The Complete Pricing Guide to Hiring a Cleaning Service
Everyone wants to live in a clean, spotless, and organized home. But due to professional duties, family obligations, and other responsibilities, it is not always easy to find time for such chores. Household cleaning chores are quite exhausting and require a lot of energy. Some people find it tedious to do cleaning tasks.
Luckily, you don’t have to worry about doing these things by yourself in this modern era. You can find plenty of organizations and companies that provide cleaning services in your local areas.
Are you one of them who find it difficult to do cleaning tasks by themselves? Are you thinking about hiring a cleaning service to save your time and effort? But you are worried about whether you can afford it or not. You might think that cleaning services are so expensive. But a cleaning service is not much expensive as you think. The price of these services varies based on what options you go with.
If you are worried about cleaning services’ pricing and want to know about these services in-depth, you are in the perfect place! In this article, we will give you a complete pricing guide to hiring a cleaning service. We will also cover the types of options you have when hiring a cleaning service. We will go over the pricing & costs of cleaning services and what variables affect them.
This guide will discuss some amazing ways to save your money on house cleaning services.
Cost for Full Time Maid and Live-In Maid
Hiring a house cleaning service or a maid gives an ultimate luxurious lifestyle to many of us. But every choice has some cost. Hiring a maid costs significantly different than hiring a house cleaning service. You can hire a live-in maid or your own full-time maid. Both choices cost differently.
Live-In Maids
You can hire a maid that can live with you. Such live-in maids tend to offer more services and jobs, including cooking, babysitting, cleaning, errands, grocery shopping, and many more. A live-in maid approximately charges $25,000-50,000 per year. A live-in maid is just like having your employee. But in contrast, you have to withhold taxes and any damage done by the live-in maid. You have to follow the state rules for employers and provide workman compensation to them.
Full-Time Maids
You can hire your own full-time maid for house cleaning services and other household chores. A full-time maid’s job is much more extensive. They can help with different tasks, including cooking, babysitting, cleaning, errands, and many more. But such maids go back to their homes at the end of the day.
They are available to you only for 8-10 hours. The average cost of a full-time maid is $1500-$3000 per month. An average hourly cost is $25 to $50. But this cost may vary according to your location and the state.
Again you have to provide workmanship to your maids. You have to follow the state rules for hiring and managing a full-time maid. You are responsible for withholding taxes and any kind of damage made by the cleaner.
Cost for Hiring a Cleaning Company
Most people prefer to hire a house cleaning company or professional cleaning service instead of hiring a live-in or full-time maid. This is the best alternative and is usually much more affordable and reliable. You won’t have to worry about the quality of cleaning services.
The average cost of a cleaning service/company is $100 to $300. The downside of cleaning services or cleaning companies is that they only provide cleaning services, unlike live-in or full-time maids. They don’t help with babysitting and other household chores except for house cleaning services.
Typically, you have two options when hiring a cleaning service. The first choice is an independent cleaner and the second one is a cleaning company. These choices are the biggest factors that affect the price of cleaning services.
Independent Cleaners
You can decide to hire an independent cleaner for your cleaning services. In general, independent cleaners agree to negotiate their fees and charge a little bit less. On average, an independent cleaner charge $20-$40 per hour.
Cleaning Companies
You can go with an established and insured cleaning company. These companies charge more as compared to self-employed cleaners. Typically, they charge $30-$60 per hour.
Established cleaning companies provide several benefits that self-employed cleaners are unable to offer. The services offered by cleaning companies are mentioned below.
Security Cleaning companies provide reliable security services to their customers. They don’t allow you to worry about your belongings and the house’s security. These companies officially hold licenses and check the background of their employees. They provide extra protection against any damage or theft.
Premium Customer Experience
Cleaning companies provide high-quality customer services to their clients compared to independent contractors. For example, these agencies have developed websites. They share FAQ (Frequently Asked Question) guidebooks and reviews of their happy customers on their website. Most of the cleaning companies allow online bookings to make your life easy. All these things ensure that you are making an excellent choice by taking their cleaning services.
Satisfaction Guarantee
Cleaning companies put their customers’ satisfaction at the top. Unlike independent cleaners, these companies guarantee that you will be satisfied with their cleaning services.
Factors that Affect the Pricing & Costs of Cleaning Services
Several factors can affect the price of cleaning services. These factors are mentioned below.
Size and Condition
The size and condition of your home affect the pricing & costs of your desired cleaning services. Most cleaning companies and independent cleaners charge per square footage of the property.
Messy Occupants
The pricing of housecleaning services may vary based on how messy your occupants are. Professional cleaners charge more to clean the messy occupants as they have to spend more time and energy to do this.
Types of Cleaning
Pricing & costs of cleaning services may vary from choice to choice. You can choose your desired type of cleaning according to your budget. Below the most common types of cleaning are mentioned. You can check them out.
Deep Cleaning
Regular/Standard Cleaning
Move-in/ Move-out Cleaning
Frequency of Service
The price of cleaning services depends upon the frequency of the cleaning. Most companies provide some discount if you want your house cleaned more frequently. Some cleaning companies adjust their rates according to the frequency of the services. A one-time visit will cost a high per service. But you can get some discount if you want your house cleaned frequently. You can choose a weekly, bi-weekly, and monthly services plan for house cleaning. You can get a 10-20% discount if you book recurring cleaning services.
Special Requests
If you want to include some special requests in your cleaning checklist, it can raise the cost of your house cleaning services. Some companies provide an option of “add-ons.” You can use this option to add special requests to the already provided task list, such as cleaning inside the oven and refrigerator or doing laundry for you. Or you can request for cleaning difficult-to-reach areas such as over stairs or windows. You have to pay more for these special requests. It is worth noting that only specific cleaning companies accommodate such cleaning requests.
