Is two hours reasonable for three bathrooms cleaned a fortnight ago?

[Sunca]

Just wondering if we're being naive or if this is reasonable. We really need a cleaner... for various reasons we have not been keeping on top of cleaning the house. 3 bedroom with a family bathroom (shower over bath) and ensuite (corner shower) upstairs and a downstairs loo. Not a massive house, pretty small bathrooms. Two kids (toddlers) who use the family bath.

We found a cleaner who has a few one-off spots available over summer. She was here 2 weeks ago for 2 hours and thoroughly cleaned the two upstairs bathrooms and gave the downstairs a quick clean. I was totally happy with this as the two upstairs bathrooms were in a bit of a state 🙈 (built up lime scale in ensuite etc) and they looked great after.

Planning to have her back on Friday for 2 hours and we were just messaging this morning as she was asking what we'd like done this time. I said the bathrooms again and if time the kitchen. She said she wouldn't have time for anything else but the bathrooms would all be spotless.

Was I unreasonable to think that since it took her 2 hours to do the bathrooms last time when they were in a state, she should have more time this time? Is it normal to take 2 hours to do 2 bathrooms and a downstairs loo that were cleaned thoroughly two weeks ago? What do other cleaners get done in 2 hours? (We are not disgusting people, they are really not in a bad state after two weeks) Maybe it is normal so I just wanted to check. If she ever gets a regular spot come up I want to know if we should use her or not!

She also charges £25/h which I believe may be on the high side?

Sounds about right to me OP. I think we underestimate just how long a thorough bathroom clean takes. I know ‘in my head’ it’s a ‘10 minute job’…but in reality, once I start, it takes a good 45 minutes to really deep clean my bathroom 🤦‍♀️

One more thing, I have wonderful people cleaning my house - 2 people, 2 hours fornight.

They clean bathrooms and shower screens, clean the kitchen (and my cabinets are the glossy kind), they vacum, clean windows, dust and leave the house spotless. They always finish early and we share a coffee before they leave. If I want something extra, we forgo the coffee.

I can only say than 2 hours a fornight for cleaning 2 bathrooms and a kitchen is more than reasonable, but it depends on the mess they deal with.

Our cleaner takes three hours for our house, which is 2 full bathrooms and downstairs loo. We have a four bed, but she doesn’t touch the fourth bedroom as it’s currently just storage. So it’s a 3 bed, two reception rooms and a kitchen/diner.

I’ve watched her work and she is very quick, efficient and the cleaning is very high standard.

I don’t think 2hrs is reasonable, sorry.

Do you have stairs and what does she do in the living room and bedrooms? Is it just hoovering or polishing/tidying?

I wouldn’t pay £25 p/h though. Not even in London

Perhaps she’s thinking that if it took her two full hours to do your bathrooms last time, that the kitchen is likely to take a lot of cleaning and that is behind her reasoning?

In 2 hours my cleaner cleans kitchen, steam mops kitchen floor, cleans downstairs cloakroom, including steam mop floor. Vacuums sitting room, up the stairs, landing and 2 first floor bedrooms. Cleans first floor bathroom, including steam mop floor, vacuums up second flight of stairs and cleans shower room. She does an excellent job too. Occasionally she takes an extra 1/4 or 1/2 an hour which I pay her for. She comes twice a week and does same jobs each time. £18 per hour. Occasionally I book her for an additional 2 hours if I want understair cupboard or conservatory cleaned too.

Similar house ( number of bedrooms and description of bathrooms) and to get the whole house done is 4 hours and she knows that I leave it very tidy for her so she has no picking up to do at all she just can get stuck into the actual cleaning and this makes a massive difference as she cleans for an identical size house nearby and cannot get it done in 4 hours due to having to tidy the rooms before she cleans it - have everything tidy next time she comes and see if she gets a little more done(?) not saying you didn’t as you don’t mention it but it can be a factor but regardless 2 hours would only get half our house cleaned I suppose you can choose which ½ gets done?

Tell her to spend an hour on the kitchen first and then an hour on all the bathrooms. You are not expecting spotless, you are expecting clean. Make sure surfaces are clear, washing up done and put away so she can crack on.

(Yes, I think £25 is a bit steep, tbh. £20 is more average).

I will swap rooms around with my cleaner, for example if we have had guests. I might say just give X room a quick hoover but X bathroom definitely needs doing!

I don’t think London is more expensive. My friends pay more than me outside of London as there are less cleaners I think.
I pay £18ph but a friend in the north pays £22ph and a friend in Nottingham pays £25ph.

OP, if you’re happy with what she’s done don’t try to negotiate. I’d ask her to do the kitchen first and then the bathroom if there’s time (there will be, as 2 hrs in a kitchen is a long time!)

yoyr assessment of the bathrooms not being very dirty after 2 weeks is strange. My bathroom is filthy after 2 weeks and we aren’t disgusting either.

my cleaner does 5hrs. open plan kitchen/dinong/living. Downstairs loo, bathroom, dust /hover of 3 bedrooms, change 1 king size bed. Stairs/hallway. Sometimes she does the attic 2 beds and a bath too… but if so she won’t have time to do ironing. She usually irons about 10 items and hangs out washing too. She is young and fit
but always finishes without rushing. It’s true that it’s not grimy as she does it regularly (and we do surface level stuff and always hoover)

I don’t think spending 2 hours on bathrooms was what the OP was hoping for from a cleaner.
i suspect she’d prefer a slightly less thorough clean of the high use areas so it’s mostly kept on top of but not perfect. If it was me I’d say this to the cleaner.

I don't do semi cleans. By that I mean I either do the whole room, or none of it. For the most part, that extends to me either doing the whole property, or none of it. You have to maintain your own professional standards.

We have a weekly clean, 4 bed, 2 bath, 2 reception rooms and kitchen, includes floors and dusting - that takes 3 hours. It doesn’t really get that dirty in between. We pay £45 a week, we supply all products and equipment.

Maybe she still sees things that need doing in the bathrooms to get them totally clean and is more of a proper clean, not a quick wipe down, cleaner. I do think people underestimate how long a good, thorough clean takes, esp if it’s not been done regularly before.

Yes, I have stairs. in the living room and bedrooms, it's hoovering, polishing surfaces, making beds, tidying sofas, cleaning skirting and window sills