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We're about to hire outside cleaning help and I'm interested in getting a range of hourly rates.

I will be calling local agencies for comps as well.

Thanks for any responses.

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Here is the first page in our caregivers notebook

These items need to be done routinely, self directed ask if you have questions if possible do during first part of shift

clean bathrooms, wash bath & kitchen floor daily
Neaten up all rooms, general pick up, put things away daily
vacuum, living room, dining room daily
Sort and fold clean laundry
Dust surfaces edges (around rugs etc)
Water house plants if needed
Check to see if linens need changing. Or if there is Ironing
Assist Dave Organize and clean closets
- Spend time and Play games etc with ...
- provide respite time for

----

They don't do heavy cleaning
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I just want to mention that I've borrowed my daughter's cleaning person from time to time and just started having her come in regularly, every other week for 4 hours at $20.00 per hour. It has made all the difference in the world to me not to have to think about cleaning the bathrooms and kitchen.

I think that my daughter found this lovely person through someone in her apartment building who was employing her, so had a good reference there.
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Hey Garden just thought if still looking, try Thumbtack we met a couple of nice people we cleaned for. You place an ad on the site and people bid on your job. May find just the right person. If still looking.
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We were just quoted $75.00 per man per hour....by HOUSEWORKS

a local handyman charges $30/hour

our agency caregivers do light housekeeping
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GardenArtist, hope you found help and that it is affordable.
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Send: Good post...you just never know. Because my mom was such a social person, she didn't care that she was being cheated!
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Thanks for the latest posts; your suggestions and advice are all very much appreciated.

I did decide last week after talking with some experts that we won't hire someone directly because of the potential liability issues. It will only be through an agency that handles deductions, has worker's comp and other required employee coverages. It's just too much financial exposure to take a chance hiring someone and be responsible for any injuries that might be sustained.

I'll post again when we've found an agency we like, and generally what the financial terms are, just to help anyone else who might be in a similar situation.

Thanks again to all of you for your suggestions.
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A very long time ago, my housekeeper would take home donations to give to her church (I gave them to her). Later she was telling me a story about how many broken down cars with clothing donations piled in them that she never could get to the church.
Just sayin, keep the relationship professional by not giving them anything except money, a bonus, or gift selected for them. No throw-aways/donations.
Best not to have staff taking anything out of your homes.
Overall, though, this was so minor, and she was the best housekeeper I ever had.
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Go with your town's Council on Aging. But be very careful. My mom's cleaning girl cheated my mom on hours not worked, almost caused a fire in her dryer, left wrinkled clothes in her dryer all week long, clogged up her vacuum cleaner and more.
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Garden Artist there is a new referal site called Thumbtack. We have it here in michigan not sure what other states. You can post a want and pepole submit bids, you can view their profiles and check referals right on site. I have gotten two great jobs from that site may be worth a look.
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Suggestion:
Check your church bulletin for cleaning services or people. Also other local churches. You might just have to call a local church's office to enquire. It depends on the church and how they handle this type of service. Ask if they know the person and how comfortable they would feel having them in THEIR home. Always interview and get a job estimate before hiring. Check any references. This is a way to try to get a lower cost individual or two rather than a more expensive company, and possibly a more trustworthy person.
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Still searching and calling but will post some updates after my telephone dialing arm rests up.
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My daughter owns a cleaning green business here in upstate New York. She is fully insured and pays Workers' Comp. She charges $30 an hour or by the job. She is also insured against theft or damage that could occur.
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Call your town's Council on Aging for starters.
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Large city in midwest: $75 for cleaning person and her assistant to come for 2 hours. They clean (nonstop) my father's 3BD, 3BA apartment. He's only uses 1/2 the rooms and is fairly neat already. They focus on floors, bathrooms. Reasonably clean when they finish and smells better because she opens the windows. Glad I don't have to do it. Would take me a lot longer.
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My only other comment is think, "would i work for 10.00 an hour". Why is it people believe those who do manual labor are worth so much less? It fries me to hear people say I only want to pay 10.00 an hour, its the same with caregiving you want good help trustworthy, reliable and you want to pay them less then they could make at McDonalds. You get what you pay for. As for companies just remember you may have different people each week, they work for minimum wage ( company gets rest) and if you are not a smoker make sure you request only nonsmokers. Bad experience when workers left coats on furniture, it reeked of smoke. If hiring indep, you can tell them up front you will 1099 them that way you know they pay taxes. If they do they are paying social sec taxes which will benefit in long run as you mentioned. Hope you find the right balance for you and dad. I cleaned houses for years as indep, loved my clients.
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I interviewed some companies, including green companies. All were expensive, at least $25 per hr. for 1 person and double for 2 people. Most brought their own cleaning supplies. The area of our house I wanted cleaned was about 1600 sq. ft. Some rooms we just don't need the service.

