House Cleaning Services and Maid Service Frequently Asked Questions
You'll find the answers to our most frequently asked questions on house cleaning services and maid services. Use your browser's back button or click here to return to the main page House Cleaning Service FAQ.Benefits of Hiring a Professional House Cleaning Company
An established larger company provides stability, resources, and peace of mind. Professional house cleaning companies deliver screened, qualified, trustworthy, dependable house cleaners to your door.
Mrs. Clean currently has 8 cleaning teams in operation daily; our own trusted, dependable, employees who have each passed a criminal background check, all ready and waiting to serve you.
Individual cleaners can be much less structured. If they lack a certificate of insurance and damage occurs you may have to make a claim on your insurance. Certain claims may jeopardize your home owner's insurance policy. Inconsistent quality, and reliability issues with an individual may cause disagreements that are difficult to resolve.
Regardless of who you hire, it is in your best interest to insist on a criminal background check. We turn down 100's of applications each year from house cleaners because of a theft or other serious conviction. If I would not trust someone in my home, I'm not going to send them to yours.
Safety
The service and operation of house cleaning companies vary widely between individuals and large companies. For your protection and safety, it is important that you hire a cleaning service that complies with all state and federal laws. There is a real risk with hiring an unlicensed individual 'under-the-table' additional information on this topic is located here. Questions to Ask Before Hiring House Cleaning or Hiring Maid Service.Cleaning Industry Education:
Professional cleaning companies keep up to date on the latest and best cleaning methods and products. A company that wishes to stay in business should be dedicated to quality, dependability and satisfied clients.
Use this checklist to help make the right selection for you.- Licensed
- Bonded and insured
- Hire employees, not subcontractors
- Training Provided?
- Cleaning team or individual
- Price
- Cleaning products and equipment, and who supplies them?
- Special cleaning needs
- How long has the company been in business?
- Employee turnover
- Comfort level and trust of the company
Licensed Cleaning Company
Licensing refers to a state business license. Licensing requirements vary from State to State, (Washington house cleaning companies do not need to meet any special requirements to get a business license.) But if they have a license, they are a legal business. There is a fairly large risk with hiring an unlicensed individual 'under-the-table' for more info on the issues check this page. Questions to Ask Before Hiring House Cleaning or Hiring Maid Service.
A copy of our business license is located here: WA State Dept of Revenue Business License
Bonded & Insured
Unfortunately, many companies, and individuals for hire do NOT carry liability insurance. Hiring a company that has insurance adds slightly to the cost, but the insurance coverage is there to protect you.
Bonding is the insured guarantee that if an employee of a cleaning company burglarizes a client's home, they will cover the loss once the perpetrator has been convicted. Click to see a copy of our company bond
Insurance refers to the company liability if something is damaged in your home. The housecleaning company will cover the replacement cost. Mrs. Clean is fully insured for your protection.
Look For a Company That Hires Employees, not Subcontractors
Federal regulations define an employee as any person of whom the hiring company has control over his/her work. Clients are most protected when they use companies that hire employees. Some of the problems associated with hiring subcontractors can be as follows:
- Legally, training cannot be provided for subcontractors.
- Subcontractors may not be covered under any liability insurance.
- The hiring company cannot direct how the work is to be done.
- The house cleaning company is under no obligation to comply with labor laws.
- It may not be clear who is responsible to pay state and federal payroll taxes.
Mrs. Clean sends trusted, trained background checked employees to your home. Our employees are all covered by L & I insurance and we pay all employment taxes.
Legitimate cleaning companies with employees are trained to OSHA standards. They are covered by L & I insurance. All employment taxes and insurance are paid by the company.
Contractors are independent; they actually can be considered a vendor of the company you hire. They have not been trained by the company, (the IRS has very stringent rules on this) and are not covered by L & I insurance. Using individuals, vendors, or subcontractors is a gamble. There is no way of knowing what you'll get.
Training
Professional house cleaning takes skill and practice. There are all kinds of special surfaces (for example, Marble) that can be damaged by even over-the-counter cleaning products if not cleaned correctly. Knowing stain removal products and procedures will really make a difference in the quality and the ultimate satisfaction in the cleaning you'll get.
Cleaning Team or individual Cleaner
Whether an individual or a team cleans your home should not affect the quality of the work. This is simply a customer preference. Mrs. Clean sends both teams and individuals, it all depends on the size of the job and scheduling.
Price
You will find when comparing companies of equal qualification their prices are all very similar. The key is comparing the price of similar companies with similar services, the considerations are all the points covered on this page; who supplies the cleaning products, equipment, licensed vs. illegal or 'under-the-table', bonded, insured, employees vs. sub-contractors, etc.
Cleaning Supplies and Equipment
Many companies provide the cleaning products and equipment save their client's time and expense. The employees are specifically trained how to use them effectively. The types of products used may be commercial cleaners, earth-friendly products, well-known brands and/or their own private label products. Some companies ask the client to provide them so the home is cleaned with the client's preferred products.
Mrs. Clean provides all cleaning supplies and equipment. We will happily use any special cleaning products you would like us to use instead
Special Cleaning Needs
It is good to discuss anything that might require attention, or mean a change to a company's normal routine. For example, client allergies, time constraints, priority list items or any special handling of your belongings.
What Cleaning Services Do you Need?
It is important that a potential client clearly communicates what he/she wants in a service. There are differences in employee training, company organization, and products. Are you looking for onetime or regular service? Is it a move-in/move-out, post construction or restoration clean? If you are looking for regular service, how frequently; and are you looking for basic cleaning, deep cleaning or housekeeping? Be sure to discuss the specific cleaning tasks that will be included.
How Long has the Company been in Business and References
It is good to find out if the company is established in the area. Of course, all businesses have to start somewhere, but an established company with a proven track record might be more likely to be around tomorrow, if any problems arise.
But never the less, young or old, any house cleaning company, maid service, or janitorial company that does good work should be proud to provide you with a solid list of references. Would you like to see ours? Send us an email and we'll send you a copy right away.
Employee Turnover
A recent nationwide survey reported employee turnover in this industry to be 3 to 5 months. So be prepared for changes in personnel in your home. Many companies have turnover rates that are better than the average. (Ours for example is much higher than average, many of our employees have been with us for several years)
However, it's a fact of life that people do move on to other opportunities, so your best safeguard in this area is to choose a company that is responsive to your needs so in the event of an employee change you know you will get another high quality, trained employee.
Using a cleaning team of 2 or more employees, is also a good idea, because if one of the team members leaves, the remaining team member can show the new employee all the specifics about your home. The transition should be seamless.
Comfort level
Usually the relationship with your house cleaning company is a long one. Communication is the key. Be sure you are comfortable dealing with the organization and its people. Selecting a house cleaning service takes a lot of time and energy. You want to be sure if you have a concern about the service in the future you will be able to work with the company to rectify the problem, instead of beginning your search process again.
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