[DanielWelford]

Hi

Another of those silly questions, but here goes.

I do a lot of carpet and oven cleaning, but keep getting asked about general cleaning. So thought okay, as some of my existing staff have a bit of experience in this.

I propose to charge an hourly rate, but because I have little experience in this field, I dont know how long a job will take. Any rough timings, i.e 2 bed house 2 hours etc etc.

Any help wuld be greatly appreciated.

Dan

[Bertie Boo]

Dan

It isnt a silly question BUT its one to which there is no certain answer.

Having and hourly rate is one thing, but what one person can do in one hour will be different to what another can, plus there are so many other factors to consider, principly what state the house is in from the outset and what state it's in everytime you go to clean it.

I have seen a few companies who charge by the number of bedrooms and this confuses me greatly. I clean a 7 bedroom house every fortnight and yet it is amongst the houses that takes the least amount of time BECAUSE all i have to do is quickly clean 2 bathrooms, bit of dusting, occasionaly clean a bedroom, and the rest is all vacuuming and floor mopping, of which there is plenty to do. However, having all my own cleaning things means i can do this very quickly and the house is always tidy when i get there.

Your question is a very hard one to answer. All i know is that i -like a lot of 'big' companies (of which i am not, big i mean)- we charge an agreed fee then work our asses off to make sure the task list is done as quickly and satisfactory as possible.

It is only trough trial-and-error (and we've all been there) that you will eventually 'know' how to charge and how to get the job done. And with that comes the dreaded new client, worrying every time "Will this one be THE one that we can't do "etc etc etc, but its never that bad.

Maybe start off by allowing a slot of 2.5 hours for a job (half that for two people) and seeing how it pans out.

Do pay much thought to whether you want to charge by the hour or by the job, and equally whether you want to provide the equipment.

If you charge by the hour and provide only the staff then your competition will be the lesser-spotted cleaning ladies who 'do' for a few pounds an hour, and also cleaning 'Agencies' like Belle Casa and Time 4 You (as well as countless local agencies).

If you charge by the job and provide equipment then your client will be prepared to pay for this but will expect a 1st class service. Your competition here will be local companies, people like Molly and Merry Maids, plus an increasing number of people like myself who work alone or in pairs (and have no other staff).

Good luck in whatever you decide. Let us know if there are other things that you need to find out.

Stephen

[DanielWelford]

Hi Stephen

Thanks for the help.

I am going to price by job, but to calculate it, i need to know how long roughly???

Like you I will be providing all the goods and equipment, and propose to aim at the top end and price accordingly.


Dan

[julia]

Hi
I know this is probably a silly question, but if you price by the job say £20.00 how much of this would you give the cleaner and how much time would you say she/he needs to be in the property?
Thanks
Julia

[Bertie Boo]

Julia

Typically you would have a set hourly rate for the cleaner and a set number of hours. For example at one time (about 4 years ago) Molly Maids were paying £6 for a cleaner/driver and gave them 5 - 6 houses to do, in pairs, in one day. The cleaners were paid for 7.5 hours and it was down to them to make sure they did ALL the work to standard in that time. If they finished early then they went home - end of story. That was how they worked it, it would be immposible in real terms to make them stay even when the work was done. At that time they were charging around £30 plus VAT per job, more if the work was only done fortnightly or monthly.

Remember that people who pay for the 'job' WILL be prepared to pay more if it is that they dont need you as often as once a week. Again, yours is not a silly question, but a difficult one to answer. Every property varies in so many ways and the way to make sure you get the best job done is to make sure that the same cleaners do the same houses wherever possible.

Stephen

[Joe H]

Its experiance that will tell you what to charge - be it by the hour or the job.

You could have 2 houses next to each other - same size/shape etc but completly different time to do the job.
Why@
Lifestyles differnet.

How many people in the house
are they tidy people or messy ones.
some will tidy up BEFORE the cleaner comes
others will make a tip because the cleaner is coming.

I went thro this 20 years ago when my wife and I took over a business and I was the one going out to interview propective clients (yes - I interview them as well as the other way round).
I got it right most times but always add "for the first 3 weeks the cleaner may take up to an hour longer, to get on top of the job". This goes down ok - most clients I find call for the service when the house has gone to pot and threfore need a bit of a heavy clean.

