Choosing a Cleaning Service provided by ServiceMagic.com.

Keeping our homes clean and tidy can be a never-ending chore that consumes much of our free time. If your life seems to revolve around mopping floors, vacuuming, dusting and changing bed linens, hiring a cleaning service may be the solution.

Maid services, staffed by trained professional house cleaners, are available in a wide variety of options including:

• Regularly scheduled weekly cleanings
• Regularly scheduled biweekly cleanings
• One-time assistance on special occasions
• Demanding cleaning tasks such as garage or basement cleaning

Cleaning Service Options

You can rely on online referral services to sift through local maid services and connect you with the best qualified, prescreened specialists for your project. Most of these professional cleaning services are fully insured and bonded and will provide estimates. Typically, standard house cleaning packages include:

• Cleaning and sanitizing kitchen areas
• Cleaning and sanitizing bathrooms
• Vacuuming
• Dusting
• Changing bed linens
• Loading dishwashers

Cleaning services may also be customized to include:

• Laundry
• Moving furniture
• Polishing woodwork
• Cleaning light fixtures
• Window cleaning
• Drapery cleaning
• Carpet cleaning
• Upholstery cleaning
• Floor waxing

Special house cleaning services are often available for larger jobs such as garage cleaning, post-moving or construction clean-up. Some companies even offer gift certificates—perfect presents for new parents or busy friends.

Follow the steps below to ensure hiring a cleaning service goes smoothly.

1. Interview several cleaning services before choosing one.
Before hiring a cleaning service, interview several companies or cleaning people.

Ask for references and check them. After all, these people will be spending time in your home and you must be comfortable with them. Trust is very important since the cleaning person or team will have access to your entire house.

2. Ask who will supply the cleaning equipment.
It is common for your house cleaning person or team to arrive at your home equipped with all the necessary supplies for the job such as cleaning solvents, brushes, brooms and vacuums. In some cases, a cleaning service will request to use the homeowner's supplies.

If someone in your household has allergies, consult your cleaning service to discuss specific products that may be beneficial.

3. Designate areas to be cleaned.
It's a good idea to spend a few minutes to note which areas of your home will be included in your scheduled cleaning. If it is important to have different areas given special attention each time, make sure you find a cleaning service that accepts your requests and, prior to each visit, be sure to leave a list of problem areas.

4. Find out if there is a charge specific to your type of residence.
The type of residence you own may affect your cleaning service visits. Keep the following in mind and plan accordingly:

• Condominiums and apartments are multi-unit dwellings. Your service provider may need special clearance to enter the building or complex.
• Town homes and duplexes usually have direct exterior entrances. However, parking may be an issue for your service provider, especially if your home is part of a complex.
• Houses usually have direct exterior entrances and ample street parking. However, some homes can be quite large and may be part of a gated community. These issues will affect your cleaning service.

5. Discuss payment for cleaning services ahead of time.
Payment arrangements should be discussed before your first cleaning. The service might have an established system in place already. If not, decide if you want to pay after each visit, or on a monthly basis.