Hi,
I wanted to see what the general range that people are paying for final cleanup of their residential building sites for interior final cleaning. I always want to make sure I am in the range.
Thanks for the help.
Steve
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Replies
You don't say where you are. I suspect the price will vary by region.
bobl Volo, non valeo
Baloney detecter WFR
"But when you're a kibbutzer and have no responsibility to decide the facts and apply the law, you can reach any conclusion you want because it doesn't matter." SHG
I am in northern Illinois.
What region are you in.? What range are you paying.
Thanks,
Steve
I'm in New England, but an HO.been around this site long enough to see some info folks are looking for in answering.
bobl Volo, non valeo
Baloney detecter WFR
"But when you're a kibbutzer and have no responsibility to decide the facts and apply the law, you can reach any conclusion you want because it doesn't matter." SHG
Site cleanup right now in Seattle area is HIGH!
Limb cleanup from last week's storm - have seen guys pulling down $200 hr plus dump fees for just picking up stuff.
Have heard of tree climbers w/crane getting up to $5000 per day.
OH, .... you meant simply sweeping, cleaning up stuff inside where its dry and warm? DIY that in your spare time for 'free'; or, I pay the grandkids up to $5/hr.
First define "final cleaning".
"Broom swept" or professional cleaning service?
Happy
Holidays
Deep cleaning. The final one before turning over to the real estate people or the homeowner. Window scraping, deep cleaning of the bath rooms, kitchen.
Thanks,
Steve
What are the house specs? Windows and access to, baths, carpet... Oh God said to Abraham, "Kill me a son"
Abe says, "Man, you must be puttin' me on"
God say, "No." Abe say, "What?"
God say, "You can do what you want Abe, but
The next time you see me comin' you better run"
Well Abe says, "Where do you want this killin' done?"
God says, "Out on Highway 61."
ask the guy tha lost $1500 on painted doors
how trashed is it???
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
I'm thinking about $99,999.48 worth<G> Oh God said to Abraham, "Kill me a son"
Abe says, "Man, you must be puttin' me on"
God say, "No." Abe say, "What?"
God say, "You can do what you want Abe, but
The next time you see me comin' you better run"
Well Abe says, "Where do you want this killin' done?"
God says, "Out on Highway 61."
yur workin' too cheap againn.
how's a guy suppose to make a living with all you cut throats out there..
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!<!----><!---->
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Edited 12/20/2006 2:39 am by IMERC
My wife has a cleaning service and charges $400 per home for homes that are around 2500 sq ft. Includes, vacuuming, damp mop, window cleaning & removal of stickers. Takes her around 6 - 8 hours. Bigger houses get charged more.
You talking new home construction? Most guys here are not in a position to be giving your prices on that. I'm paying about $.15 per sq foot for final clean including windows - raleigh NC. Once the house has been cleaned I expect to not be able to find one spec of dirt anywhere.
Fifteen CENTS?
Habla espanol?
Some yes, some no. BTW - since it has already be established by some guy in another thread that I'm a raciest I'll go ahead and say that women make the best cleaners :-)
What do you pay?
no, mexician woman make thhe best cleaners.
.15 cents a foot is pretty standard here in utah as well. Not bad....2000 s/f home $300 bucks...if it takes them all day there's something wrong.
Sam
IF IT TAKES THEM ALL DAY!!!!!!!
THEM is the key word there how many is them?
I don't know what cleanup includes for you but in my neck of the woods it is razor blading the windows inside and out to remove excess paint.
waxing the wood floors and vaccuuming the carpets and mopping the tile.
cleaning all the cabinets and drawers usually full of sawdust and trash and polishing countertops.
wiping the dust off all the walls and trim
paint spots and plumbers putty footprints
washing all the toilets and tubs which are nasty
ANDYSZ2WHY DO I HAVE TO EXPLAIN TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY THAT BEING A SOLE PROPRIETOR IS A REAL JOB?
REMODELER/PUNCHOUT SPECIALIST
dont you love it when the painter use the toliet before its hook up.