That was too expensive to me and we waited on a list for a local lady I already knew and for several years now she cleans for $15.00/hr. for about 2 hrs. and sometimes longer. For twice a month cleanings we are paying $60.00/month which I can live with. She does a good job, is reliable and we have no concerns about her stealing anything. She is flexible and will help us with almost anything we ask. We prepare by putting things away that might be in her way as she goes to clean each room. She doesn't rearrange or stuff items in drawers. This is the ideal relationship for our family. Best of luck to you in your search!
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Look online and check "living social" and "Groupon" deals locally they normally run great specials as a way to get to know companies....many 1/2 the normal price. They would be licensed and bonded. I don't where you are located I have fabulous trustworthy gals I love!!!! Yes, my so called "friend" that was in a fundraising group ripped off me and others in the group.....nuts. The new gals(I have known them 8 years now) are fabulous leave out jewelry, money etc....they pick it up clean and put it right back and many are "green" these days and bring all their supplies! They will do laundry, iron, meals, organize.So worth a bit more.Good Luck!
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I'm calling services now. If anyone wants to share the name of services they use, feel free to PM me.

I'm finding that it's not easy to tell which ones are really good; as FF wrote, reviews aren't that meaningful, and I don't know anyone in my area who used a cleaning service before.
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I use a small business, but they are licensed and bonded. They do the bed changes, vacuum all, clean toilets and tubs and showers, and all kitchen floors and counters. All the hard stuff! Weekly. Two women, one hour. Helps me a lot (this is for ME).
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Yes it is definitely necessary for We the Caregiver's to consider hiring a cleaning service to relieve Us of cleaning Our home. I find preparing three meals daily, plus attending to Mother's, doing the shopping..gardening..maintenance + whatever needs doing..Today for instance I was washing the green algae from the footpaths and the garden walls etc.
While I do keep Our home presentable and tidy, I fail miserably to reach the very high standard of a pro.
I have read all of Your comments with great interest as I had been thinking of this for quiet a while Myself.
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GardenArtist, those national rating services I usually take with a grain of salt. We have a local consumer rating group that I have always trusted and found excellent workmen and vendors... yet on those national rating services and social media rating services there seem to be too many negative reports, even though I had excellent results.

I would hate to be a workmen/vendor who has always given great service only to be trashed by whomever writing on the national and social media websites who probably never used said workmen/vendor. So very unfair. No wonder we are seeing more lawsuits popping up over defamation.
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After letting loose of some money that I would have paid out to help, I bought extra cleaning supplies, buckets, and a safe step stool, cleaning slowly, as I am able.
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Another issue: When help comes in with bags, leaves with even more filled up bags! Happened across the street, a whole team of 6 comes in, just under two hours, the homeowner was not the suspicious type. Leave your purse, bags, and cell phone outside in your car please. The home was not cleaned well.
I would like to pay only $10/ hr., and if it works out, once a month, give them $55.00 for 4 hours work. I like to pay what I am offering, not what they are charging. There is more for the housekeeper once they are found reliable, efficient, honest, and a good cleaner. I don't count benefits, gifts or meals as their income, I just love to share.
I once hired a friend to do housekeeping, that did not work out because 1) she told other friends in our group of friends that there was nothing really to clean;
2) when we went out with friends after she cleaned, it was too tiring for her, and I understood. She fired me! Ok with me!
Nowadays, if help came in, I wouldn't be able to straighten/clean before the help arrived.
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We received a quote for the kitchen only, $65.00, but who knows how long she would have stayed or what she would have done. She was referred by a neighbor who pays her a fortune plus the wife slipped in a tip on top of that! Maybe not that much in comparison, but I have concerns about getting in trouble hiring people without a green card.
Another neighbor offers to do housecleaning. Did I want the whole neighborhood to know if my mattress was really lumpy, or anything at all about my home, or life?
I don't hire gossips, just don't.
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Gramzie, I can understand your husband's concerns. That's one of the reasons I intend to furnish masks and gloves for use. You never know what kind of environment the workers have had to work in before coming to your house.
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Realtime,

