How long does it take to clean your house?

[elrohwen]

Hmmm ... well, we have a townhouse that is probably 1100-1300sqft or so. It typically takes both of working together about 2 hours to totally clean it. However, FI is very slow and meticulous and will take an hour just to do the big bathroom. In that time I've cleaned much of the rest of the house. Lol

As for how often we do it ... I don't want to admit to that, because we probably wait way too long in between cleanings

We're very neat, but not into actual cleaning at all.

ETA: Dishes (and the kitchen in general), laundry, and picking up clutter happen all the time, so I don't include those in "cleaning". It's the dusting, vaccuming, washing floors, and doing bathrooms that we really hate.

ETA2: I told FI that once we have a house of our own, we're absolutely getting someone to come in every other week and clean.

 

[zoebartlett]

Date: 4/12/2009 11:50:42 AM
Author: KimberlyH
Okay, I feel a bit less wierd, perhaps he thinks I''m a nut because he cleans differently than I do. He''ll do the floors, but he doesn''t think they really matter because, as he told me yesterday, ''You walk on them, you don''t eat off of them, they don''t need to be that clean!'' as was mopping furiously. When I''m in the right mood I actually enjoy cleaning, I just don''t like the nagging feeling of it needing to be done.

My husband and I clean differently, too. He does a little here and a little there, whereas I tackle one room and then move on to another. Sometimes I need to have everything super organized and spotless, and other times just having everything straightened and tidied up a bit is good enough.

 

[Mrs.Guz]

Hubby and I downsized to a 2,600 sq. foot townhouse on 4 floors. Kids are away at school. I am now home full time. I was cleaning for awhile on my own. Then my husband hired a cleaning woman who in my honest opinion was was overpriced.

One day I happened to be at home while she was there cleaning with another woman. She spent most of her time outside in her car on the cellphone while the other woman cleaned. They were barely there for 45 minutes. I got rid of her after that. I would rather spend my money on other things and clean my own house!

 

[zoebartlett]

Okay, so now I''m curious. How much, if you don''t mind me asking, do you ladies pay your cleaning service? We''ve only hired a cleaning woman once, as I think I mentioned. She charged $60 to clean our 1000+ sq. ft. condo. She cleans other houses in our complex, and apparently she charges everyone the same flat fee (that I know of, anyway). Most of the units look the same on the inside. Some have 3 bedrooms, others have 2 bedrooms, but they''re all roughly the same amount of sq. footage. I''m just wondering how much is the norm. Sorry if this is thread jacking, Kim!

 

[KimberlyH]

Date: 4/12/2009 6:46:05 PM
Author: ZoeBartlett
Okay, so now I''m curious. How much, if you don''t mind me asking, do you ladies pay your cleaning service? We''ve only hired a cleaning woman once, as I think I mentioned. She charged $60 to clean our 1000+ sq. ft. condo. She cleans other houses in our complex, and apparently she charges everyone the same flat fee (that I know of, anyway). Most of the units look the same on the inside. Some have 3 bedrooms, others have 2 bedrooms, but they''re all roughly the same amount of sq. footage. I''m just wondering how much is the norm. Sorry if this is thread jacking, Kim!

It''s not a hijack at all, Zoe, and if it was it still wouldn''t matter. Ask away. That sounds really cheap! As a gift to my sister we hired a cleaning person once, they charged $250 to do the whole place. They were there for 3 hours or so. It was spotless when it was done, but so expensive. Her place is 1000 sq. ft.

 

[Rhea]

My friend in London pays £15/hour for her cleaner. It takes about 3 hours to clean her flat. It''s a one bedroom, one bathroom flat. The cleaning doesn''t take that long, but my friend doesn''t like to do the dishes so the cleaner also washes whatever dishes are around when she comes.

When I cleaned as a college student I was paid $10/hour and managed to get the 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom houses done in 3 hours for what the family wanted done. Every few weeks I''d do a more deep clean which took an extra 2 hours. This was about ten years ago, but was the going rate at the time.

 

[Haven]

double post

 

[Haven]

It takes us about two or so hours to do a full and thorough cleaning (floors, surfaces, linens, etc.) of our house, but that''s only if we''re both working at the same time, and with gusto. That doesn''t include cleaning our windows, though. Our house feels like it''s all windows, it usually takes me three hours just to clean them all alone.

We have a 1600 sq ft (I think) ranch home
All wood floors except for carpeting in the family room
1 dog
3 cats

Now, add in the time it takes us to keep up with our gardening and landscaping, and there goes the entire weekend! We love it, though. All the gorgeous bulbs we bought at the Botanic Garden are coming up now and they''re so beautiful. We''re going to plant a vegetable garden as soon as it warms up a bit here in IL.

We''ve never hired anyone to clean our home, but it''s tempting, if not for the windows alone.

 

[fleur.de.lys.88]

I hire someone to clean because I just don''t have the time. I work 12-14 hour days and I''m out of town more than I''m in. She cleans the house pretty much everyday because 1) I''m absolute neat freak so it has to be spotless at all times and 2) my FI and I have 3 dogs so it tends to get messy faster than homes w/o animals. I pay her $25/hr (pretty much the going rate where I live) and she cleans for about 3 to 4 hours a day. She does do everything though, every day. Windows, bathrooms, dishes, makes the bed, floors, baseboards, etc. In my opinion, worth every penny.

 

[packrat]

I''m actually quitting my 2 day a week job doing insurance, which I don''t particularly like, to clean houses/businesses, something I do like. I''m hoping then I''ll be able to have a little more flexibility w/my schedule for the kids. Wages here for cleaning range from $10-$20/hour..some businesses pay more I guess. If it goes well, I''ll probably quit my 1 day a week at the Dr.''s office.