Hiring A Housekeeper? House Cleaner? How To Hire A Cleaner: 8 Questions to Ask
As life gets busier, we all can use some help to keep things going. Congratulations if you are at this exciting point in your life of being too busy or stressed to clean or keep things up! But where does one start if you are not experienced with having someone to help? What should you and your family expect? How do you hire the right people to help your household, or what do you even need? We put together this handy guide and short quiz on “How to hire a cleaner and other professionals”. Read on for more info!
Housekeeper vs Cleaner vs House Manager
Need help with daily tasks to tidy your house? Or are you looking for help cleaning your home weekly, monthly? Or perhaps you need help with keeping the pantry stocked & organized along with daily chores? Or perhaps with all of the above? Knowing what you need help with will determine the type of help you should search for when you are ready.
Housekeeper
A housekeeper supports a household with daily tasks such as laundry, wiping off counters, vacuuming, sweeping, taking out the trash, making beds, or just organizing as life happens.
For those needing help with keeping your house in order over than just clean, a housekeeper is a great option.
House Cleaner
A housekeeper is great for more frequent needs, a house cleaner does the job of cleaning. Beyond dusting and vacuuming, a house cleaner will clean your bathroom tubs & showers, baseboards, mop floors and other cleaning tasks.
There can be lots of people doing house cleaning and a wide range of talents and experience. We’ll go more into questions to ask a cleaning in the “how to hire a cleaner” section below. Also make sure if you haven’t cleaned these appliances to do it now!
House Manager
For those households who need more coordination, a house manager is your best bet. When you hire a house manager, their job is to help manage the entire house: from keeping items stocked in the pantry to hiring and paying for other professionals like lawn service, house cleaners, and other experts.
For smaller homes, asking your housekeeper or nanny if you have one to support as a house manager is a common additional task that they may be happy to take on for additional money.
Many of us could use help around the house in a variety of different areas. If you need flexibility, such as cleaning sometimes and home coordination others, make sure to state this up front to any candidates. Any professional you are discussing hiring will want to customize or tailor their services to your needs, or at least see if its a good fit. So what do you do when you are ready to hire a professional? Ready more about how to hire a cleaner and other professionals below.
How To Hire A Cleaner: Questions To Ask
Like with any job or professional, not all of them are the same. Everyone has their own way of cleaning a home, largely influenced by the way people were raised and how their families cleaned. Finding a cleaner who cleans to your expectations is important, so here are a few good questions to ask so you know how to hire a cleaner.
- Do you bring your own supplies or use mine? What type of supplies do you use?
- Some cleaners allow homeowners to choose what supplies are used as many homeowners may have preferred brands or types (natural vs no preference). And this also can affect the cost.
- What order do you clean a house in? Outside in? Starting or ending with certain rooms? Top down?
- If you are a doctor or nurse, this is an important question! Why? Well most medical professionals know that cleaning a bathroom then cleaning your kitchen where you eat is a big no-no for cross-contamination. Some cleaners prefer to start in one corner of a home and work their way out the door, but this could mean cleaning the bathrooms first then a kitchen last or in the middle. For those who don’t mind, you may just care about knowing their process or if skipping some rooms is ok because they are used infrequently.
- What does a deep clean mean for your business?
- Each cleaners deep clean can be different and what it means for your home too. For a luxury home with lots of marble, detailed wood trim or baseboards, or other ornate features a deep clean may not only take extra time but extra product and effort.
- What does a normal clean or maintenance clean detail?
- Similar to the above, set your expectations and compare services and pricing. And, don’t be afraid to ask their advice on what to clean and how often. For example, their maintenance clean may include mopping all your floors but you are a single person who travels a lot so you would rather focus their efforts on dusting and bathrooms. This is a good question to ask if you can customize or tailor services.
- Do you clean windows and if so, both inside and outside?
- Some house cleaners do not do windows, or may charge for this separately. This is because it is a time consuming task and many people are particular about how their windows look (spots, streaks etc).
- How do you charge: by the hour, the room? Any discounts for frequency, using my products, referrals?
- While these may seem similar, some feel that how long it takes to clean can be “fluffed” by some cleaners for extra dough when really you are paying for a room to sparkle regardless of how long it takes. Knowing how a cleaner charges is important to see if it fits with your needs or preferences.
- What do I do to prepare before you arrive?
