Options for Cleaning Up
By Bill Primavera
The Home Guru
As Published in The Examiner, The Putnam Examiner and The Yorktown Examiner
When my wife and I bought our first home, there was just one housekeeping rule: we must have a cleaning service. Neither one of us was making much money at the time, and we were stretched financially after coming up with the down payment. But, my wife told me that, while she would manage our finances, cook every meal (which she has done superbly every day since), raise our child, and work in the bargain, the cleaning must be done by someone else. More than fair, I thought.
We have stuck by that rule through all manner of financial booms, recessions, and various arrangements to accommodate the people we found to do it. And, we learned a few things along the way about what to expect with a cleaning service.
Basically there are three options for cleaning, other than doing it yourself: an individual that one might find in the Pennysaver or through personal referral; a small private company, usually family owned; or a large national franchise company.
Our first experience was with an individual whom we inherited with our first home, a diminutive black woman named Jean with an easy way about her. Through five years of service, we were more than employer and employee. She became a confidant and friend, as well as a caretaker when needed for our young daughter. We wept together the day that Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated, and again on the day when we moved to upper Westchester and lost her in the process.
Our property in Westchester has both our living quarters and professional offices, so we upgraded, or so we thought, to a commercial cleaning service. Things were all right for a couple of years, but we could never be sure that we would have the same cleaners from week to week. We like to trust people but of course checked to made sure the service was insured. Then one week, we experienced a jewelry heist, knowing full well that no one else but the cleaners had been in the house when the items disappeared. We immediately discharged the service and began asking our neighbors if they knew of a single reliable person.
One was recommended highly: a young woman from Poland who came to us 16 years ago and is still with us. She cleans very well, perhaps too well in that some of our varnished surfaces are showing some wear. Items have been broken through the years, but what never has been broken is our complete trust in her.
For the past few years, I’ve also known a wonderful small cleaning business, family owned, that has the contract with our offices at Coldwell Banker. Owned by Richie and Linda Russo, the company is Two Plus Three, the three in the name referring to their three grown children, Jude, Louis and Roseanne, who sometimes help out.
Richie offers his advice on picking a service: “What you have to look for more than anything else is honesty and responsibility.” He has been cleaning private homes and businesses all over Westchester for more than 35 years. If I didn’t already have a trusted individual, I would use this family-owned business where you can connect directly with the owners who are actually doing the cleaning. (Two Plus Three can be reached at 914-962-0129).
At the same time, if I wanted to feel really good about using a service, I’d go to a company like Maid Brigade (www.maidbrigade.com, 914-741-0552), a franchise operation that really treats their employees right, offering health benefits for which they pay half and a 401K plan. They may cost a few bucks more, but Gary Murphy, owner with his wife Robin, says that advantages also include a well-trained staff, educated by both classroom and practical sessions, and frequent refreshers by DVD. Cleaners arrive in pairs in smart little cars and are supervised. And, Maid Brigade prides itself on using all green cleaning products, so you’d be doing something good for yourself as well as the universe.
Here are the pricing comparisons: for an individual, it’s usually $20 per hour. Our cleaner spends four hours cleaning our house for $80.00. A small family-run operation like Two Plus Three, spends three hours in an average-size house with two cleaners for $125.00. And Maid Brigade offers two people who spend two hours for $140 to $160.00 per visit.
Our cleaner tells us that, with the economic downturn, some of her customers have moved from a weekly cleaning visit to every two weeks, and Maid Brigade reported a lessening in frequency as well. So, like many aspects of our lives in these times, while cleaning up, we’re slowing down.
Bill Primavera is a Westchester, NY-based realtor ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) and marketing practitioner ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) who can be reached for questions or comment directly at 914-522-2076.
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