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April 30, 2009
what does a house keeper cost?
I feel like I have been paying too much for house cleaner. 150.00 for 3 floors in a townhouse. she cleans @ 4 to 5 hours, and I pay her cash. Does anyone have any rec? thanks
Comments
Huh. I used to pay $60 every two weeks for someone who cleaned a tiny space (650 sf) for three hours and did a wonderful job. More recently I paid $60 every two weeks for someone to clean an 800-plus sf place. I think they spent maybe an hour and half, not sure. My issue is not so much the cost as the damage of floors, furniture, art work, etc., whether through carelessness or overzealousness.
Posted by: mopar at April 30, 2009 10:57 PM
hmmmm, thanks. did you hire your person from a company or was she an independent contractor?
Posted by: ptlnyc at April 30, 2009 11:10 PM
i used she referring to the house cleaner.
Posted by: ptlnyc at April 30, 2009 11:53 PM
That's $50 a floor to do dirty, backbreaking work you don't want to do. If the person is good, I'd consider it money well spent. They certainly are not getting rich. Please pay people a living wage for an honest days work. I do not think you are overpaying in the least. If anything, they probably deserve that and more.
Posted by: Montrose Morris at May 1, 2009 1:34 AM
Eh, sounds more than fair to me, Montrose. That's $30-35 per hour, most likely tax free. If she can squeeze in 2 houses a day, she's taking home over $1,000 a week without contributing one cent to the common weal. "Not getting rich"? Not starving, either.
Posted by: Bolder at May 1, 2009 8:32 AM
I used to pay mine 60 bucks to clean two floors of a townhouse. She was here about 5 hours. I'm doing the cleaning myself now because she just had a baby. She set the price and I thought that was fair since it was tax free. We are here in Bay Ridge and I'm not sure it it makes a difference becuase when we lived in PS my neighbors were paying 60 bucks to clean their 1000square foot apt.
Who knows?
Posted by: italiana71 at May 1, 2009 9:17 AM
Bolder, that sounds nice, though cleaners generally make $20 an hour, not $30, but the problem is finding 20 clients every month.
Posted by: mopar at May 1, 2009 9:25 AM
We have someone in every other week for about 6 hours and pay her $125 to clean 2 floors of our brownstone. We have a kid and a dog and a garden so it gets pretty messy.
She is a student learning english as a second language (her english is pretty good already) and her school fees have gone up. She's looking for more work; you can email me at ripley at me dot com and I can share her contact info if you need help around the house.
Posted by: phripley at May 1, 2009 9:43 AM
I found a wonderful, thorough, reliable and sweet/trustworthy cleaning lady through Craig's list named Vivienne who would be very happy to get a new referral or two. She has consented to my posting her number here which is 917-415-0381.
Posted by: herkimermaid at May 1, 2009 9:46 AM
$20 an hour cash is about right.
It's pretty decent money per hour as i'm sure they aren't declaring the income.
I'd pay more if i got official receipts and tax etc was being paid.
Dont forget you are also wearing the liability risk if they aren't incorporated with sufficient insurance coverage etc so $20 is plenty.
Posted by: deancollins at May 1, 2009 9:50 AM
totally forgot to mentions she's very reasonably priced. She charges $15/hour but I tip her to make it $20/hour
Posted by: herkimermaid at May 1, 2009 9:54 AM
hey, thanks so much for all the advice and referrals! i thought $20 an hour was a decent hourly wage.:)
Posted by: ptlnyc at May 1, 2009 9:57 AM
Bolder, I'm sorry, but not too many people could long sustain having 2 clients a day, 5 or more days a week. Even assuming 2 daily clients are in the same neighborhood, that's 10 or more hours of backbreaking work cleaning. I'm also aware that there are lots of people out there who have to do it in order to make ends meet, but to act as if they are somehow getting over is rather smug and entitled.
House cleaning is not my favorite occupation, and if I could afford to pay someone, I would. But I would certainly pay decently to do it. I happen to think that the OP's price is at the bottom of fair, less would not be fair, in my book. People think nothing of spending megabucks on appliances, kitchens and bathrooms, but then try to get frugal when it comes to paying people to clean them, not to mention trusting them around your possessions and family. Most cleaning people have limited options for employment, help them make a living wage.
