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View Full Version : How much do you pay for house cleaning (and how often)?



MMMommy
08-11-2009, 12:44 AM
There was a recent thread on what people have their house cleaners do (the scope of their job), and it got me thinking about switching from once a month cleaning to twice a month. Our cleaning lady (with two helpers) takes about 2 1/2 to 3 hours on average. No laundry, no changing of sheets, no cleaning of fridge interior. We are thinking of having her come twice a month instead of just once a month. Her rates are:

once per month = $90
two times a month (bi-weekly) = $130

Our home is 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath.

Is that a "reasonable" rate? Obviously we are getting a "better deal" if she comes bi-weekly, since it comes out to $65/cleaning versus $90. But I wanted to see how other people's prices stack up in comparison.

Also, do you provide your own cleaning supplies or do they?

Thanks for any input!

citymama
08-11-2009, 12:51 AM
$70 per visit for twice a month
$85 per visit if once a month.

We have a 2BR+office/1 BA

ETA Corrected numbers for new cleaning service!

elektra
08-11-2009, 01:34 AM
We pay $65 a pop for every two weeks. I think that's actually a good rate for around here.
We have a 3br/1 office/ 2.75 bath

kali
08-11-2009, 04:21 AM
Our cleaning lady (with two helpers) takes about 2 1/2 to 3 hours on average. No laundry, no changing of sheets, no cleaning of fridge interior.... Her rates are:

once per month = $90
two times a month (bi-weekly) = $130



That sounds like a great rate for the amount of time they are working, but whether you are getting a good value depends on how much and how well your service cleans for the price.

Our service comes once a week. They charge $80 per cleaning. The 3 ladies are only here for about 1 1/2 hours, but they move fast and don't stop for a second! They tidy up first before dusting, vacuuming, mopping, wiping surfaces, and scrubbing sinks/tubs/toilets. They move the furniture so they can clean behind, under and on top of it. They wipe baseboards and clean behind the toilets. They also clean the fridge and change sheets every time. The only cleaning I do is the daily tidying up, washing dishes, wiping counters, cleaning up spills, and laundry.

We have 3 bedrooms/playroom/2.5 bath.

maestramommy
08-11-2009, 07:02 AM
That sounds like a great rate for the amount of time they are working, but whether you are getting a good value depends on how much and how well your service cleans for the price.

Our service comes once a week. They charge $80 per cleaning. The 3 ladies are only here for about 1 1/2 hours, but they move fast and don't stop for a second! They tidy up first before dusting, vacuuming, mopping, wiping surfaces, and scrubbing sinks/tubs/toilets. They move the furniture so they can clean behind, under and on top of it. They wipe baseboards and clean behind the toilets. They also clean the fridge and change sheets every time. The only cleaning I do is the daily tidying up, washing dishes, wiping counters, cleaning up spills, and laundry.

We have 3 bedrooms/playroom/2.5 bath.

Wow! I want your service!

BeachBum
08-11-2009, 07:06 AM
So you are getting 9 hours of cleaning (3 people x 3 hours) for $90??? That is the deal of the century if your house is clean.

I pay roughly $20/ hour and we do not live in an expensive area of the country.

wellyes
08-11-2009, 07:07 AM
3 people for 3 hours for $65 sounds very fair. Less than I pay (and my house is a lot smaller).

egoldber
08-11-2009, 07:13 AM
IME, cleaning rates are highly regional.

I pay $80 every 2 weeks. I have a 4 bedroom, 3.5 bath home. There are 4 people here for about 90 minutes.

pinkmomagain
08-11-2009, 08:20 AM
Our cleaning lady charges us $110 biweekly. Sounds like our house-size is similar to yours. It does take her an average of 4 - 5 hours though because it is just her.

alexsmommy
08-11-2009, 08:25 AM
IME, cleaning rates are highly regional.

I pay $80 every 2 weeks. I have a 4 bedroom, 3.5 bath home. There are 4 people here for about 90 minutes.

Yes, it's very regional. I think you need to compare to people in your area.

hardysmom
08-11-2009, 08:40 AM
I would think that your location would matter as much as house size.

I pay $80 a week for my 4bd/3.5 bath house. She is here from 8:30-12:00 and does a great job. At my house, she does cleaning (bathrooms, baseboards, floors, etc) but I try to pick clutter up beforehand.

