I agree with Deee. When I had someone cleaning, she did two houses a day. She told me that in addition to the regular cleaning, she picked once small area each week to deep-clean, i.e. pull one chair out and clean under it and get the baseboard. She did not do laundry except for the sheets when she changed the beds. That was not a have-to but it didn't take any time.

since she is washing and changing 2 beds plus doing all your personal laundry, and straightening up also ( to what extent ?) it will take at least 5 or 6 I think.
It takes more time in the beginning also, before the person knows where all your things are, etc...

also if you leave the kitchen in disarray, i.e. the night before's dishes, pots and pans in the sink, etc
this also adds to the time needed to make the whole place spic and span.

I'll be curious to find out how it works out, please report back !

Will she be coming 1 day a week? Picking up toys?

We had someone part time when DS#1 turned 1. She came 3-4 days a week. Watched DS for 2-3 hrs, cleaned the kitchen and family room daily and did the laundry once a week. She also ran errands like going to bj's, put away groceries (we stared having them delivered).

DS was not in daycare so that gave DH some time to work and get a break while I was at work. I work a lot of hours.

At the same time we had a cleaning service every other week for a whole house clean.

My suggestion is think of any task that will give you more time with your son, and see if she will help out with it. :)

Our housekeeper comes three days a week, 4 hours at a time. We have 5000 sq ft but it is just 2 of us and 2 dogs so she only really cleans the downstairs regularly. She does laundry and cooks for us and we leave all dishes and dishwasher unloading to her. I would say if we didn't use a lot of hand wash stuff or have her cook, 8-10hrs would probably be enough

I would think no more than 5 hours, if that. Laundry can be done as she works cleaning. I do my entire house 4 bedrooms, FDR,FLR, FR,kitchen, breakfast area, and large laundry room, 3 full baths in 5 hours and that includes mopping 1,400 sq ft of tile. Usually I am doing some laundry as well during that time, usually bed linens, rugs.

I would have her come one time while you are there and have her do everything you expect her to do without your help or interference. See how long it takes her. You should be able to tell if she pushing herself to finish or taking her time and doing a good job, or wasting time. An experienced cleaner knows how to clean efficiently and what order to do things in. You might find yourself more pleased if you take a half hour the night before to put clutter away. Otherwise, she will be picking it up, dusting and putting it back down.

I've been on a budget cutting bender of late and let go of our housekeeper. She would clean about 4 to 4.5 hours once a week and about 3000 sf - our house is bigger than that but that's all I required her to clean.

Well, first week I cleaned the house myself. I didn't do the guest room because no one uses it and it only needed a little dusting, my son's room because that would be too scary or DH's music room because I wouldn't even know where to start. So that left about 2500 sf w/ 2 bathrooms. It took me 7 hours and I was going non-stop! I didn't stop to check email or watch TV or pet the dog. The dirt I found and corners left dirty that I was oblivious to left me dumb-founded. Drifts of dog hair & cobwebs oh my! Spider eggs on the leg of the china cabinet? I had no idea how dirty my house was.

Obviously, the housekeeper needed to spend more time cleaning. The house always felt pretty clean but after I cleaned, it was absolutely sparkling! I didn't do a deep cleaning but was pretty thorough. Since then I've been assigning DH and DS cleaning jobs and I've been doing stuff every day but it's been about a month and the house is still cleaner than before.

So based on my household (3 adults and two dogs) I'm thinking maybe 3 hours per 1000sf, once per week should do the trick.

I think mine spends about 4 hrs every two weeks. Cleaning only no laundry. I think a lot would depend on how much of a mess you leave for her - dirty dishes etc. I have none of that and no clutter to deal with so it's strictly housecleaning - about 2500 sq ft - 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms - 2 adults, 3 cats.

Our housekeeper comes on the same schedule as beagles described above, about 20-24 hrs. per week. She cleans the house, does all the laundry, cooks and also goes to the grocery store. We both work long hours and I loathe grocery shopping, not to mention trips to the hated Wal-mart, and this gets me out of it. She also comes when we're having a party or dinner party and waits at table and cleans up. If we need more than one person we hire a bartender/waiter to help her. She is the queen of the kitchen around here.

When she was just cleaning the house, she and her daughter came for a full day, which was 8 hrs x 2 for a 4500 square foot house.

It's only two of us and are retired. I'm tidy, hubs isn't. House is 2,050 sq ft. I do laundry and change the beds. She is more than willing and has often offered to do it. She doesn't pick up at all because we use her presence as a motivation to tidy up. She spends 4 hr. every two weeks and says that our home isn't even dirty. She doesn't clean the stainless in the kitchen. I usually do it when she leaves.

Due to the laundry, making beds and a child, five to six hours. Since you haven't had time to do a lot of deep cleaning like door frames, baseboards, refrig, oven, hanging lighting ect I would start her out on 6 hours but tell her it will go down to five after the first month or two (maybe).