Get stuck in a do a bit yourself - like I did, you will probably enjoy it anyway

[Ian Gourlay]

Dusting Furniture and Fittings

Ash Tray 0.5min
Bed           1.0min
Bookcase 5.0min
Computer  1.0min
Chairs        0.3min
Desk            1.5min

Dresser       0.5min
Piano             1.0min

Table              0.5min

Television        0.5min
Window Sill     0.5min

Venietian Blind 3.5min


Toliet 2.5min
Sink    3.0Min
Bath   5.0min

Shower 8.0Min

Vac 1000sq feet obstructed 40mins

Stairs   4mins

Bed Making Double 5 mins

Is this the kind of idea you were looking for

All you need to do is make a list and test it in your own home.

[Art]

Ian, where did you get those figures from?

Arthur

[Bertie Boo]

[quote link=topic=44459.msg357609#msg357609 date=1192483198]

All you need to do is make a list and test it in your own home.

Erm, it is not that simple i'm afraid  :

Ian, the fact that you put ashtray under a 'dusting' coloumn makes me wonder if you have much background or understanding of what we 'domestics' do.....don't mean to sound rude, sorry if i do.

Your figures may be those that work in your own home, but i dont see why you think that can be transfered to someone elses...for instance, your 30 seconds to clean a window sill....that would work well in my bedroom as it has three ornaments on it and is dusted regularly.

Now take a house where the window ledge is covered in half-empty bottles, dead flies, cobwebs, ornaments, jewellery, in fact any unmentionable amount of 'stuff' that has to be removed (and indeed cleaned) before the surface can be cleaned.

I'm thinking that your posting was probably an example rather that a factual account of how long things take......it must be?  

Stephen
 

[Ian Gourlay]

Home Cleaning Business

Susan Bewsey

Page 51


There are other times but as I suggested you would need to do a list of tasks with a stop watch,

[Ian Gourlay]

I only said is this what you are looking for.

If you want to be able to set cleaning times for your staff you would need some system to record average times for jobs.


Now Stephen or someone else why  not give the factual times to the tasks I have suggested

On window Sill example you would have Window Sill Clear

Window Sill uncluttered.

But you are correct I do not go dusting.

[Bertie Boo]

Well she obviously thinks she knows what she's doing, i'm sure.....

I'd love to see her face when she realises the bedlinen of the bed she is making is soiled, blowing her 5 minutes out the window.

3 minutes to clean a sink is far too long (even a dirty one). 3.5 minutes to do a venition blind is something i can only dream about. They are amongst the top-ten of things i LOATH cleaning.

Maybe she inhaled too much ash whilst dusting an ashtray   I can't see how anyone in their right mind would believe that you can quote times for cleaning tasks, never mind putting such information in print.

I dunno, eh?  :

Stephen

[Ian Gourlay]

If you  clean a house for X price  and agree to do y tasks you must have an idea how long it takes.

Once you have got your own pace you can build your own chart.

You will then record your best cleaners time

Maybee two others and then you would have a basis to work on

Whats wrong with that if you are not doing the job yourself.

[Bertie Boo]

On window Sill example you would have Window Sill Clear

Window Sill uncluttered.

But you are correct I do not go dusting.

Hi Ian

The day i see an unlcuttered window sill is the day i change all my opinions on children and decide to have some of my own  . In otherwords, never!

See, thing is, i am from the Anthea Turner school of thought, i make my life so easy by only buying the things that wont attract dirt, by keeping rooms decluttered, by having a wipe-as-you-go policy which means that -come sunday afternoon- all i have to do is a quick 'do' of the bathroom and change the beds.

But for the other 6 days of the week i'm out in the real world where i help the folks who just haven't the time or understanding to help themselves re:housework. I no longer question 'why' people do what they do, put things where they do, keep the things they do. I just accept it. No two houses are the same, no two people want the same cleaning.

Only if all surfaces were clear, all gangways empty, all floors free of clutter, could we even begin to start working out exact times for tasks.

