Most people enjoy living in a house that’s clean — fewer people relish the opportunity to pull out the vacuum cleaner, and spend a few hours kneeling, spraying and scrubbing.
Kevin Brasler, executive editor of Washington Consumers’ Checkbook, has some things to consider if you’d rather pay someone else to clean your home: “Decision number one, do you hire an individual, or do you hire a house cleaning service?”
The benefit of hiring an individual is a homeowner “might feel more comfortable with a single person for something that’s such a personal job.”
In addition, you’ll get the same person every time they come.
“You’re not going to have to communicate your preferences to a different group of cleaners each week, or every other week,” Brasler said.
However, there’s a potential downside to having one person do the cleaning each time.
“When you hire an individual, it means you have added legal responsibilities,” Brasler said. “You’re an employer, you’re not just buying a service from a company.”
An employer would be responsible for filing taxes and maintaining insurance.
If you choose to hire a company, Brasler suggested shopping around.
“There’s usually big differences from company to company,” Brasler said. “Some companies will do the work for about $150 a visit, and others for more than $300.”
Regardless of whether you hire an individual or company, “describe your expectations if you’re picky about certain things.”
And, speak up about the quality of the work, when appropriate.
“A big complaint we get, especially about house cleaning services, is that the first time around or the first few times, they send their best crews, and they do a really great job,” Brasler said. “And then, over time, the work declines.”