- Cleaners are unlike a housekeeper: they often do not organize or pickup before a clean. Many cleaners ask that toys, blankets, items are off the floor and the home is tidy before they arrive. Making a bed isn’t necessary, but a cleaner may appreciate or ask you strip the bed and leave the linens on the bed (not the floor) so they can be washed. Same with towels. A great courtesy for your cleaner is to minimize how much they bend over to the floor: so keep towels and linens on a bed or surface for easy reaching, same with cleaning products or tools!
- Are you licensed and insured?
- One of the most critical questions! Cleaning is a tough job and anything can happen from them being injured or breaking something in your home. If you are not negligent, for example you left your bathroom floor soaking wet and the cleaner slipped, or you left steak knives blade up in the washing machine and the cleaner cut themselves, most of the time the cleaning company pays for the cleaners workers’ compensation claim for an on-the-job injury. Or perhaps the cleaner breaks an important lamp or puts a dent into a wall. The cleaning agency, or individual, should have insurance to cover damages they are responsible for covering. As a homeowner, you may consider an umbrella policy to provide additional coverage if you have professionals in your home often such as a cleaner, housekeeper, handyperson etc.
How To Hire a Housekeeper
Similar to the cleaning questions above, for a housekeeper you want to ask their process: what do they do? Do they cover certain rooms or the whole house? Should you expect them every day or weekly? Do they do tasks like laundry, dishes, taking out trash? Can they support other tasks you may not even think to ask about: what is their specialty or focus?
In addition, you want to ask if they are insured and licensed too. There may be less risk in someone who is organizing, tidying, and shopping but there is still risk and you want to be prepared so you aren’t surprised when or if something does happen. Starting a relationship on a good note is important as these people are in your home and around your family.
Hiring a House Manager
For anyone who has multiple homes or a large property, perhaps with many acres or buildings, (or an obsession with Downton Abbey) a house manager may be a great option.
A house manager supports families who travel a lot internationally, have multiple homes or properties, or are looking for those special touches like a Michelin Star chef cooking for them. Think celebrities, large corporate CEOs and C-level staff or simply well-to-do families who need help coordinating their busy, complex lives. The house manager often is coordinating opening and closing a house for the family, ensuring routine maintenance is being performed, or arranging for a special event or activity.
However, house managers are also for the average family with two busy working parents! In this case, a house manager may hire and coordinate house cleaners and maintenance around the home, ensure the pantry is stocked, let in relatives who are staying for the weekend, or helping with meal prep ordering and coordination.
Quick Quiz: Which To Hire or What Do You Need
- What services do you need?
- Cleaning, dusting, vacuuming (1)
- More organizing, tidying the home, making a grocery list (2)
- Managing multiple people and activities: sometimes the lawn needs mowed, we are having a party or family event and need support, the whole family is going on a trip and we need help packing and planning for being away! (3)
- All of the above (4)
- What frequency are you looking for someone to help?
- Daily (2)
- Weekly or twice a week (1)
- Monthly or bi-weekly (1)
- TBD (1)
- How much are you wanting to pay?
- I want to pay an hourly rate for someone to come and do a specific list of chores (1)
- I want to pay by room or activity (2)
- I want to pay someone a salary to be available as I need them (3)
The number next to the answer are the points so add up your points and see below what you need!
3 points: A house cleaner seems best for you. Someone who comes by and does mostly cleaning. Although, it is ok to ask if they do provide housekeeping services or tidying work as well. Doesn’t hurt to ask if you need housekeeping help as well.
3 – 4 points: You may be leaning more to a housekeeper or house manager in this case. When looking for help you may mix a house cleaner and a housekeeper together for a blended support system.
More than 5 points- In this case, a house manager may be best for you. Start by writing down the services you need for a house manager and the frequency: are you expecting them to just work for you and be on call? Perhaps an individual would work and can grow with your family as needs change, or your needs may be more broad and expansive so an agency would be a good choice for more comprehensive services.
Conclusion: How to Hire A Cleaner and Other Professionals
We hoped you learned a bit about how to hire a cleaner and other tips to help your home run smoothly. Largely, we hope you see that no matter your budget or needs, anyone can get help with a variety of home based tasks. All you need to do is ask the right questions and work out a great deal to find the right person or people for the job.
Take a look at some of our other home articles. Happy cleaning!
