Best 'rota' to use cleaner most effectively

[wejammin]

I've just had a pay rise and am using the extra to pay for a cleaner. So far they've done a deep clean for 4 hours (2 cleaners) and it was amazing, and then today they did the first weekly clean which was 2 cleaners for 1 hour. The boss of the company told me after that the house is too big for them to do everything in 1 hour. I can't afford more time so I need to prioritise what they do each week.
I have a living room, largish kitchen, small downstairs loo, playroom, 3 first floor bedrooms (2 double, 1 single), family bathroom, very small home office in box room, large attic bedroom and second family bathroom in attic.
I'm thinking that I want them to do the kitchen, downstairs loo and both bathrooms each week, and then maybe one additional room dusted and cleaned, plus hoover all bedrooms. Does that sound reasonable or am I still asking too much? I'm completely hopeless at cleaning so can't guage what is achievable. Is there a better way to divide it up? Please help, knowledgeable people!

If it was my home I would list the rooms that get the most use and traffic. I would say your kitchen for sure, if the downstairs loo is just a loo do that yourself, get the bathroom that's used the most done and the living room if you all use it. What age are the kids? Get them to do their own playroom, the bedrooms too and get your room done. I've lost track of all you said lol sorry. Do you have any pets? X

Try finding a different cleaner. I found companies were more expensive than finding an independent cleaner. Ask around for recommendations.
You may then get a better rate. I remember having one company around who would send two cleaners for our three bedroom home. I found someone else who could do it in the same time.

@ILoveYouMoreTheEnd Kids are 9, 7 and 3, but the oldest has ASD and is not really able to help with housework without a lot of support and scaffolding, so whilst we work hard on those life skills with him, it's more for his benefit than for any help with tidying! 7 year old will tidy up but is then usually followed by 3 year old destroyer. Tidying isn't too bad, to be honest, although I do need to declutter again. No pets at the moment so that's easier.
@Iggly I made a lot of enquiries and got recommendations before I booked them and this company is very reasonable plus provides all own equipment and products which I figured would save me money in the long run. Also they are insured which I like, and they pay a good rate to the staff.

Ask them what they can do in the time given, it will depend on how dirty/messy it is. If you get a deep clean done every so often that could help you with the other areas they aren't doing. That's what I used to do xx

One hour is actually unrealistic for this size house (or even a small flat tbh) so agree with the cleaning companies opinion

I would actually approach this in a different way:

• could you get a clean every 2 weeks. Ive found it honestly enough as the fact that it’s been done properly 1 week ago means any ‘swipe round’ top up clean you might do is much less effort. You also don’t HAVE to do lots of tasks weekly (eg beds, mopping, dusting) can be done every 2 weeks
• I think that’s better value also as it should be a bit dirty after 2 weeks so you’ll get something for your money

I would suggest you get downstairs (minus the loo) and the family bathroom done every 2 weeks, which should be 2-3 hours work for 1 person

Are all the bedrooms in use? If so, how old are members of the family & can they do their own rooms? With bedrooms the main tasks are : light dusting, changing beds, & hoovering. I’d tackle this by getting the right equipment to make it easier as a 1-off cost (so a load of ecloths for dusting, and buy a cordless vac or robot vac to make floors easier to deal with.). Re beds: you strip them (so it happens) and any child over 10 or so can make their own bed up

I also wouldn’t allow agency cleaners into a home office, possibly a trusted cleaner I’d used for a while. Lots of people don’t have cleaners do master bedroom either

I'd definitely have living room, kitchen, bathrooms and loo and your bedroom and then a deeper clean of one room on rotation eg damp wipe of skirting boards, tops of doors, interior window cleaning.

That leaves you to dust/vacuum kids rooms and home office. Or include another room and ditch the deep clean.

@ILoveYouMoreTheEnd thanks. It's really not dirty at all as it was deep cleaned 2 weeks ago, I just love having everywhere so sparkling, I have been really struggling since we moved in to this size of house 2 years ago, what with lockdown and working/homeschooling etc.
@DespairingHomeowner I see what you mean, maybe 2 hours a fortnight (with 2) might be more cost effective than 1 hour a week, but then I suppose the icky bits will have to build up over a fortnight which is the effect I'm trying to avoid.
I just don't have the capacity to dust and clean the rooms myself, I'm so time-poor at the moment and I really do feel the time with the kids is flying past me and I need to use my free time to do fun things with them.
The home office only has an encrypted laptop in it as we're paperless at work, and my bedroom has nothing at all worth stealing so I have no worries about those rooms, unless there's another reason not to let a cleaner in there?

Re time: typically cleaners spend 40 min/1hour on a kitchen, 20-30
min on a bathroom, other rooms are quicker, maybe 20 min each

(I’ve had a lot of cleaners over the years and am often home working to observe what they are doing)

Re PP suggestion of a deeper clean: it’s actually a great idea (especially if you are cleaning your own house) but in my experience only really good cleaners seem to be able to cope with the job changing week to week. I’d try to go for the same drill each time so you get what you are paying for (as if you change the list it may be seen as an invitation to cut corners)

I have a similar size house and my cleaner does 2hrs per week, but rotates upstairs & downstairs. Every other week she does downstairs and every other week does the top 2 floors. Works well.

I think you should stick with the agency cleaners. I would give double the time once a fortnight a try.

Ok, I'll ask the company if they think double the time fortnightly would be better for the job, or even if they have the available slots for that. Otherwise I might try the upstairs/downstairs approach that @hallamoo uses for a bit and see how that goes.