House Cleaning in Nashville, TN

How cleaning companies price a home

There are three common methods. Hourly pricing charges for each cleaner's time; HomeAdvisor's national range is $25 to $80 an hour, averaging about $50. Flat-rate pricing sets one price for the home based on bedrooms, bathrooms and square footage; the national average visit is $176, with most between $118 and $238. Per-square-foot pricing, around $0.10 to $0.20 for a standard clean, is used mainly for larger homes and commercial space.

None is inherently cheaper. Flat-rate is predictable and rewards an efficient crew. Hourly can be the better deal for a small, uncluttered home and the worse one for a first visit that takes longer than anyone expected. Before comparing quotes, make sure each company is pricing the same list of tasks.

How long a clean should take

A rough guide for one cleaner on a standard maintenance clean is an hour to an hour and a half per thousand square feet, plus extra for each bathroom. A 1,000-square-foot apartment takes about an hour and a half to two hours. A 1,700-square-foot house takes two and a half to three and a half hours. A three-bedroom, two-bath home typically takes four to five hours for one person or about half that for a team of two.

Three things stretch those times: a first visit, pets, and clutter. If a company quotes far less time than this for a thorough clean, ask what is being left out.

• Bathrooms take longer than any other room of their size
• Kitchens come next, especially with a lot of cooking
• Stairs, blinds and knick-knack shelves add time out of proportion to their area
• Hardwood and tile floors are quicker than thick carpet
• A first clean commonly takes one and a half to two times as long as later visits

What a standard clean covers, room by room

Scopes vary between companies, which is why written checklists matter. A typical standard clean looks like this.

• Kitchen: counters and backsplash wiped, sink scrubbed, stovetop and appliance fronts cleaned, microwave interior wiped, floor mopped
• Bathrooms: toilet, tub, shower, sink and mirror cleaned and disinfected, floor mopped
• Bedrooms and living areas: surfaces dusted, beds made, floors vacuumed or mopped
• Throughout: baseboards and sills spot-dusted, cobwebs removed, trash emptied
• Usually extra: inside the oven and refrigerator, interior windows, laundry, dishes, walls

The first visit sets the baseline

Most companies treat a first visit as a deep clean, or at least price it higher than later ones. That is not a sales tactic. The first visit removes whatever has built up — soap scum, grease, dust on baseboards and fan blades — so that later visits only have to maintain it.

Middle Tennessee adds its own seasonal load. Spring pollen coats windowsills, porches and anything near an open window, and humid summers encourage mildew in showers and around window frames. A deep clean in late spring, after the worst of the pollen, is a sensible reset.

Vetting a cleaning company

You are giving someone access to your home, often while you are out. A few questions separate the companies worth hiring from the rest.

• Is the business insured, and can it show proof? Are cleaners employees or independent contractors?
• Are cleaners background-checked?
• Will the same person or team come each visit?
• Who supplies products and equipment, and can they use what you prefer?
• What is the policy if something is broken or missed?
• What are the cancellation and lock-out fees?
• Is there a written checklist of what each visit includes?

Deep cleans and apartment cleans

A deep clean covers the standard list and then the build-up a regular visit skips: scale and soap scum, grease on cabinet fronts and the range hood, baseboards and door frames, vents, and behind and beneath furniture. HomeAdvisor puts it at $200 to $400 for a typical home, and it takes about twice as long as a standard clean. It is worth doing before starting recurring service and once or twice a year after that.

Apartments and condos — about a third of Nashville's housing is in buildings of five or more units — are usually quicker to clean than houses of the same bedroom count, but access takes planning. Tell the company about gate codes, parking, elevator or loading rules, and whether the leasing office will let cleaners in.