Edited 12/19/2006 9:50 pm by brownbagg
Or when they fill up a spare paint bucket and you find it looking for touchup paint in the attic 6 months later.
Or when they crap in the insulation and you have to pull back the same insulation to keep a can light from kicking out.
ANDYSZ2WHY DO I HAVE TO EXPLAIN TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY THAT BEING A SOLE PROPRIETOR IS A REAL JOB?
REMODELER/PUNCHOUT SPECIALIST
How did u hook up with these classy types.
Andy,
In my case it is one lady and her teenage son part time. She will do a 4 plex townhome building for us this week (approx 5600 s/f) and it will cost us about 800 bucks or so. It usually takes her less than a day to do each unit....so she will make that in 3.5-4 days.
I don't think any of the cleaning people that I have ever hired have been more than one or two people on the job.
Sam
So she and her son will make 200$ a day combined minus her cleaning supplies, business fees, transportation,insurance,etc.
Sounds pitiful to me.
ANDYSZ2
WHY DO I HAVE TO EXPLAIN TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY THAT BEING A SOLE PROPRIETOR IS A REAL JOB?
REMODELER/PUNCHOUT SPECIALIST
you could almost live off that.
as long as you dont open any garage doors
hey hey hey
stop that RIGHT now!
lol. I am still hurting over that deal.
haven't done Final Cleans for about 10-11 years. But what I am hearing is about 15-18 cents/SF if you are a production builder. ie: can keep your schedule full.
One guy gets about 40-45 cents/SF. For that he does a pre carpet clean, then the Final clean, then a spiff before move in.
That is usually more than what a production builder wants.
Smaller twosie threesie builder would see a bump from 15-18 cents. So would high windows, unusual number of windows, excessive overspray on windows, unusual fixtures. We did a couple house with gold faucets. Upcharge for the risk of replacing that.
Never had to replace any windows for scratches. Close a couple of times. Usually we would get blamed. But siders, brick masons or painters would get em. Mason sometimes were good about trying to wipe off excess mortar off. Bad deal. Garonteed scratches on that deal.
So she and her son will make 200$ a day combined minus her cleaning supplies, business fees, transportation,insurance,etc.
Sounds pitiful to me
When you come from an area of a country with little running water, no electricity, or toilets/bano, $200 is more then you will see in a year.
well i agree with andy that it is a pitifull amount to be paid, i would like to see what would happen in this country if the price for things like that went up.
I was raised in and started an apprenticeship in carpentry in santa barbara county (about 100 miles north of LA on the coast of cali) and after about 6 years in the trades i moved to the San Francisco Bay Area because the wages were $3 - $5 higher per hour (comparable non union work, union work more readily available in san fran 3- 5 higher still) and the rents and home prices were about the same.
this got me to thinking, if lot costs are the same (or close), and building materials costs also the same, and the homes sell for about the same when finished, what happened to the extra money that didn't get spent on wages to the carpenters?
FWII, that's about what we pay, depending on how many windows, and how hard they are to get to...no latin cleaning crews, just a lot of mess makers<G> Oh God said to Abraham, "Kill me a son"
Abe says, "Man, you must be puttin' me on"
God say, "No." Abe say, "What?"
God say, "You can do what you want Abe, but
The next time you see me comin' you better run"
Well Abe says, "Where do you want this killin' done?"
God says, "Out on Highway 61."
Hey Matt, who accused you of being a racist?
I know of one thread where I accused you of stereotyping the Latino/Mexican people but I didnt see any mention of racism, you feeling a little sorry for yourself!
Doug
I don't want to rehash that discussion again, but one thing I never did get is what do you do for a living? Looking at your porfile it doesn't look like home building or remodeling.
he changes evey few weeks or so...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!<!----><!---->
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Maybe you should quit looking at my profile to see what I do!
I change that thing every once in a while just for shids and grins, same as brownbagg changing his hometown!
I've been in this business for 25 plus years, I mainly do finish work, build custom cabinets and milwork. On BT alone I've probably posted 200 pictures of work that I've done over the past 6 or 7 years.
