Hiring a cleaner

[Shanda5]

I'm looking to hire a cleaner to come in once a week and help me out.

I've never had one before and am unsure what to expect.

What jobs does a cleaner usually do and roughly many hours would I need one for? (4 bed detached, toddler, preschooler, DH and a cat!)

We have one coming for 3 hours every week to clean our two bed flat. She does quite a thorough job of cleaning all white goods in the kitchen and bathroom, dusting the furniture, cleaning table surfaces, hoover/mope the floor. When she has extra time left she also clean the windows, do the dishes and water the plants (not all cleaners will do this though!) She doesn't clean the oven as it takes a lot of time.

I think with 4 bed detached you will probably look at 4 hours minimum. However the good news is with a good cleaner the rooms will be really clean so you may not need her every week. Or you can fix it at shorter hours and tell her to just focus on bathroom, kitchen and hoovering the floor, and any extra time she has left she can use to alternate between rooms.

If you have young children and a cat, I think you will need a weekly cleaner and 4 hours a week.
You need to outline what you want her to do every week and maybe each week outline a special job.
I would expect bathroom's, kitchen cleaned, floors mopped, carpets vacuumed, dusting done and then ( our place is smaller than yours), skirting boards and doors, mirrors and sometimes windows internally.
Treat her well too

I used to have a cleaner. She did the whole place. My cleaner did the floors mainly and also the stairs etc.