I also give her a bonus during the holidays.

She also works for one of my friends 3.5 days a week. At her house, she often takes care of the kids, does laundry, and sometimes cooks. Basically, she does everything.

My last housekeeper was $45/week and pretty much stayed all day.

The reasonable going rate here (Tulsa) seems to be $65-$85 for weekly. I know a few who pay more, a few who pay less. Services cost more. I paid $100 a week for a service while my regular person took a summer vacation.

jenmcadams
08-11-2009, 08:41 AM
We're in a suburb of Denver and we pay $85 per visit for 3 hours of cleaning for 1 cleaner for a 4 bedroom, 3 bath house. She does a pretty great job in that amount of time and we have her come every two weeks.

Octobermommy
08-11-2009, 08:52 AM
I just paid $80 for my first cleaning. She stayed about 4 hours. This is for biweekly. 4 bedroom/3 bath.

Melaine
08-11-2009, 08:53 AM
Wow. I gotta say this thread is making me think we need to have a house-cleaner. It seems to me some of you guys are getting excellent rates.

mecawa
08-11-2009, 08:58 AM
We get ours done every week and she charges us 70 dollars per week for a 3 bed 2 bath house.

galvjen
08-11-2009, 09:11 AM
$100 every other week, 5 bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms. I pick up everything before she comes. She works ~4 hours and does a pretty fantatsic job. This is probably about $10 above average in my area but she's been working for us for >4 years and never any issues. I hope to keep her for many more years!

ahrimie
08-11-2009, 10:23 AM
Also, price depends on your square footage usually.

I think we get a STEAL for $60 every 2 weeks. Our house is 4 bed, 2.5 bath, library, family room, formal living/dining, dining, kitchen, foyer. I try to pick up toys and move them to the sides of the room but if I don't, they do it for me. They change sheets (and make the bed) and arrange towels like I've been in a hotel! If there are dishes in the sink, they either do them or put them in the dishwasher. Usually it's the same person and it takes them anywhere from 3.5-4.5 hrs. Most of the time, I'm home some of the time but rarely the entire time.

AnnieW625
08-11-2009, 10:40 AM
I pay $60 each time they come, which is usually two times a month. We have an 1100 sq. ft. house, which has 3 beds and 1 bath. We are 30 minutes south of downtown Los Angeles.

jgenie
08-11-2009, 02:29 PM
I pay $50 each week - currently she cleans one week and then watches DS on the alternate week while I work on projects around the house or get out for a while. Once the new baby arrives she will be cleaning every week. She cleans our dining room, living room, kitchen, 2 baths, master bedroom, and DS' room. Our guest room is my dumping ground so she doesn't go in there and our basement is currently not being used so she doesn't clean there either. Once the basement is redone she will start cleaning that again and will be getting $70 - most likely we'll be replacing the full basement kitchen with a full bath. I :heartbeat: her - she is the only person that has watched DS and he adores her!!!

HannaAddict
08-12-2009, 01:34 AM
I knew my neighborhood was on the expensive side from the house prices thread, but the cleaning rates are quite a bit more here too. We paid $80 for our former house, two bedroom, one bath bungalow with hardwood floors (about 1,100 square feet). Three or four ladies, the same group each week. Our current house in the same neighborhood is three bedrooms, two and 3/4 baths, about 2,300 square feet and rate is $120. This is per week. We do have two dogs that are fur machines and the cleaning team (one woman who hires her team and the same people have been doing it for two years) but we don't have a stick of furniture in the living room. From the frequent posts on our local neighborhood moms' list serve, it seems our rate is normal or on the lower side actually.

codex57
08-12-2009, 01:36 PM
$90 for a 2775 sq ft house once a month. Rates are based on sq footage for our house cleaner. Rates are very regional. This is for the Sacramento, CA area.

Crew of about 4 or 5 comes in for 2 hours or so. Just dusting, wiping down cabinets, cleaning stove/sink, mopping, vacuuming, bathrooms, etc. No laundry or cleaning interior of stuff, altho if we haven't piled a bunch of our crap on a bed (to make it easier for them to vacuum), they will make the bed for you. Someone in the crew must have worked in a hotel or something.

roobee
08-12-2009, 01:47 PM
I "fired" my housekeeper. She had only been here twice (once a month), and she's totally great and nice, but I wanted to hire my SIL instead since she could use the money and would do just as great of a job.

