Before We Clean!

Please read before your 1st cleaning.

Our happiest clients understand that it takes two for the perfect clean, and that begins with us giving you an awesomely clean home, and with you understanding exactly what will be done when we clean your home. So far, you know a little about how we operate….

Please read the complete list of policies listed below so you have a good understanding of the services we provide and as always if you have any questions, just reach out anytime. We are just a reply away!

Cleaning Policies:

1. Smile – I know it can be stressful having a stranger in your home, rest assured that our cleaners are true professionals and have been thoroughly screened for your protection. We ask that you be pleasant with your cleaners, they are great people and want to do a good job for you. Please be aware it can be very stressful for them if they are confronted and told what to. This causes them to be uncomfortable in your home and distracts from doing the best job for you. If you ever have an issue with a cleaning technician, please call our office and we will take care of it. We will manage our staff so you don’t have to!

2. Pets – We love them! But please secure any pet that may be a threat. Also, it is appreciated if any pets that may interfere or interrupt the cleaning process be put away as well.

3. That hair in the sink – It doesn’t happen all the time but it has, and it could be the toilet or floor as well. We have fully vetted and tested our cleaning techs so we know they have the utmost intention to leave your home sparkling clean. However, there are times where dust and hair may settle after the job has been completed. We do our best to spot this by performing a walk-through of the home prior to leaving, but at times when a door is shut or someone walks by swiftly it can kick something up that was hidden during the cleaning and moved to the top of a surface. Please understand that we are not perfect even though we strive to be.

4. Who’s Cleaning – We use the solo cleaning model, meaning 1 cleaner is assigned for most homes. Your cleaning can be as short as 1 hour and as long as 8 hours depending on the condition and size of your home. We may add additional cleaners if scheduling allows for this (especially for the initial cleaning). Please understand that our cleaning technicians are professionals, and are trained on being highly efficient. So don’t be surprised if we clean a 4000 sq ft home in 4 hours and only having 1 cleaner, that’s what we do!

5. Communicating Details – If there is something about your home or cleaning that is a specific request or unusual, please contact our office directly. This way we can add to your account notes so that anyone cleaning your home will have access to this information. If you tell your cleaning tech, it may or may not be communicated to our office, and the next tech to clean your home may not have this new information about your home.

6. Do I have to be home? – It is not required that you are home while we clean, in fact, its typically best if you are not so our cleaning techs are able to provide you with the best possible cleaning they can. Since this is not always possible, please eliminate as many distractions as possible so our your cleaning tech can work uninterrupted. Try and schedule when there are fewer people in the home. Please keep children in another area as we are working with products and equipment that may not be safe for children. If you plan to inspect the cleaning, please wait until the end while the cleaning tech(s) are packing up to leave. Also please make sure if we have already cleaned an area that all surfaces have dried before you start to utilize the area.

7. Clutter – Don’t “clean” before we arrive, but do “pick up” as much as possible. If there is an area where 5 or more items are we will simply dust or clean around and they will not be moved. Please note: We do not offer organizing services at this time.

8. Extreme Clutter – We have found when we figure the time it would take to for us to clean major cluttered areas that it will not fit in most people’s budget to pay us. Since we cannot handle these kind of tasks in an efficient matter, we have chosen not to offer this kind of cleaning as a service that we can perform. SEE EXAMPLES BELOW

9. Porous Surfaces – Porous Surfaces in your home ie: moldings, old paint on baseboards, caulk, shower doors, bathtubs, furniture, counters, etc. may not appear to have been cleaned due to the nature of a porous surfaces. They contain small crevasses that hold trapped dirt for years and can be nearly impossible to get 100% clean without use abrasive actions that can potentially cause damage to the surface. Homes that have these type of surfaces and have not had them refinished to a smooth surface can cause the appearance that the item(s) to not have been cleaned when in fact they have been. We can clean over surfaces like this many times and still have the same visual results. Please take a good look if you feel an item like this has been missed before the assumption is made that it was not cleaned.

10. Hard water – We do not have the proper chemicals or supplies needed to thoroughly remove some hard water issues. Although we will do our best, we cannot guarantee removal of all hard water. Heavy build up over time means layers upon layers of mineral deposits and possible damage to the underlying surfaces. Many times the chemicals needed to eat through the layers are caustic and beyond the scope of what we offer as a service.

11. Pricing – We reserve the right to change the pricing or discounts if we see that your homes circumstances are not typical, or if the incorrect booking options had been selected for your home. A 2500 square foot home is a 2500 square foot home regardless of what areas we are cleaning in the home.

