Opinions on housekeepers?

In My Humble Opinion
1

So, with Mrs. Lebeef no longer working from home, and my daily commute from Denver to Colorado Springs, Casa Lebeef is not looking as clean and tidy as it once did.

Has anyone had any experience with a home cleaning company? Mollymaid, or one of the others? I think I’d like to have someone come in once or twice a week and just sweep and dust, mostly.

We still do our regular cleaning on the weekends, but with two dogs and the summer heat coming on, our hardwood floors look like they’v been recovered in cashmere.

So, what’s the dope on light housekeeping? yeas or nays? We have a couple of laptops and ipods roaming around the house. Has theft every been a problem? Should you tip above the service charge? What about offering drinks from the fridge? So many questions…

2

Hehehe…I seriously thought this thread would be about hose storage!

I don’t have any knowledge about housekeepers, but I reported your post in the hopes that a mod would fix the title for you and you’ll get more responses.

3

You hoser. :stuck_out_tongue:

I was going to suggest a hosekeeper like this one.

4

Thanks Zipper!

Man I checked the spelling in word and everything. Just forgot to check the title.

5

I fixed the typo in the title for you. Carry on. :slight_smile:

6

I’ve been using a housecleaner for years, and I swear by them ! Best time saving ever (yes, I do not enjoy housecleaning).

Once or twice a week is actually quite a bit. Which is good - they tend to like the more the better. I only have mine come in once every two weeks. Although if you’re going to have them come in that often, you might as well have them do more than just dust - vacuum, bathrooms, dishes, etc…

I’ve not had any problems with theft, but have been annoyed at them helping themselves to stuff in the fridge (like ice cream) at times. My current cleaner does not do this, but it has happened in the past.

If you can find an independent that has good references, this may be your best bet. You can probably get a better rate. And most importantly, since they’ll be the same ones doing your house, the consistency will be there. When I used a service, the inconsistency used to drive me nuts.

The downside to an independent is that they may be a little flakey (not showing up when they’re supposed to). I used one independent for many years, and she got flakier and flakier until I finally had to cut her loose. So it is a trade-off. Again, references are key.

The other thing about using a service, is that it kind of put me off knowing that when they visited, there might be 2 or 3 gals actually doing the work (no, I’m not being sexist - it just turns out that they were all women), but there would also be this supervisor just hanging out. It kind of bothered me that there was this extra person just reading my paper or magazines, or using the phone, while the workers did the actual cleaning.

I don’t really tip, but I do give a bonus and gift (sometimes) at Christmas.

7

We have someone from Molly Maid come once a month. Their first clean was pretty extensive, and now they do mostly maintenance cleaning each month. I like having them come, if only because it forces me to organize my house periodically. It looks nice for at least a week. :wink:

Anyway, they do a decent job and I don’t mind doing some cleaning myself in between visits. I was thinking about having them come twice a month, but I’m pretty stingy and so is my husband.

8

Seriously, go whole hog. Why do you want to** do ** any of your own cleaning when you can pay someone to do it? I would ask for an estimate for all the cleaning once a week. I bet it that with factoring in driving to your place, etc, a good once a week cleaning would cost the same as two touch ups.

I have had several independent cleaners over the years, and never had any problems with theft, etc. In fact, the only problem I have had is with one raising her rates without notice and charging a “cancelled cleaning” fee without notice, so I just let her go and found someone else. Plus, by going with an independent person, you are supporting a local small (tiny, probably) business. I found mine through friends, or as a last resort, through the want ads. With the want ads, I asked for references.

9

Is it pretty standard to give them a key? I’ve thought about using someone for quite some time now, but I don’t want them in the house when no one’s home.

10

This is a personal thing with me, but I feel strongly about hiring someone who works independently. I like knowing that the person is in business for herself or himself, calling the shots, setting their own hours, choosing their own clients. More often than not the cleaners we’ve hired have been people who really seemed to enjoy cleaning, and who were looking for a way to be employed while still working around their family’s schedules and needs. I think that’s great and I like supporting that kind of “business.”

I can’t speak to theft because my husband works from home and is there while they are cleaning. In other words, we’ve never left anyone alone in our house.

We’ve had flaky cleaners and great ones, ones that were too meticulous, ones that were too gossipy, ones that wanted to change furniture around (I didn’t like any of these last three traits). We’ve had great results from couples or families who work as a team; maybe that’s a fluke. Our current housekeepers are a family, and they work for a detailed checklist. I like that, because we know what they’re going to do each time. Right now they come every week, which feels like too often, but for us every two weeks is a little too big of a gap.

11

We had a housekeeper when our kids were little.