Posted by: Montrose Morris at May 1, 2009 10:58 AM
2 houses a day, with travel in between and all the backbreaking labor you can get? That's a lot. that's anywhere from a 40+ to 50+ hour work week. That's hardly a walk in the park. These people aren't getting over by any stretch.
Posted by: bxgrl at May 1, 2009 11:08 AM
To clarify, I think $20 an hour is fair. It may sound like a lot, but here in NY, where everything is so expensive, it is a fair, living wage. Your average housekeeper is not pushing a vacuum with her foot while eating bonbons in front of the tv. Houses in New York get dirtier than elsewhere, from pollution, traffic and street dirt, and if you have kids and pets, it's even worse. It is a hard job.
Posted by: Montrose Morris at May 1, 2009 11:10 AM
I pay my housekeeper about 80 dollars for two or three hours once every two weeks.. Does the fridge, bathroom, and oven once a month... Hire her for two hours and she does a great job.. Worth every penny... When you get someone who does a good job and you can trust than you should pay.. She cleans up and has never taken anything... Remember you get what you pay for...
Posted by: HOBOKENROCKS at May 1, 2009 11:31 AM
I totally agree with Montrose Morris...
3 floors in a townhouse... OP, you're getting a fair deal.
Posted by: bren at May 1, 2009 11:51 AM
i'm going to say that whether you're getting a fair deal or not depends on whether your house is clean when the job is done. i've paid more using services (because that includes tax, etc.) and paid less for one-time help here and there. i wouldn't pay less than $20, for the reasons others suggest. but for $30 an hour you definitely can get someone who cleans very well, is easy to communicate with, etc. if your current cleaner doesn't fit that profile, look for someone else.
Posted by: i disagree at May 1, 2009 1:01 PM
I think $30/hour is quite high. If that person were to work a 40 hour week they'd make over $60K per year.
I wouldn't mind having someone come in once per month to help me clean. Someone who could oil the woodwork and help with the high places. Any recommendations out there?
Posted by: bessie2 at May 1, 2009 2:59 PM
If you're worried about fairness to cleaners (which I would say is definitely a major issue), then I might recommend this company: http://www.zenhomecleaning.com/index.htm
A friend of mine used to work in their office, and from what I've seen the workers are paid very fairly and get pretty good benefits. A bit more expensive than most ($25-35/hr), and I've never used them, but they're ethical and I'd say it's worth looking into.
Posted by: collin85 at May 1, 2009 3:36 PM
I pay $130 to have two floors cleaned every two weeks--she spends around 6 hours here and is extremely thorough. I think this is a fair price.
Bessie, I guess you've never attempted a consulting gig. See if you can fill your dance card for 40 hours a week, every week. And house cleaning is hard work.
Posted by: tinarina at May 1, 2009 6:13 PM
bessie2- why should it bother you if a hard-working cleaning woman (or man) earns 60k a year? If they do good work, and they're honest and reliable, that's all you need to worry about.
Posted by: bxgrl at May 1, 2009 8:31 PM
yes, I disagree with bessie2. I was trying to get a cleaning deal a while back and I bargained them down to $75 for 3hrs. After the owner of the cleaning company broke down the cost of cleaning for a company, its not as profitable as you would think. In you estimate of 60K a year, you forgot to include the cost of gas, supplies, equipment, insurance and travel time.
The company I use (they pay their employees fair wages) is www.TheEverythingGirls.com
Posted by: jan at June 18, 2009 2:17 PM
I heard on the news that as long as the housekeeper doesn't work 40hrs/per week both of you can agree on a reasonable pay. But if the housekeeper works for you 40hrs/per week then you need do pay the housekeeper at least an hourly wage.
Posted by: mjuarez at February 1, 2010 3:04 PM
Correction on my previous post I meant minimum hourly wage.
Posted by: mjuarez at February 1, 2010 3:08 PM
Another addition to my comment I am talking about an independent housekeeper; I am not talking about a housekeeper from an agency.
Posted by: mjuarez at February 1, 2010 3:11 PM
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