Maid service cost guide

Preserving home neat and clean is the must-do of every homeowner. However, rarely do people love scraping the dirt on their knees instead of having fun with their families. For this reason, maid services have been popular in the US since the very beginning. Hiring a professional housekeeper is a great way to save up to 10 hours weekly for your family, and to preserve your wood floors, furniture, and upholstery at home in their best condition.

Here you will learn about:

Maids are professional cleaners who tidy up other people’s homes. They wash the dishes, dust all surfaces, and sometimes may even wash the laundry – all possible services are up to negotiation. Most often maid services are calculated on an hourly basis where the price is between $20/hour and $40/hour. Some maids may charge you based on the square footage of space; the cost is about $15-$25 per 100 square feet. Generally, home cleaning takes around 1-3 hours, so the total cost of the maid service is $120. However, many homeowners go beyond the standard services package, and so the national average for housekeeping services in the US is $160. The cost of services doesn’t depend on the type of your home (house and apartment) as long as your bedrooms and bathrooms number fits into the standard services package.

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Cost-related questions

What services are usually included in the standard home cleaning package?

Maid services can include all possible services related to home cleaning, so there is no set in stone list of services you can expect. However, here are the most common of them:

  • Kitchen (included in 97% of all cleaners) Surfaces dusting, stove cleaning, refrigerator dusting, getting the trash out. For kitchen cleaning only, maids charge $19/hour.
  • Bathroom (included in 97% of all cleaners) Toilet/sink/tub/shower cleaning, mirrors polishing, floor sweeping/cleaning. For bathroom cleaning only, maids charge $19/hour.
  • General (included in 78% of all cleaners) Floor sweeping and cleaning, dusting, polishing. The price is average.

What is the cost of additional maid services?

As it’s been said, almost everything can be assigned to a maid, yet the most common services required from them are listed below:

  • Cabinet cleaning (in about 17% of all cases) costs $20.5.
  • Carpet shampooing (in about 29% of all cases) costs $19.8.
  • Laundry collecting, washing, ironing (in about 17% of all cases) cost $21.
  • Fridge cleaning (in about 21% of all cases) costs $21.
  • Attic organizing (in about 37% of all cases) costs $20.
  • Pet clean up (in about 42% of all cases) costs $19.
  • Basement cleaning (in about 45% of all cases) costs $20.5.

Does experience influence the price?

Even though most people see maid services as unqualified, they still require professional training, skills, and knowledge. All these abilities are learned after some time in industry, so maids’ experience does influence the price. Amateur maids generally charge up till $19/hour; beginners (those who worked up to 10 years) will cost $23/hour. Semi-professional housekeepers charge around $30/hour, while professionals cost from $33/hour and higher.

What factors may change the cost of maid service?

Size

If maids charge on the square footage basis, then the size of your home including the number of bedrooms and bathrooms will change the final estimate for the service. For maids charging hourly, the difference will be less significant.

Number of people

The more people the bigger the mess, and so the longer the cleaning takes. So the more people live in your home, the more you will have to pay for the cleaning service.

Pet occupancy

Pets have a particular way of getting a home dirty (hair, dirt, piss). This results in deeper cleaning of rugs as well as bedding, additional cleaning of litter boxes, and deodorizing.

Frequency

The more often you invite a maid to your home the lower charge per visit you will get. Generally, steady customers receive $5-$10 discount per visit which in a year can add up to about $500 in savings!

Cluttering level

This point refers not to the amount of clutter in your home but rather to its accessibility. Complex interior design, small rooms, hard-to-reach places all add up to the cleaning costs.

Surfaces to be cleaned

Yes, most common surfaces, such as shelves, tables, countertops, are included in the hourly rate. However, if you have a valuable collection of small objects, then a maid may require higher charge due to the more delicate, and thus, longer working time.

Special services

Windows cleaning, particular appliance cleaning, laundry folding may not be a part of regular maid’s service. As a result, such services will require extra payment.

Experience

The more experienced a maid is the more expensive the service will cost. That's obvious.

Team size

Large houses may require more than just one maid. And so the bigger your cleaning team should be the higher the price will go.

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Individual vs. company maid service

Pricing

Individual maids may cost even $5-$10/hour which is much cheaper if compared to $20-$40/hour offered by cleaning companies.

Insurance

Insurance coverage of your belongings and workers’ health in your home is an issue should something happen on a maid's shift in your home. Housekeeping companies generally provide general liability and worker’s compensation insurance plans. With individual maids, you are likely to cover liability yourself and deal with the worker’s health in case of an accident.

Back-ups

Celebrations, family emergencies, accidents, and health problems are the reasons why your particular maid may ask for a leave. And on the contrary, cleaning companies will send you a replacement regardless of the circumstances.

Safety

There is no difference in terms of safety between private and business cleaning teams. Some people feel safer with individual maids whom they know and whom they trust. Others, on the contrary, feel more protected with a signed contract and a team with logos coming in their house. This point completely depends on your inner feeling.

Cleaning supplies

Individual maids generally request cleaning supplies to be provided, or they make a list of the needed chemicals and for you to buy. Cleaning companies send their teams armed with all required cleaning supplies, so you don’t need to provide anything extra.

Relationship

It’s easier to set contact with a private maid because this will be only one person coming to your home and taking care of you and your family. With cleaning companies, you are likely to have different housekeepers coming to your home every week.

Other frequently asked questions

How to prepare for the maid’s visit?

Generally, maid services ask homeowners to pick up clutter, clothes, and toys around the house because frequently this service is not included in the price list. There is no need to get cleaning supplies ready if you hire a cleaning company; for individually hired maids cleaning supplies should be put together in one place. If you have pets, ensure that they are locked in one room or put into aquariums so that maids don’t stress from making acquaintance with them. For services such as bedding change, don’t forget to leave clean linen to avoid someone going through your belongings.

What to do if my maid is stealing?

If you spot some missing objects or misplaced items in your home, ensure that you deal with the problem as fast as possible. Please, read our article on the topic to learn about identifying the problem and dealing with it.

Can I change the chemicals used in my home?

Not all chemicals suit all homeowners, especially if there are allergic individuals living in the cleaned space. You can always negotiate the types of chemicals that will be present in your home with a particular maid or cleaning service.

Bottom line

Professional maid services can help with keeping your home a clean and pleasant place to live. The average cost of cleaning services falls between $20/hour and $40/hour. As generally home cleaning requires about 1-3 hours, most homeowners spend around $160 per cleaning. The cost, however, mainly depends on the size of your home, the number of people required, and the additional services you may request.

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