How long to clean a house this big?

[hippospot]

Four bedrooms, two bathrooms (one only has a shower), downstairs loo, hallway, miniature study, small kitchen, open-plan living/dining room, two flights of stairs.

Hard floors throughout except stairs. Quite minimalist in terms of clutter and it's always tidy before the cleaner arrives. No pets.

She says she needs five hours to clean it. I think four hours is enough. I don't have anything to polish, I don't expect sheets to be changed, and I only require downstairs and bathrooms to be mopped.

In addition she does an hour of ironing.

I just went back to work and I can't afford on my salary to pay for someone six hours a week, plus I just don't think it should take six hours to do all that!

Opinions please!

I did have cleaner in similar for 2.5 hours Doing only hoovering and bathrooms nothing else

Sorry so I agree with you 4

I used to do house cleaning. I did a house similar in size to yours, but I also changed the bed linen and gave the 2 bathrooms and the ensuite a proper clean. It also had a conservatory and large utility. I did it in 3 hours charging £10 per hour.

I also did a large physiotherapy place with house attached. I did it in 2 hours less than the agency cleaner they previously had. I did a very good job and didn't cut corners, I just think some people take the mick!

4 hours here for what sounds like slightly larger property and much more carpet, occasional sheet changing and some tidying to boot. So her 5 is overkill. 4 ample.

3 hours here for 6 bedroom house, big floor space. Previous house sounds similar to yours and was 2.5 hours. In four hours I would expect a lot - so wipe down windows, skirting, woodwork, beds changed. 3 hours absolute max.

I'm a cleaner and I would say 4 hours going by what you say. Unless the houses is very cluttered, messy etc then that is plenty for a good clean through

My home is similar to yours, but has just a couple more rooms on each floor. My cleaner does 3.5 hrs a day. She also changes bed sheets, irons and runs occasional errands. (She could actually do the work in half the time, but I like her, I know she values the job and don't want to take hours away from her.)

Thanks everyone.

Before working I did it myself to a pretty high standard plus of course tidying which the cleaner does not need to do. I could do it in 3.5. So I thought 4 was reasonable.

I will be decluttering further and spring cleaning myself over half-term so it will be interesting to see if that makes it quicker for her.

Prioritise which rooms/ jobs are important. Then see how many hours you are able to pay for.
I have a 5 bed house and never seem to get much done

I have a large 4 bed. 4 bathrooms. No clutter. 3 reception rooms. Full clean. All skirting boards. All floors mopped. Every surface, top to bottom, can never find a thing wrong. 2.5 hours. £25. There's 2 people, so it takes 1.25 hours to do my house.

Could you get another cleaner to give you a quote?

3.5hours is fine.

Our home is a little over 3,000sq ft and cleaner also does ironing (except work shirts go to a professional to be pressed). She's there for 5 hours once a week. £10 an hour in London

Our house is 3,200 sq feet and to give it a proper basic clean takes six hours, I asked my neighbour how long it takes her and she said the same thing.

Our home is approx 1200 square feet! I think I will ask other cleaners for a quote.

I know that one week's ironing takes me 45-60 mins. Perhaps she is not as fast as me.

We have a similar setup and have 4.5 hours with no ironing. To do all that in 3 hours is a big ask.

4 hours seems plenty to me too. I'd get another cleaner round. A bad cleaner is a nightmare and it seems like you have different ideas of what can be achieved so I'd ditch this one.

sorry, I'm with the cleaner if you want baths and kitchen properly clean. that's at least 2 hours just there.
more if you want anything else than hoovering in the other rooms.
even more if you want bedding changed/ironing.

I think 5 hours is too much. I have the same setup as you but with 3 toilets.

In 5 hours I could do the whole house with 2 rooms looking like a bombs hit. I think it depends how upto gether your place is if it's pretty tidy I'd expect oven and microwave cleaning and skirtings almost a deep clean for that amount of time and would expect it to be immaculate.

Sorry not much help

That sounds virtually identical to my house, except one less bathroom.

I cannot clean my house in 4 hours. I could do a basic surface clean if it was already tidy, but not things like Windows, cupboard doors, pulling out furniture. Are your hard floors laminates or tiles? Tiles take ages to clean as they streak, so need dried as well as mopped.

You'd be better to pay her 6 hours a fortnight so she can do a proper thorough clean, rather than 4 hours a week and her not quite do it properly.

I don't expect windows doing, and the only furniture to pull out is one sofa.

I have hardly any ornaments, everything is very tidy and minimalist. I've never asked her to clean inside the oven but there is a gas hob. I don't have a microwave.

The hard floors are oak and mostly just need a vacuum.

I think I will pay her for 5 hours and ask her to the ironing last, and she can stop when she gets to 5 hours and I will finish the ironing she hasn't done. Does that seem fair?

Thanks for all your opinions.

4 hours is plenty.
If she's slower at ironing and cleaning than you then there's an argument that you are paying here to piss about, surely.
Depends on the total cost, I guess.

We have an extra 2 bedrooms and an extra bathroom. And takes 4 hours a week. It isn't pristine - as in show home standard, but is how it would be if I was home and had 4 hours to do it. That's
Hoovering
Mopping
Dusting - skirting boards, surfaces,
Kitchen
Bathrooms

No carpets downstairs, mostly carpeted upstairs.

If we paid for 6 I imagine it would be absolutely glorious - but 6 hours is so long! And so expensive!

It depends on your expectations, OP.

If you just want floors vacuumed, bathrooms and kitchen given a basic clean and downstairs floors mopped, I would think 3 hours is a reasonable time.

But if you want ornaments picked up and dusted and shelves dusted and TVs and computers cleaned or glass door panels, windows, skirtings cleaned, furniture moved and cleaned behind or under etc, you're looking at much longer - and in that case 5 hours would be not unreasonable.

Maybe sort out a list of weekly essentials, for 3 hours, and then a monthly rota for he 4th hour?

Here, that would be every week, clean bathrooms (bleach loo, wipe down bath/shower, change towels, wipe down surfaces, bin empty toiletries), and kitchen (wipe down all surfaces, bleach sink, squirt handles), mop kitchen and bathroom floors, Hoover throughout rest of house, empty bins, that sort of thing.

Then extra tasks - wipe skirtings, mop floors in rest of house, wipe down inside kitchen cabinets/decontaminate 'fridge, dust bookshelves and behind to, polish wooden furniture... So a weekly freshen up for most of the time then a one room deeper clean with the remaining hour.

My house is 3 beds, 3 receptions, and my cleaner does the standard clean in 2 hours - I'd think 3 would be plenty for the basic clean, leaving you an hour to iron and an hour to do something deeper.

sorry, I'm with the cleaner if you want baths and kitchen properly clean. that's at least 2 hours just there.

Really?! 2 hours?? The house I cleaned the large kitchen took no more than 30 minutes. That was hoovering, wiping surfaces, wiping cupboard doors, cleaning Hob, clearing and tidying table, emptying bin, mopping floor. I'd say the other 2 bathrooms and ensuite took about 30 minutes in total too. Maybe I'm just quick!!