Even dusting is a minefield in itself, what with evaluating if you need to dust dry, damp-dust, suction-dust, dust with a cloth, dust with a brush, etc etc etc. I only wish i could transfer to words how it is i 'know' how long a task will take me, but i just can't. Its like was said already, its experience and instinct that tells you.

Cheers

Stephen

[Ian Gourlay]

Living in a De Cluttered Home

How Boaring Although i dream of it for a day

Not sure if Anthea is a help or hinderance.

Guess the market for clean homes is decluttered do not sit down do not read newspaper have TV dinners

Get out stupid theory books on cleaning leave on table etc

A Home is a show House not for living in.

Back to subject

Stephen

You must know how long it takes you to clean the following
#

Bath    X minutes to XX nminutes if dirty

Sink      X Minutes to xx minutes

Loo       X minutes

Wipe tiles

[Bertie Boo]

ian

No, my house is lived-in, but i dont wanna spend all my time cleaning it. At the same time, all our money is tied up in the house and i like to think that if ever (god forbid) we should have to sell-up then at least it could go on sale without too much hassle.


If ever (and its rare) my other half leaves the toilet even slightly dirty then all hell breaks loose as he knows that i spend my life cleaning other people's loos. We both clean the loo (though not at same time) in this house 

Yes, i do have vauge and/or approxomate times for cleaning things around the house, but it really really really all depends on the things that get in your way during the course of the cleaning. I can only say the same thing in a few different ways, but every house is different and clearing  the cr@p out of the way is more than half the job in some places. Cleaning tiles for example will vary according to how dirty they are, what the dirt is, whether the grout is stained, whether the tiles are smooth or grainy, and whether the finish is gloss or flat. I have gloss-white bumpy tiles in my bathroom (floor to cileing) and a wipe with a damp soapy cloth takes seconds, but most people dont have this. There is a huge craze for flat, matt finishes at the moment (be it tiles, floors, walls, paint etc) and, whilst i realise it may be fashionable, it is a cleaning nightmare.

I dread cleaning wood that has been painted in emulsion or satin-wood. But it is seemingly what people like.

Here's my bathroom....no bath, just a shower cubicle (out of sight in photo). Takes no time to clean although to be fair we dont let it get dirty to begin with.

[Robert Parry]

Standard times are what your looking for, we only do commercial so I cannot be of any use supplying these for houses, Ian is correct, test out things in your own house.

In the commercial market we use the following:

Standard Times = Per unit/Area

Density = Clutter

Size Of Building = Less/More Set Up Time

Traffic = How Dirty The Building Gets Between Cleans

Use = How Busy The Building Becomes

Core/Full Clean = Basic Service/Premium Service

Hope this helps,

Regards,

Rob

[Bertie Boo]

Rob

I disagree that Ian is right in saying 'test it in your own house'. My own house is nothing like the work i do for other people, so whilst it may give an indicator of how quickly i can work in a place that is easy to get around, i cannot apply any of the 'quirks' and the obstecles that i come across working for other people.

It is nice that people like yourself who do commercial cleaning and someone like Ian who is a carpet cleaner have taken the trouble to reply, but until you've done a day doing what we domestics do you can't begin to understand what we mean. In the same way really that i havent the first real understanding of what it's like to clean carpets full-time and because my office-cleaning experience was only part-time and for one year, meaning i dont have a full understanding of the commercial cleaning sector.

Cheers

Stephen

[Prestige1]

All he asked for was an idea! dear me!
Dan
On a 2 bed house you are looking at around 1.25 to 1.5hrs with 2 girls 2.5hrs to 3hrs total time. I would charge arround £45 to £52, this bit depends on where you live and how good you clean. hope its a bit clearer. phil

[Bertie Boo]

All he asked for was an idea! dear me!
Dan
On a 2 bed house you are looking at around 1.25 to 1.5hrs with 2 girls 2.5hrs to 3hrs total time. I would charge arround £45 to £52, this bit depends on where you live and how good you clean. hope its a bit clearer. phil

Blimey, i wish we could obtain those prices in Sutton Coldfield  :

Prestige, i bow to your knowledge in being able to offer approxomate times for cleaning...on what you base it i don't know, but well done 

Stephen