It depends on your habits of course, the size of your home and what they do.

After my husband died I had no incentive to dust, clean the baseboards, etc. and it needed a serious "spring" cleaning.
I hired two young men, brothers, who had an excellent reputation and one of them I already knew. They clean so thoroughly, do not need to be told what to do, and my house now always looks nice if I don't trash it with stuff like mail and leave stuff out, which I try not to do unless I'm very busy.

They (well, THEY did come, the younger one moved away to go to school but does came back now and then for a weekend) come every other Saturday, work from around 9 am until 4 pm, but it varies. I always make lunch or have something here and we take breaks, and most of the time I work with them, cleaning out a closet or organizing something while they work.

During that seven hours or so the normal housekeeping is done, and something different every time--maybe all of the mirrors are polished, yesterday he washed all of the decorative jars and plates and platters, fruit bowls, etc. and dried and put the items back in them. Sometimes they clean the light fixtures and light bulbs, sometimes Murphy's Oil on all of the kitchen cabinets, sometimes vacuuming the window treatments. They don't do much upstairs because it is seldom used, but always vacuum, dust and freshen the bathrooms. They always do whatever laundry is in the hampers, wash, dry, fold, and I put away. Last time I cleaned my closet and after an hour walked into my bedroom and my linen sheets were perfectly ironed and folded, on my bed, and all of my blouses and cotton capris were ironed, as well as napkins and pillowcases !

When I do a regular cleaning of my house myself, it takes about 3 hours, but that is "Swiffer" dusting and not lemon oil polishing like I used to do every week. That is vacuuming traffic areas and not under furniture. That doesn't include scrubbing tiles in the shower, just a quick scrub and rinse. The older I get the less fastidious I am.

I would think for a house your size, 4 or 5 hours should be plenty unless it is a spring cleaning, and of course the laundry.

Hello. Respectfully, So coming from a housekeeper who has worked for 7 years now and is certified , yes it would take 6 to 7 hours, all those people saying it is not going to take that long is inaccurate, I do not clean homes for some the suggestions I am seeing as comments, take those with a grain of salt look at her workflow and then you look at her attention to detail ! And for the person who recommended finding ANY task for her to do so you can spend time with your son and see if she will help, I wouldn't recommend that unless you have told her upfront about any additional tasks upon hire otherwise you wont have a Housekeeper to help you when you move to a larger house in the fall. Clear expectations is key, building that relationship is key.

Yes your home is small, but if you also have clutter that has to be moved and dusted, and then sanitized AND disinfected- allows for good quality control to ensure your items stay clean week after week and and they put them back in the appropriate places, you want her to do laundry because you dont feel like it then that is something specifically that needs attention and care depending on how much laundry you have, if you have a certain way you want it put away and giving it the proper
time to dry other wise in 5 hours or less in addition to cleaning you will be getting back wrinkled laundry or laundry not washed or dried properly and that will be a problem and she has to figure out where your things are, moving furniture to clean behind them and around them and put them back, and anything else you would like done must be told upfront not after they have begun cleaning it will cause frustration later down the road when you add more tasks on that she may or may not been hired for. Those hours are sufficient because she is a first time Housekeeper in YOUR home unless you personally know her it will take that much time starting out to get your home organized as possible and then the transition for her will be smooth and she will stay longer in the future, especially if you plan on moving to a bigger home, those hours are a good foundation to build from in your next home. They will look at that if the house is larger, I am sure you wouldnt expect less time for let's say a farm house with 3 to 4 bedrooms and a sun porch that needs cleaning or an entire deck or patio that wraps around the house. The size of a house never determines the QUALITY of work you will receive if a person is focusing continuously on the quantity of the homes items. Just some tips to help you. God bless and take care.

7 year old thread.

Yes @IdaClaire there have been quite a few very old threads all of a sudden commented on ( and not from a specific search term such as an obscure paint color )..... I was reminiscing while looking at many of the posters on this thread. Several still posting, but some I haven't seen in years. I wonder if they changed screennames.

Nice stroll down memory lane!

It sounds like your present of hiring a housekeeper is going to be a game-changer for you both, especially with a little one around. It's fantastic that you've found someone you like and who's ready to start ASAP.

Haha I got notified of a new comment on this thread. I see it was originally started 11 years ago and then 3 years ago someone commented on it, and now again.

I guess the topic is very relatable.

FWIW, I am the housekeeper and I am always working.

I guess we will collectively be following above poster

It sounds like a wonderful gift, especially with a little one and full-time jobs. Estimating 6-7 hours for cleaning and laundry seems reasonable for your current rental, especially since you want her to do laundry, which can be time-consuming.

Following "Nedlywel Nedlywel"