I've built houses from top to bottom with nothing more then helpers so I have a pretty good understanding of what it takes to build a house, of course everything I learned about home building way back seams to be antiquated but I still figure I could build a house if I had to!
I've owned and ran rental property for a number of years, did it enough to know that I dont want to do it any more.
Up until 3 1/2 years ago I built a house for Habitat each of the previous 4 years, did all the trim work in all of the others that they built as well.
I've trimed track homes for several years so I understand that phase enough to know I do not want to have to resort to that kind of work again, not that my body could keep up with the grind anyhow.
thats the condensed version but I think that about sums it up! Anything else I can tell ya. <G>
But all that aside it doesnt take away from the fact that you were stereotyping a group of people, something you freely admit, I never called you a racist, thats your words, never an implication of racism. I didnt see any sign of it either so I dont know why you felt the need to used the word.
Doug
Doug:
I'll have to look around the photo gallery for some of your work. Sorry I hadn't seen it earlier. (seriously) Gotta go to work now....
I gotta go to.
I hope your not taking what I said personally, because I didnt mean it that way. Hell I'm no word smith so sometimes my meanings get lost in the translation!
Its no difference then me saying all you people from NC are hillbillies just because I know one or two that are. ***thats an example, I really dont know two. <G>
Doug
when you two are finished kissing and groping each other can we get back to the subject at hand? ;)
We do not hire cleaners for entire houses that often. If we are doing a large addition or entire house remodel we will usually include a professional cleaning upon completion. Most homeowners eat that up.
Anyway we pay buy the hour or have them come in and give us a price. Whole house cleaning for a ~2500 sqft house averages aorund 300-350, add another couple of hundred if we have them clean the windows. The people we use usually bring two people and can have it done in half of a day.
laborfinders.
"I've built houses from top to bottom with nothing more then helpers "
I'd like to watch you do that some time. I 've done them the other way, bottom to top, which I find to be easier.
Ozlander
I dated a new construction cleaner for a spell and offered to help out one day. What a mistake! They work their arses off.
New construction cleaners' routines are every bit as well thought out as carpenters. Wasted time is nonexistant and the proper tools are essential.
Their "toolbelt" always has clean damp cloths (diapers for no-lint and terry cloth for heavier cleaning), clean dry cloths (diapers), plastic putty knife scrapper, smooth metal scraper, razer blades, white scrubing pads, green scrubing pads, goof off, paper towels, heavy duty toothbrush (grout brush), spray bottle of water/vinegar for easy cleaning, clean water for rinsing dust from corners, windex for glass and smooth surfaces, and orange citrus cleaner for heavy duty things. Then there is the softscrub for softly scratching things and ajax for really scratching.
Damp cloths are never rinsed out, but rather tossed in a 5 gal bucket for cleaning back at home base. There is a 5 gal bucket of clean dry cloths, one with damp diapers (right out of the washer) a third with damp terry cloth towels and a fourth with damp hardwood floor covers.
The big shopvac is an 8-12 gal ridgid with washable goretex filter and 15' of hose. The small shopvacs from Shopvac have good suction and light weight (again, with a goretex filter).
She did three cleanings. The first is done prior to carpet and basically amounts to a top to bottom vacuuming, cleaning construction debris from any floor mounted supply or return HVAC ducts, and cleaning the big chunks from windows, bath fixtures, etc..
If subs leave a mess, especially painters and tile setters, this can take one person 4 hours/1,000 sqft. If the subs are clean it goes fast--maybe 1 hour/1,000 sqft. The more time spent on this cleaning reduces time on the next step.
The second cleaning is the most detailed and includes essentially everything. Cost of the first and second cleanings together are in the range of $300 to $500 per 1,000 sqft (excluding outside glass) depending on how much crap the subs leave.
The cleaning van pulls up and everything is moved into the garage. A big shopvac 100' cord and 5 gal bucket is walked upstairs. On the way down all the trash is picked up in the bucket.
The next trip upstairs is with a small shop vac and buckets of cleaning rags. The window frames in a room are wiped clean, the tracks cleaned and then the interior glass. A spray bottle rinses dust/dirt from the window tracks and the small shop vac sucks the track dry.
