Hellobee Boards

@gotkimchi: I found my person on Kijiji - I definitely think it's cheaper to go with a small business than a big established service? But you probably also have to be more trusting. I basically just crossed my fingers that she wouldn't rob me, whereas my colleague is horrified that I've given a key to my house to ANYBODY.

@gotkimchi: we pay $130 for the once a month visit (2 people, 3 hour deep clean). I forget what it was if she came twice a month, but it dropped to around $75ish for coming more often.

We just recently got a cleaning lady and it has been great for us. I was tired of taking so much time cleaning when I could be spending time with the kids. Our cleaning lady comes every other week for 4 hours and I pay 80$ each time (Canadian). She does 3 bathrooms, the kitchen, dusts and vacuums. She also mops the kitchen and family room. Sometimes I ask her to do something else if she has the time. I still have to sweep the floors and tidy in between, but I'd do that anyways. It is great not having to clean the bathrooms or mop floors.

We have a cleaner come once per month for a deep cleaning. It's actually two people and they do 5 hours of cleaning. Worth every single penny. The day to day cleaning, we can handle, as it's just DH, DD & I. It's the deep cleaning that we just don't have time for and we'd rather spend that time with DD. So the frequency works great for us.

They come when I am working from home and I just stay in my office and out of their way (they don't clean my office).

Weekly. It's a little inconvenient because it's one lady and she's here for like 6 hours. Which I do think is a lot but she's on the older side - maybe 60s. So I let it slide. DH always wants me to ask her if she can be faster and we'll pay the same amount but I feel bad.

@pancakes: I SAH as you know. I'm gone the first 3-3.5 hours since my son is at school or camp, so I just find something to keep myself busy for that time. I'm there with her from like 12-3 and it's definitely a little awkward. She knows which rooms to clean first (while I'm gone) and then I just stay in those rooms while she's here. I know it's a bit indulgent to stay home and have a cleaner. But I like a clean home and don't like cleaning. I like tidying and basic daily stuff (dishes, wiping counters and mirrors, stick vacuum, picking up ENDLESS toys, etc). But heavy duty cleaning floors and toilets and showers - no thanks.
It would be the first thing to go if we ever had to cut costs, that's for sure.

We have a service every other week. They vacuum, mop floors, kitchen, baths, surfaces, windows, and dust. They empty inside waste bins and take the garbage with them. If our beds happen to be unmade they make them too. Each time they do an "extra" service of your choosing like fridge, baseboards, wiping down cabinets, blinds, etc. This is nice because it means my fridge or baseboards get completely cleaned at least once a month or so. My service brings at least 2, as many as 4 cleaners with them depending on their schedule around the neighborhood. They usually take 2 hours, sometimes as fast as 90 minutes.

We pay $90 each time after $250 for an initial deep clean. We run our Roomba during the week and tidy up surfaces and counters and clear floor space before they come. Also have to make sure the kitchen sink is empty and all the bath toys are picked up.

ETA: our house is about 2000sq ft

The cleaning service that I just had last Friday was $120 for 2 hours. We have a 2 bedroom condo.

They did a good job--I wouldn't call it a "deep clean", since it was only 2 hours, but they did a good job of the basics--the counters and bathrooms were sparkling, the floors were done, and everything was dusted except a few things like ceiling fans and some baseboards.