Cleaning professionals dish on the ways homeowners make their lives harder - and how you can be less annoying.
When Dana Poulin, owner of Lake Tahoe Cleaning Services, walks into a home, she knows almost immediately if it’s going to be a hard job. “The first second I walk in that door, things will be moved out of place. There will be a blanket or pillow thrown where it’s not supposed to be or a water bottle or a cup sitting there,” she says. “I’m like, ‘Oh that is a sign no one picked up after themselves.’ And then as you go through the house, you realize the whole house is just a disaster.
You should also have a clear understanding of the tasks you can reasonably expect the service to handle. Some cleaners will wash dirty dishes or do laundry, whereas others consider those to be add-ons. If you have outdoor areas, such as a deck, that you want included, make sure you specify as much. For specialized services, such as organizing closets or deep-cleaning rugs, you almost certainly have to call someone else.
Maria Buendia, owner of New York City cleaning cooperative Up and Go, recalls one homeowner who told her they had a vacuum for her to use. “The house had not been cleaned in awhile, and they had a pet, and they gave us a hand vacuum,” she says through a translator. The small device was not strong enough for the job. “I had to be bent over and crouched the whole time,” she says, adding “If she had told us that she didn’t have a vacuum, we would’ve brought one.
On one job, Buendia was dusting what she thought was a doll, when suddenly its “lid went flying,” she says. If she had known that the valuable had a lid, Buendia would have approached it differently. Ultimately, her company paid for the damage. Ever since that mishap, Buendia has made sure to ask about anything that looks antique or delicate when she visits a client for the first time. But the onus is really on the homeowner to point out these things.All homes have quirks.
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