I would guess that unless the area is completely sealed off, the rest of the house is going to be a bit dirtier than normal, and she'll have plenty to do, unless all she cleans is the kitchen and adjacent rooms.

I kept mine on her regular schedule. The bedroomas and bathrooms still needed to be done. When she had half the usual work, she agreed to fold laundry and do other stuff I needed to fill the time.

We just told them what rooms not to clean...for us that included the Kitchen, DR, PR, and Foyer. We had them clean & dust around the boxes, etc. in the other rooms. Of course, they didn't give us a discount! :-(

We have Maid Brigade and they come every two week. Since the contractors cleaned up every day after they left, it wasn't a big deal not to have them sweeping in those rooms. But it was nice to have everything thoroughly dusted & vacuumed at least every 2 weeks (yes, we did do a quick job in-between).

We stored most of our furniture & boxes in a PODS, though. So the other rooms, for the most part, were pretty clear. Except the den...I stored all my dishes there. But, I just had them clean around the boxes

Now, I put out the Method granite cleaner & Weiman SS cleaner w/microfiber cloths for each that I want them to use. I also have a Swifter for wood floors in the DR that I put out. For the tile floors, I asked them (both HQ and our Team) not to use anything w/vinegar or ammonia...just plain water or mild detergent.

I have to say the tile floor is the one cleaning job I'm too happy with right now...they seem to just do a quick mop and that's it.

The rest of your house will definitely be dirtier than usual with the inevitable construction dust, so the amount of work may turn out to be comparable to normal. If not, do you have a few special jobs she can do (e.g., closets, windows)?

I would definitely go over the cleaning and care requirements of your newly remodeled areas. My cleaning lady was scared to death of my soapstone at first, after I explained how she had to be careful not to scratch it. She loves it now, though, because it's so easy to clean and nearly impossible to damage with solvents. If your cleaning lady is anything like mine, she will appreciate you being very specific about how you would prefer she care for your new stuff.

we kept our cleaning woman on her regular schedule - she had far fewer rooms, but much more dust and grime - she had been with us for 15 years and was worth the $ to keep her schedule

i went over all the new cleaning things after our reno was done and we have not had a problem - on things i was nervous about i tell her just to use plain water

We kept our cleaning people during our renovation and had them clean the rooms that weren't affected, but afterwards, I was too nervous to have them clean my honed granite and oiled butcher block island, so we let them go. It's been a year, and I definitely miss them, but with the economy as it is, we're not hiring them back any time soon.

The woman who cleans for us still cleans the 2nd and 3rd floors. I have asked her to clean my field kitchen once or twice since we began, which was a big help. I think I'll be cleaning the kitchen myself for a while after it's done though. There's not usually much for her to do there anyway since I basically clean it everyday.

I've been cleaning and cleaning since demo started, especially the floor where dust gets tracked in. But nothing was as clean as it was on the day L spent the whole day cleaning. Actually, she did a lot upstairs, too, but the "living area" of entry and desk/tv portion of LR were really clean. I'm going to try to see if I can get her to come more!

I had my housecleaner keep coming on the normal schedule too and it was a big help. The place was such a dusty mess and I really appreciated having it tidied up a bit every couple weeks. I think one time I did not have her come because there was too much going on, on her regularly scheduled day. Once everything was done I just left some instructions on how I wanted the new stuff handled. It all worked out great. We've had the same housecleaner for about 15 years though and I completely trust her judgment since she's always done a great job.

There was a great thread on this very topic last fall; see below.

We suspended our cleaning lady while we were out of the house for four months. We offered to continue to pay her, but she refused to accept anything. We did increase her rate once the construction was done. But boy was she nervous in the new kitchen! We went over everything together and she does a great job, although I'm also doing a lot more now (by choice). She now proudly oils the soapstone, which is great!

Eliz

Here is a link that might be useful: Afriad to Let the Cleaning Lady Clean!

I put my cleaning lady on hiatus during the reno, and once everything was done, I was nervous her crew would ruin finishes, so I let her go. Also, I needed to save the cash, and my five kids are at an age (6-13) when they need to learn how to clean. Nothing drives me into la-la-land like a kid lounging like a zombie on the couch while I clean around him/her. I put together a chore schedule on my Mac, explained to the kids how to do the work, and so far so good. They critique each others' jobs.

One of the main finishes I thought the cleaning crew would damage was the refinished hardwood floor. They always used too much water, and hot water at that, despite my admonitions. If you have your cleaning lady do your floor, get her one of those big mops with the swiveling terry cloth-covered heads, and mix up spray bottles of floor cleaner. You can buy hardwood floor cleaner concentrate at most flooring stores. Once the floor is cleaned of dust and debris using a dry mop or vac, spritz on the cleaner and mop away. Do not use Murphy's Oil Soap-- the residue will make it impossible to screen and refresh the floors in the future-- you will be looking at refinishing them again.

Eliz - thanks for the pointer to last year's thread. I did do a search for "cleaning lady" and "cleaning service" before I posted this, but that did not come up or I wouldn't have posted.

Morton, thanks for the info regarding cleaning my wood floors. I think I will do some additional research and make sure that I go through it all with Val when the remodel is done.

lovlilynne, I also did the *usual* search and it didn't come up - I googled it, because I remember contributing to the original thread. Some threads just seem to all off forever and others stick around for quite a while. But now we have both of these with even more responses so it's all good! :-)

Eliz