To ask how long your cleaner takes?

[Oysterbabe]

First World problem warning.

I returned to work 3 days a week after maternity leave 3 weeks ago and it instantly became apparent that we need a cleaner. She started today and is upstairs now. We agreed she'd do a deep clean everywhere today and if we're happy she'll come and do a shorter clean throughout every 2 weeks. She's given me an estimate for each but we'll see how long it takes.

My house is a pretty small 4 bed semi over 3 floors; ground, first and loft conversion. It has 3 double bedrooms, 1 single bedroom, a cloakroom, a big bathroom, an en suite, a kitchen diner and a lounge.

How long would you expect the first clean then the subsequent cleans to take? I've never had a cleaner so I'm not sure whether her estimates are reasonable or not. What does your cleaner do? How long do they take?

Depends on how messy you are. And how cluttered. 4-6 hours a week maybbe required.

Mine does the whole house in 3 hours, but that is with the house in good order. To wipe down doors, skirting etc and scrub shower cubicles (rather than a normal clean) would prob need another 3 hours - we currently have 6 hours a week which allows for bed changing, deep cleaning on a rota, and things like cupboard cleaning out

10 hours a month for 3 bed semi
This covers all the basics and allows a deeper clean of one area on a rota

Had a cleaner once: 3 hours per week once a week.

It's a bit irrelevant though to anyone else because 1) the hours depend on the things you want your cleaner to do and what's in scope so to speak and 2) how dirty/messy the house is and how much there is to clean

Saying "it's not very messy" or "it is very messy" will not help you compare because everyone's definition of those things is also very different.

Ours takes 1.5-2h once a week for a 3 bed over 2 floors, but 'incompletely' - i.e. since we don't use the bedrooms every week, she'll mix and match jobs as and when they need doing. Bathroom, kitchen, lounge etc all done weekly properly.

If your areas are all 'high traffic' and they're only being cleaned every other week she'll probably need more like 3h.

My house takes 2 hours.
What you describe, for a deep clean then all day.
Then once a week for 3-4 hours.

With 2 hours a week mine clean (dust, hoover, mop floors, wipe down surfaces etc) the whole of downstairs, including a cloakroom. They dust & vacuum all 5 bedrooms and give one bathroom a thorough clean (family bathroom & en-suite which they alternate) so I do a top up clean of the other bathroom alternate weeks. When bigger stuff needs doing like windows, skirting etc I ask them to do a bit extra.

There are 2 of them which helps as I think 2 people cleaning for 1 hour can get more done than 1 person cleaning for 2 hours.

Also we are fairly tidy people and house is v uncluttered, we always tidy before they come so they can concentrate on cleaning.

Every cleaner I’ve had has worked on the basis of a 1bed takes 1 hour, a 2bed takes 2 hours, a 3bed takes 3 hours etc. So I’d expect your house to be 3-4 hours each week and maybe 6 hours for a deep clean.

I would expect for the number of rooms etc this to take 3 hours fortnightly.
I'd add an hour or two for the first clean.

I'm a cleaner and for your house - although I'd prefer to see it first, go through particulars, whether you want beds changed, ironing etc, I'd say 3 - 4 hours a week once I was on top of things. That includes wiping cupboards doors in kitchens, appliances, skirtings, windows. First few cleans are always slower because you work a room at a time then get in a routine. She sounds like she's just being thorough to me

OK thanks everyone. I would say that aside from one of the bedrooms and the lounge, which both have quite a few toys in, we're pretty uncluttered.
She reckons about 4-5 hours today and 3-4 per fortnight after that. Sounds about right.

My 4 bed,2 bath, 2 reception and large kitchen takes 7 hours, but that is a really thorough job.

Think about how long you would need to clean it.

Deep clean could be a day - wiping down woodwork, cleaning windows, cleaning light fittings, cleaning behind furniture etc
I now pay 3 hours a fortnight for a new build 4 bed, previously paid 4 hours a fortnight. But we are pretty clutter free and I do obviously clean in between.

You'll probably find that she'll start on 4 then drop to 3 as she gets into the swing of it.

Mine is paid for 2, but sometimes completes in 1.5h - I tend to leave a good long list, and as long as it's done, no complaints (she usually spots extra things to do anyway).