Interesting topic. I have had a single lady do entire house by herself. She left b/c it made more $en$e for her to work in a team and I was also growing tired of having her for several hours in my house. The parting was on good terms. Have had teams and the upside is there here and gone in no time, but when teams change b/c somebody gets fired, sick, etc., I always notice things out of place or cleaned unlike I specified. New people in teams = retraining and I really don't like having to be on constant watch to ensure consistency. But overall, I think a team is best, as mine has insurance if something is broken or damaged. Nobody does my laundry, makes my bed or cleans fridge or oven. I hired them to dust all, vacuum, polish furniture, clean windows, fans, cabinets and doors every 15 da. Will give them a little extra if I have visitors, in which case they do make that bed, and whatever extra is caused by the visit. Used Home Advisors to get my latest cleaning service. On an unrelated subject, I once recommended my cleaning service to a neighbor that turned out to be a sleaze ball and they didn't pay the lady for 3 months. I was mortified that I hooked her up with the slimeballs, so I doubt I will recommend anybody to avoid this kinda stuff.

Our idjit PO didn't bother to mask the windows when he sprayed the walls and trim (yes, walls and trim at the same time with the same paint) so every window has a fine, speckly film of paint that leaves the glass looking dingy. It's a nightmare to remove - everything from razor scrapers to green scrubby pads and noxious chemicals that melt your brain - so we've been very slowly pecking away at that when there's nothing more urgent to be done. DH washed the exteriors with the hose (theoretically the screens come off but the cheap plastic brackets break if you do so we don't touch them) last year but with that paint film it doesn't look clean anyway. All it does is rinse off the pollen, which does build up mighty thick all through the warm season. Some people should not be allowed access to paint sprayers.

I'm quite frankly floored by people at their "assumptions". QUESTION to those so sanctimonious.... If someone asked to use your MASTER Bathroom, would you??? It's not about not being "decent" by not wanting some stranger in the place where you bathe and keep your feminine essentials and medications. That's all FINE and good for those of you who have a Powder Room, maybe on the main floor or by a kitchen... but what about for those of us who only have ONE bathroom? YES, believe it or not, houses like that DO exist. I rent a house and they had to have contractors here to do work. I was floored and totally uncomfortable with the fact that the first day on the job, a young helper asked to use the bathroom within 10 minutes of getting to the job and then was in there for literally 15 minutes... really??? He couldn't do that business before he got to the job? Got over it in a minute... but then, second day, again, same helper asked to use my main bathroom right before going to lunch... and is in there again, 10 minutes to do his number 2? He couldn't go during lunch? If it were hours after lunch? Hey, we're human... Or if this were a rural area.... But, I'm literally less than a mile from a main strip of Malls and restaurants and gas stations. They even head to Home Depot at least once a day during the job, which is 1 mile away and also go for an hour lunch. NO, I'm not inhospitable and indecent, but my Bathroom where I bathe is an intimate place. Stop lynching the people who think workers should be just a little considerate about it at least.

There is a company at windowmedics.com who claim they can fix the problem without replacing the window(s) for about 1/3 to 1/2 the cost of replacing the window. Apparently they have developed a one-way valve that allows the moisture to exit but not return. They apparently drill a very small hole in the exterior pane in an upper or lower corner of the glass and after vacuuming the moisture out they install this valve that keeps the dry air in and the moisture out. They claim that MOST fogging is not due to seal failure. They say that if double paned glass had an impermeable seal that the window would explode when heated by sunlight, expanding the material inside. They say that moisture is actually absorbed by a moisture absorbent material hidden in the frame of the window and when this material becomes saturated after 10-20 years that this is when the fogging occurs. They also mention that they don't replace lost Argon/Krypton gas but that this doesn't lose that much of the insulating factor. They say the majority of the insulating qualities are due to the air/Argon/Krypton being moisture free and moisture is an excellent conductor of heat/cold. That by removing the moisture they restore most of the insulating factor of the windows. I can't vouch for them one way or the other, only mention their existence and what they claim about fogging removal because I face having to do something about to large picture windows myself right now. The one began showing a small amount of fog a couple of years ago but this spring all of a sudden both are virtually completely fogged and have water running down the inside of the panes. So I am looking very skeptically at their ability to fix such massive leakage of moisture into the windows. While they may be 100% correct for minor moisture buildup I have to believe my windows have massive sealant failure.