Is it reasonable to ask the cleaner to do some of the gross jobs?

[Inthenick]

My cleaner comes once a week for 2 hours. I have her doing bathrooms (1 family one and 1 downstairs loo) and floors (washing and hovering). So she already cleans the toilets when she is here but I want to ask her to give the shower a scrub weekly (doesn't seem to do that now) and maybe once every two weeks, give the plug a clear out and clean. I hate this job and it is gross but I think it would be less gross if done regularly so is it unreasonable to ask a cleaner to do that as a standard job? I feel embarrassed enough to get someone to clean our toilets!

Oh, right. That's a lot more rooms than the average house. Sorry, I didn't get that from your earlier post.

What the hell is 'cleaning the plugholes'? You pick out any hairs, scrub, and chuck stuff down if it looks rank...what have I been missing all this time?

It's ten rooms! She's mopping the rooms she's just hoovered, I think.

Even so, if the bathrooms took 20 mins each (ours take 30-40 mins to do a good job), that's still have only eight minutes a room. No wonder the poor woman doesn't do the corners.

2 hours not enough for a house that size. Bathrooms take 30 mins including shower and plughole and cleaning skirting and behind door, under bins etc
If rooms are uncluttered it's easier but nothing worse than having to rush like mad as you'd definitely miss things

Is she expected to dust and polish the rooms also? If it's just hoover and mop that does make it quicker..

I am clearly an awful person. It never even occurred to me to check on the loo or the bins or the plug hole before the cleaner arrives

It does sounds like a lot to get round in 2 hours. Our cleaner does 4 hours a week for a 4 bed semi-detached house with two bathrooms and a cloakroom.

I read it as 2 cleaners for two hours so the OP pays for 4 hours work altogether, say for example, if the service charges her £15 per hour (or whatever it is) she is paying £60 for four man hours work which is completed in two hours by two cleaners on the job. That sounds about enought time to detail clean a property that size and in four hours it's fair to expect everything completed once the house is brought up-together after the first few visits, details can be included in four hours.

I think she is referring to the one cleaner since she is the business owner, therefore is overall responsible for the outcome of the cleans.

the issue is that the business owner lacks the management skills to make sure the staff are properly trained and performing to standard.

Just for the record, two hours would be nowhere near enough time to do even the basics in a 17 room house. I sya this with 20 years experience, we only charge around the two hour timeframe for a small. well kept flat or a two up two down, in good condition with few occupants, no pets etc.

Having thought about it and comparing it to some of the larger houses we clean, I don't think the four hours is enough for a 17 room house actually, maybe about 6 hours to get to plug holes and things (so have the two of them in for 3 hours).

Maybe in four hours they can only achieve the bare basics but not the details of a home that size, this sounds like the problem here.

I'm thinking now of houses we have on our books that take our teams about 6 man hours to do and they have about 10-12 large rooms.

I think 17 rooms needs a minimum of 6 hours, maybe more to detail clean within a regular maintenance cleaning schedule.