I’d recommend going independant - the franchises can really treat their employees poorly - lots of turnover, low wages (and I think that can lead to issues with theft). However, you’ll get a house cleaned where the housekeeping “process” has been defined. I get flyers from one that proclaims “our housekeepers clean your floors on their hands and knees - like it should be done.” And all I can think is “the mop is better on their knees and their backs! I really don’t want to be responsible for someone else’s arthritis.” Look for someone who is independant and bonded and dependable. The problem is that you’ll need to find a new one every few years.

Ours came twice a week - once for a cleaning (took three hours) and once after the weekend to do a tidy - she’d make beds, pick up, and get the weekend dishes into the dishwasher. She worked for us for three years before she decided to stop cleaning. We never had any issues with theft or anything. It was great.

We gave ours a Christmas bonus equal to a weeks service. She never took anything from the fridge - she came with her own diet pepsi. Because we had a really good relationship with ours, I’d pay her even when we were on vacation - just left her a list of “heavier cleaning” (clean out the fridge, wash the rugs, wipe the woodwork and move and vaccuum under the furniture) that she didn’t have time for when she didn’t walk into a clean house.

12

I have always given them a key and left them alone. In fact, one woman I didn’t even meet in person for a couple of years, until I was home sick one day when she was cleaning. We had spoken on the phone and she was recommended by a friend, so I trusted her. As I said before, no problems so far, with about 5 or 6 different people cleaning my house over the years. In fact, aside from the woman who raised her rates, I have only changed cleaners when I have moved.

13

Thanks everybody! I think we are going to go with a once a week cleaning, after the initial consult next week. I found a local company that has been in business for a while here in Denver, so I feel pretty good about it.

I’m glad to here about the tipping, food and Christmas stuff. I gift the postman, the paper guy, and the garbage man at chrismas every year, so this should just be the same.

It’s nice to hear I’m not the only person willing to do this. I was feeling a little like a lazy slob when we first started talking about it.

I feel much better now, hearing others have gone this route.

14

[hijack]How much does one normally tip a cleaning person on holidays, by the way? [/hijack]

15

I’ll be the one cautionary voice and add that my sister had a problem not with laptops or iPods going missing, but with her cleaner stealing a check out of her checkbook and forging a check for a hefty sum. I don’t remember how all that turned out (I think they ended up not being out the cash, because the bank accepted responsbility for cashing a forged check), but it did cause a lot of hassle. Obviously, once the check was stolen, the housecleaner disappeared, but they had given her a key and had to have all the locks changed in the house, etc.

For the brief period of time when I used a housecleaner, I had a problem with them breaking stuff. Maybe I just had a spate of clumsy cleaners.

16

I second freckafree. I’ve never had a housekeeper of my own but growing up my single working mother had a whole slew of them. I don’t know if it was just terrible luck on our part or a threat everyone needs to be aware of. I would recommend only using one that someone else you know uses and is happy with. There is so much risk involved in letting someone into your house especially if you give them a key and aren’t there when they are. My mom had stolen from her several pieces of jewelry with huge sentimental value (my grandmothers engagement and wedding rings, tenth anniversary ring from grandfather, etc.) If you own anything like this I would recommend a safe. Too much shit has gone missing from people to worry about looking un-PC by locking your stuff up.

Other problems have included housekeepers that stopped showing up, ones that claimed to not speak english and then actually did, one brought her young son that broke a bunch some crystal candlesticks.

I just have a bad attitude about the whole thing really. Definitely call the references, get a rec. from a buddy, or just live in squalor.

17

Wow, I had the same housekeeper (in Denver) for ten years.
She had a key, dealt with two cats and two large dogs, the whole nine yards.
The only thing that ever happened was a broken drinking glass, which she paid for.
I did not quit her until we moved; she was very professional and we got along fine.

18

I’ve had house cleaners for over 25 years. Mostly private individuals, sometimes in desperation–service contractors like the Molly Maids. Some do better, some do worse. The privates always did a better job. I’ve never had anything stolen. I’ve had a few things broken, maybe five minimally expensive glass objects, certainly less than I would have broken myself cleaning over the years. I have always given the cleaning folk a key and not really worried about it.

One thing to keep in mind, they always know more about you than you think. The help always know. :cool:

For what it’s worth at Christmas I double pay.

19

Oh, baby, you have no idea how much we know. We know what’s in the drawer next to the bed (why did you leave it open??). We see the clothes in your closet. We smell it when you smoke and lie about it to your family. We see the beer bottles/cans hidden in the garage, the syringes of fertility drugs under the sink with the cleaners. We see the medicine bottles you leave in the bathroom (Viagra, anyone?) and the Depends in the hall closet.
We know. I could write the world’s most embarrassing book about some people in Oakland County.

20

I have personally known two housekeepers. One, I would trust with my children’s lives. The other, I wouldn’t trust outside my peripheral vision. Check references, thoroughly.