Once all the windows are cleaned the small shop vac is used to get the large dust from all gas insert fireplaces, closets, bathroom vanities, and kitchen cabinets before going back to the garage.
The bathroom cleaning stuff is then taken up. The shower head is removed and a hose and garden-type sprayer attaced to speed up taking the chunks off the tub/shower. Then all fixtures and smooth surfaces are wiped down.
In the kitchen everything is wiped down.
Then carpets are vacuumed and stains spot cleaned. The large shopvac is used to go around all the carpet edges and a lightweight dirt devil cleans the fuzz. It's amazing how much fuzz comes out of a new carpet and how hard it is to remove. The little $50 dirt devil worked as well as those costing 10x more as long as the beater brush was in really good shape.
Hard surfaced floors are next. A wide hardwood floor mop with easily replaced terrycloth covers is the best tool for hardwood, while a regular foam head mop is used for most tile.
The third cleaning is a maintenance cleaning, done every few weeks for houses that sit. It's basically a dusting and everything is wiped down, but very little else. Price, about $100 per 1000 sqft.
An experienced new construction cleaner is well worth the money and there is no way humanly possible for a carpenter, or carpenter's well intentioned wife, to accomplish the amount of work they do for the same price. They are a specialty, like any other sub.
When detailing remodeling work, even though I use the same equipment and techniques, it easily takes twice as long as my ex or one of her better competitors.
Good cleaning
Beer was created so carpenters wouldn't rule the world.
Thankyou
My sentiments exactly.
ANDYSZ2WHY DO I HAVE TO EXPLAIN TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY THAT BEING A SOLE PROPRIETOR IS A REAL JOB?
REMODELER/PUNCHOUT SPECIALIST
Thanks for the detailed description.
I don't see it as a mistake though, it was a very informative lesson that made you more appreciative of what it entails.
Yea, Yea, anybody can do it your way!
Doug
.15 a foot.... 2500sqft house..... $375.00 Say it takes all of 8 hours (tops)... that's $46.875/hr. And that's a hair over what I bill myself or my guys out at. I'm willing to bet I've got a bit more overhead than a house cleaner. I'm also willing to bet that I may be in the wrong business too! LOL....View Image
Yeah but Ill bet you can't clean a 2500 square foot house in one day by yourself.
I worked for three builders for a couple of years and they probably built 150 houses a year.
There cleanup crew consisted of 4-6 people and they worked hard all day and sometimes aday and a half to get a house ready to put on the market.
Window razor blading paint 2 stories inside and out took 4 or 5 hours and vaccuuming and waxing the floors a couple of more, dusting the whole house.Then cleaning the bathroom's tubs toilets.sinks, mirrors and tile floors removing plumbers putty, paint spots, tracked caulk etc.Cleaning every drawer nook and cranny.
I don't know what you think is clean but I have been here way to many times to think that 375 would begin to cover the work done on these houses is just wishful thinking.
ANDYSZ2 WHY DO I HAVE TO EXPLAIN TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY THAT BEING A SOLE PROPRIETOR IS A REAL JOB?
REMODELER/PUNCHOUT SPECIALIST
FYI - if the painters get a bunch of paint on the glass at my job - they do the razor blade thing - teaches 'em pretty quickly :-). A bit off topic, but exterior paint sticks to glass much better (or worse) than interior...
re your example, actually a 2500 sq ft house would take 3 laides a full day - with the kind of service I get/expect. So, no, they aren't making a lot of $$$. Oh-oh - there I go again - not PC... BTW - F--- PC :-) And also BTW - I could do it in 2 hrs.... and it would look like it :-) just ask my DW! :-)
that's right in line with bp's $400 that his wife charges
i'd GUESS double that for our areaMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
It is about 1500 to 2000 where we are, for a big new house. But take your white gloves around and wipe in all the obscure places before you write the check. It oughta be spotless, everywhere.
When I had a contractor build a house for me, the final cleaning was included in the price and was done by his wife and kids. It was completely swept and vacuumed. Then the ladies from church held a cleaning bee, going over everything again, and additionally did the windows.