$50 an hour is really out of line, even if they would give massages, water the plants, walk the dog and cook a 5 course meal! I think you're right that there's collusion involved and were wise to alert Angie's List.

I think that List, which started as a good idea, has grown to be something respected but does have limitations. Last year one of the contractors who posed on a DIY forum wrote that he was unable to undertake a project b/c of physical limitations, hired someone recommended on Angie's List, and found the services to be unacceptable. I don't remember all the issues as they were technical, ones a contractor would know. I vaguely remember there were some code violations involved.

And last year I saw a plumber's truck with a big Angie's List endorsement on the van. I had hired them some years ago and found them to be very unprofessional. One guy using a reciprocal saw hit something and blew a fuse which ruined my phone/answering machine. He never offered to pay for a replacement phone. Another one working in the kitchen complained repeatedly about the difficulty of replacing a particular brand of faucet. I never used them again.

I think it must be really difficult to undertake such a massive endeavor of validating people only by customer experience, but I've never relied on Angie's list since then.

FF,

I was shocked as well. That might just be a state by state requirement too. The issue raised by your father's insurance company is exactly what I've encountered.

I think it might be because, if someone comes to visit you, they're there just for nonwork related purposes. But if you ask someone to come to perform services, they're there specifically for that purpose, for a commercial purpose, and not for a social purpose. They're performing on property maintained by you and have a reasonable expectation (love those legal phrases!) of a reasonably safe work environment, to which I think they're entitled.

I recall that years ago there was a distinction between guests and invitees in terms of property liability but don't know what the issues are now.

Still, $750 a year is $62.50 a month and $1,000 a year is $83.33 a month, and for that I could get a few extra hours of work through an agency.

The liability issue scares me as well. I know that some people will sue for anything. And the issue of vetting an individual is time consuming.

After reading the posts here as well as considering some very wise private advice, I've decided to stick with an agency.
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I would love to have a cleaning service come in, but the prices can be high...my husband & I are caregivers to my Mom with early-stage Alzheimers, & he works nights, I have a bad back...he is the kind if person who doesn't want strange people in our home, touching all our things, so that makes it hard...he is a huge help with all facets of our lives, but with my Mom needing care & needing to be watched like a toddler, we don't get to the chores regularly...I'm a bit of a neatnik, he's clutter-blind, so it's a dilemma I live with constantly.
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GardenArtist, wow I never knew about needing extra homeowner's insurance if one has an independent contractor working on a regular basis in the home until this week. That is good to know. I had figured my umbrella policy would work, but apparently not for workers.

In fact yesterday when my sig other took over my Dad's over-due car insurance bill to pay to the Insurance company, he had mentioned that my Dad has caregivers in the house, and sure enough the Insurance person asked if my Dad had a workman's comp policy. Turns out he didn't need it because the Caregivers are from an Agency that has their own workman's comp for their employees. Whew.
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By the way --- Before hiring the lady who cleans our house for $20/hour (personal referral) I went to Angie's List. I was shocked to see that almost all the cleaners said they charged $50 an hour. These were not companies like Molly Maids --- I had them in my previous home for $80/visit, once a month, two workers. I suspect that the people who place ads on Angie's List to clean houses in our area have a formal or informal agreement among themselves to aim for $50. However, I think this is something close to price fixing, and have complained to Angie's List about it. In practice, I have found good help for as little as $10/hour (off the books, no agency).
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