I lied and told the housekeeper that I couldn't afford her, my hours were cut, blah, blah. Now she called back and offered to work for half price! And I felt like I was getting quite a deal before ($20 an hour). I don't know if I'm even comfortable paying someone only $10 to do housework. I'm sooo tempted to still have SIL come over and hire back the 1/2 price lady.

egoldber
08-12-2009, 01:59 PM
When I called my cleaning person (who I had used for years before DH was laid off) to re-hire her, I was afraid she wouldn't have room for me and/or would charge a much higher price. On the contrary, she offered me my choice of days and times and the old price. I think cleaning people have been very hard hit by the economy. It's one of the first things people cut when hit with hard times.

SnuggleBuggles
01-27-2013, 10:02 AM
1-2 times/ year, $90-100 for a 3 bedroom house. It is an independent company and the owner + 1 employee comes. eta- takes them about 2 hours.

123LuckyMom
01-27-2013, 10:06 AM
I am not currently paying a cleaner, but the going rate around here is $25/hr per person no matter how often they come. If they come less often, they need to work longer. My house usually takes 4-5 hours to clean. I stopped paying a cleaner, because I couldn't find anyone I felt was cleaning as well as I could do myself. I miss my old cleaner who did the job herself, used to charge $15/hr, and the house sparkled!!! She's not cleaning any more. :(

westwoodmom04
01-27-2013, 10:12 AM
I knew my neighborhood was on the expensive side from the house prices thread, but the cleaning rates are quite a bit more here too. We paid $80 for our former house, two bedroom, one bath bungalow with hardwood floors (about 1,100 square feet). Three or four ladies, the same group each week. Our current house in the same neighborhood is three bedrooms, two and 3/4 baths, about 2,300 square feet and rate is $120. This is per week. We do have two dogs that are fur machines and the cleaning team (one woman who hires her team and the same people have been doing it for two years) but we don't have a stick of furniture in the living room. From the frequent posts on our local neighborhood moms' list serve, it seems our rate is normal or on the lower side actually.

This is what we paid when we had our cleaning lady (she and two others) coming weekly. Our house is four bedrooms (though one is small and adjacent to our room, so not used as a bedroom) three and a half baths, with a finished basement, so three floors to clean. We recently switched to biweekly and now I pay a little more for each visit.

DualvansMommy
01-27-2013, 10:27 AM
We pay $90 bi-monthly to clean our 2800 sq foot home; 4 bedroom & 3 baths. Just clearing up most of clutter but I try to do most of that before she comes, cleans bathrooms throughly, dust, vaccum every inch of surface, mop kitchen and clean cooktop, microwave, surface of kitchen.

I also get her to clean my fridge once every month and clean our windows (once every season) so those two are extra.

KrisM
01-27-2013, 10:35 AM
This is a 2009 thread!

vludmilla
01-27-2013, 11:28 AM
You guys all have great rates. I thought I had a good price of $85 every two weeks for a 3 BR 2.5 bath house and my house is on the smaller side.

happy2bamom
01-27-2013, 11:33 AM
Well shoot. I love our cleaning lady, but now I think that we pay too much. She comes every other week and we pay her $120 for each visit. Our house is 3100 sq. She is usually here about 4 hours.

khm
01-27-2013, 12:24 PM
Well shoot. I love our cleaning lady, but now I think that we pay too much. She comes every other week and we pay her $120 for each visit. Our house is 3100 sq. She is usually here about 4 hours.

The beginning of the thread is from 2009. Might be part of an explanation.

vtmom
01-27-2013, 01:33 PM
We pay $34 an hour.

emily_gracesmama
01-27-2013, 02:44 PM
4 bedroom 3.5 baths $100 every 2 weeks she is here for 6 hrs

BabyBearsMom
01-27-2013, 02:50 PM
We pay $95 a visit for every two weeks. So worth it

jjordan
01-27-2013, 03:05 PM
We pay $50 for about 3.5 hours, averaging 3x a month. (It's officially once a week, but we usually end up canceling for some reason about once a month.) We provide cleaning supplies and I leave a list of priorities, since it varies depending on the week.

We live in what I consider to be a medium to low COLA.