Pets
House cleaning companies charge additional fees if you have any pets at your home. Pet hair removal is a difficult and time-consuming task.
Cleaning Products
Pricing and costs of the cleaning services are highly affected by this factor. If you want to purchase the required cleaning products yourself, you have to pay less. But if the company provides the cleaning products as part of the service, they can charge more for this.
Most cleaning companies use their own cleaning products such as vacuum cleaners and many more. Some companies can also accommodate by using green products. Independent cleaners expect you to provide required cleaning products.
Types of Pricing Methods in Cleaning Services
There are two types of pricing methods in the cleaning world. You will find some cleaning companies that offer hourly pay rates while some offer you flat-rate pricing. You can also find some cleaning services that offer both pricing methods. These pricing methods are described below.
Flat Rate Pricing
Flat rate pricing is an upfront price method. It depends on the number of rooms or the square footage area of your home. Most cleaning companies want to know the number of rooms and bathrooms to get an idea of how large your home is. But some companies prefer to know the square footage of your house. You have to pay more for cleaning services if you have a larger house because it will take more to clean everything to a high standard.
Flat rate pricing covers all the cleaning checklists of your house. The advantage of this pricing method is that it will let you know the exact cleaning cost in advance. Self-employed cleaners don’t offer a flat-rate pricing option. This option is offered by only established cleaning companies/agencies.
Although the flat rate pricing option covers your entire cleaning checklist, it will not allow you to make your cleaning fully customized. You have to pay more if you want something outside the already provided checklist.
Hourly Pricing
Some cleaning companies and independent cleaners offer their rate per hour. In this method, customers can pay according to their desired hours. Or they can pay for the total hours at once.
This option is highly reliable if you want certain parts of your house cleaned. You can also use this pricing method to help with organization and decluttering. The hourly pricing method is also suitable for those people whose homes are in severe conditions and need deep cleaning. You can also go with this hourly pricing option if your home is larger than average in size.
The Types of Services Offered by House Cleaning Companies
Different cleaning companies provide multiple types of cleaning services. All services perform different tasks and charge different rates. In general, you have to pay more if you hire a cleaning service for a difficult task. Cleaning companies offer the following cleaning services.
Deep Cleaning Services
If your property is messy and needs more attention, you can hire a team of professionals for deep cleaning. This service is recommended to those customers who want to hire a cleaning service for the first time.
Because their property needs extra time to tackle neglected areas, some areas such as showers, toilets, kitchen, and tubes may have a buildup of grime that needs extra time and energy to clean. You can also choose this service for post-construction cleaning. Deep cleaning services tend to cost more than other cleaning services.
Standard /Regular Cleaning Services
You can go with this type of cleaning if you welcome some guests to your place. In standard cleaning, a team of cleaners mop, vacuum, arrange, sweep, and dust your place. It also includes emptying bins, wiping down, and sanitizing exterior surfaces and floors. You can provide a cleaning checklist to your cleaning company. These services are suitable for regular maintenance. Standard cleaning services cost less than deep cleaning services as they require less time and energy to complete.
Move-in/Move-out Cleaning Services
This type of cleaning will make your home ready for moving in or out. This option includes all of the services of regular cleaning. This option would also take the time to maintain some areas inside the oven and refrigerator, baseboards, cabinets and drawers, window ledges, and light switches. You have to pay more if you choose these services as services offered by this option take more time and energy to complete.
Best Ways to Save Money on Cleaning Services
If you are ready to hire a cleaning service, you will definitely look for ways to save your money. So keeping this in mind, we will discuss a few ways that will make you able to save money on your house cleaning services.
New Customer Discount
Most established and large cleaning companies offer a special discount to their new customers to give them a potential vibe. To avail of this discount, you have to enter a special code into the website of your desired cleaning company. You can save a decent amount of your total cost or a flat dollar amount in this way. Remember that only cleaning companies provide this new customer discount offer. You will not get any type of discount if you hire a self-employed cleaner.
Recurring Services
You can enroll in a cleaning schedule instead of booking each service separately. The cleaning schedule allows you to pay less per service. You can choose a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly cleaning program according to your budget and desire.
Referral Programs
Most of the house cleaning companies offer a referral program. It is a great way to save your money. You can refer these cleaning companies to your friends and relatives by using their referral programs. In exchange for this effort, you can get a discount of a handsome amount on your cleaning services.
Ensure Regular Cleaning
If you want to save money on cleaning services, make sure to clean your house regularly to reduce the tasks of professionals. They will consume less time and energy to clean your home. In this way, you have to pay less to them.
Avoid the “Add-ons”
House cleaning companies will try to add more services to your cleaning checklists, such as oven and refrigerator cleaning and power washing. But you should keep your budget in mind and make the right decision.
Save Money on Cleaning Products
Some pieces of equipment and products used in the cleaning process can be expensive. So, try to hire a cleaning service to accommodate their cleaning products. You can save money on cleaning products by hiring a bonded and insured cleaning company.
Conclusion
Most of us find it tedious to do household cleaning tasks. You can hire a house cleaning company or an independent cleaner to make your home clean and hygienic. A cleaning service can add outstanding value to your home by making it neat and clean. House cleaning services can save your time and effort.
But you should keep your budget in mind while booking a house cleaning company. There are a lot of factors that can increase the cost of cleaning services, including cleaning products, frequency of service, size and condition of the house, and many more. When choosing the right cleaning service, you need to remember these factors.
You can adopt some ways like referral programs, new customer discounts, and recurring services to save your money on cleaning services.