What would you want cleaned?

[tacom]

My sister lost her job and is tight on money (she's a college student home on break). Both brocom and I have hired her to clean our respective apartments this week and she's very excited to make some cash, and I'm very excited to get out of doing some of these things.

This is the list I've come up with so far for our tiny 1 bed/1 bath. Anything else you would add?

1. Wash baseboards throughout. 
2. Spot clean walls as needed
3. Living room: Dust all surfaces, flip couch cushions and vacuum base, wash pillowcases and throw, polish windows, sweep and steam wood floors.
4. Kitchen: Wash and polish sink, counters, stove (inside/out), fridge (inside/out), microwave (inside/out), front of dishwasher. Wipe fronts of cabinets and handles. Do a load of dishes with all silverware and silverware sorter and wipe down top drawer that held those items. Shake out rug. Clean trash can (inside/out). Refill water in keurig and wipe down machine.
5. Bathroom: Scrub the heck out of the tub, tile walls, and toilet. Wash and polish sink and counter tops. Polish mirrors. Dust makeup organizer (lol). Wipe down fronts of cabinets and handles. Launder decorative towels and rugs.
6. Bedroom: Strip and launder all bedding (except for bed skirt). Sprinkle baking powder on mattress and vacuum up. Vacuum carpet. Dust dresser, lamp, picture frame. Polish mirror. Make bed.
7. Misc: Steam 3-4 items, which will be left out. Disinfect all door knobs. 
8. Errands: Return nordstrom rack dress

is that too much for one day? I'll be at work so she'll have the run of the place. anything I'm forgetting? also, what would a fair price be? we've never even looked into cleaning services before so I have no idea. 

thanks! 

[raangoli]

That seems like an awful lot for one person to do in one day. Can she do it over a few days?

[iheartbanjos]

That is too much for one day, IMO. Are you paying her by the hour?

If you wanted to add more for another day, what about windows and windowsills, dust blinds, etc?

[tacom]

it didn't seem like a lot to me because the apartment is so small. we are able to do most of those things (not baseboards or cleaning inside the oven) pretty regularly and we typically clean for part of 1 morning each week. FI steams the floors weekly and it takes about 20 minutes. there are two windows in the entire apartment... it's kind of one big room with a half wall for the "bedroom" so even baseboards could be done fairly quickly (for reference, my brother and I painted the entire thing with tall ceilings in a day).

perhaps I should pay an hourly rate since I don't actually know how long this would all take. I could also prioritize line items so if she runs out of time the important stuff is done.

[midwest07]

I don't think it's too much for one day, but I would pay hourly since it might be hard to estimate how long it will take. As long as she gets the laundry moving (bedding, towels, rugs, etc) on a schedule and does other stuff in between, I think it's doable.

[aurora]

Dec 21, 2014 16:28:35 GMT -5 tacom said:

perhaps I should pay an hourly rate since I don't actually know how long this would all take. I could also prioritize line items so if she runs out of time the important stuff is done.

I like this idea. Be honest that you're not sure how long everything will take.

[moolarkey]

Can you do all those things in a day?

[starlily]

How much are you planning to pay her?

ETA: Stores are going to be a clusterfuck this week. That Nordstrom Rack errand is likely going to take a while unless you live right next door to the store or something.

[msmerymac]

If she's well organized (puts all laundry in first, for example) I don't think it's too much, but it depends on her.

A thorough deep cleaning from a professional would cost around 200 in my experience, but that would be from a bonded and insured company, and for a larger home (2 or 3 bedroom apartment).

[tacom]

I could definitely do all of those things in a day, but I would prioritize and make sure to start laundry and the dishwasher right away, dust before sweeping, etc.

We're in Chicago. I don't know what the going rate would be. I made $12/hr nannying for two kids in 2011 (also a college student at the time). so probably $12/hr plus whatever it takes to "round up" to a nice number -- that would be ~1.7x her pay at her previous job. if somehow she got it all done in 6 hours or whatever I'd give her a minimum of $100. the rack is four blocks away and a cute walk (state street is decorated beautifully right now!) and I could leave her cash for coffee/lunch on the way. I want to pay her fairly without going overboard. we help cover the important stuff whenever she needs it and contribute to her savings; this is spending money.

I will make it clear that she shouldn't worry about getting everything done if it seems like too much, and that she can simply work as long as she wants to work. thanks.

[MrsDarcy]

I would expect up pay someone a couple hundred for that much work. Also, it's baking soda you want, not baking powder.

[stretchad]

My cleaning lady, who is here every week and knows where everything is, and where everything goes, does not get all this stuff done in a single day. Granted, my house is large, with 2 floors...but your list seems like it could be a lot...I'd definitely prioritize it. We pay our cleaning person a flat rate. $150 for a full day, but she also organizes closets, does our laundry, drops off stuff at goodwill, etc. She's even offered to clean our garage!

[scout8]

My cleaning woman in Chicago charges $15/hour.

[Deleted]

I can actually see doing all that in a day with a small apartment. It's amazing how much less time it takes to clean my 800 square foot house than it did when I had a place twice the size!I can clean my whole house (excluding laundry and deep cleaning stuff) in 2 hours or less, so if I were to deep clean I can't see it taking more than 8 hours or so.

That said, I guess it really depends on how dirty the tub, oven, fridge, etc are. Each of those things can take 30-60 minutes to do if they are really dirty or the grime is really stuck on there. If they are pretty clean to begin with and just need touching up, I think this is doable in a full day (like 6-8 hours).

[heygrey]

i would leave off the Nordstrom return.

i could do all of that in our ~500 sq/ft apartment in 6-8 hours if i scheduled myself well

i would pay $125. assuming ~$13/hr at 8 hours, plus a tip.