniture, it reeked of smoke. If hiring indep, you can tell them up front you will 1099 them that way you know they pay taxes. If they do they are paying social sec taxes which will benefit in long run as you mentioned. Hope you find the right balance for you and dad. I cleaned houses for years as indep, loved my clients.

Large city in midwest: $75 for cleaning person and her assistant to come for 2 hours. They clean (nonstop) my father's 3BD, 3BA apartment. He's only uses 1/2 the rooms and is fairly neat already. They focus on floors, bathrooms. Reasonably clean when they finish and smells better because she opens the windows. Glad I don't have to do it. Would take me a lot longer.

Call your town's Council on Aging for starters.

My daughter owns a cleaning green business here in upstate New York. She is fully insured and pays Workers' Comp. She charges $30 an hour or by the job. She is also insured against theft or damage that could occur.