12. Flat Rate Pricing – We chose flat rate pricing by selecting square footage to simplify the process for you, and to make it simple to schedule by phone or online. By pricing upfront like this we have nothing to hide and do not guarantee how long or how many cleaners will arrive, the price is simply the price and not based on an amount of time. If you have specific tasks that you would like to be completed and are not based on our cleaning checklist, please contact our office.

13. Rate Increases – We reserve the right to raise our rates to adjust for costs at anytime. You will be given advance notice of a price increase.

14. Discounts – If you change your service frequency ie: weekly, every 2 weeks, or every 4 weeks from its original booking or if your cleaning has been rescheduled so it falls out of line with your selected frequency, we reserve the right to charge you for that discount that we previously provided and/or change the current discount for further cleanings.

15. Breakage – It’s bound to happen. We hate it when it does and we do our best to prevent it! The following is critical information regarding our breakage policies:

– Sometimes breakage occurs when there are “booby traps”. Those are accidents waiting to happen (pictures not hung securely, top heavy items with unstable bases, wobbly, tippy objects). Each incident is reviewed on a case by case basis. We cannot accept responsibility for “booby traps”. Please remove unstable breakables to a place we do not clean.

– We will pay up to $100 per breakage item, when value is verifiable. Please move expensive figurines or glassware to a location we do not clean, or have us skip that area completely if you do not wish to accept the risk.

– In some cases we will have the broken item repaired by a professional restoration company. Breakage values over $25 must be verified before replacement or reimbursement will be authorized. Please save the broken item for our inspection. Breakage must be reported within 30 days of discovery.

– Old blinds: We cannot accept responsibility for damages to older blinds. Over time many binds become brittle and break off easily with any kind of pressure. This includes the pressure that may need to be applied in order to adequately clean the blinds. Also, old mechanisms can break easily just by opening and closing the blinds. If this is a risk you cannot accept, please let our office know which blinds we should not clean and we will add to your notes.

16. 100% Satisfaction Guarantee – Please note that refunds (and partial refunds) are not offered without a Re-Clean first being accepted. A Re-Clean will only be completed within 2 business days from your date of service, otherwise it will be considered denied.

17. Cancellations – Any cancellations or rescheduling within 48 hours before your scheduled service will result in a $50 late cancellation fee. If your cleaning is scheduled on a Monday, let us know before 9 AM on the Friday before to avoid the fee.  If a cleaning technician arrives to your home and cannot gain entry or is denied access, a lockout fee of 50% the full cost of the cleaning will be applied.

18. Unfair solicitation – Sadly, some people want quality without paying for it and attempt to undercut our efforts by trying to “poach” our employees. Please do not solicit our employees for side jobs or direct hire. Not only does this place our employee in an awkward situation, it is unfair for our company that has put in all the time, effort, and money for recruiting, hiring, and training this individual. If you decide to solicit an employee for private hire, all future services will be immediately terminated.

19. Services We Do Not Offer

– Dish Washing (If there are 5 or more dishes in the sink, we will work around them to clean the sink.)

– Laundry or Folding Laundry

– Shopping & Errands

– Pick Up, Moving or Remove Clutter (5 or more items in any given area ie: Books, Dishes, Boxes, Mail, Papers, Clothes, & Trash ect.)

– Exterior Windows, and High Reaching Windows

– Heavy Lifting over 25 lbs ( Insurance Requirements)

– Cleaning of Bodily fluids, mold, toys, pet waste, or other bio-hazards (we do clean minor areas in bathrooms)

– Cleaning above 6 feet. We do not offer using a step ladder higher than 2 steps (Insurance Requirements)

– Post Construction cleaning, steam cleaning, carpet cleaning, patios, garages, TV/Computer screens

– Inside curios, inside china cabinets, inside stocked cabinets, inside drawers.

– Behind closed glass or solid doors on shelving units or furniture

– Heavily soiled areas

– Hard water/mineral removal

– We use company provided cleaning supplies only

20. Extra Services – for an additional cost (contact us for current pricing)

– Make beds

– Wipe doors and door frames

– Wipe blinds

– Wipe baseboards

– Inside Fridge

– Inside Oven

– Inside Cabinets

– Interior Windows

21. Tipping – We encourage tipping your cleaner if you feel they did a great job, and believe me they appreciate it too! It is never required, but if you do choose to tip your cleaner, you can give cash or add to your credit card. You may add to your credit card one time or on a recurring basis. Suggested tipping range is 10 to 20% of cleaning price.

22. Billing – Payment is due at time of service and your credit card will be charged the day of the cleaning. If your credit card is declined, we ask for this to be remedied within 3 business days. After this, service will be paused until payment is made. If your service is paused, your place in the schedule may not be held. A late payment fee of $15 may be accessed after 5 business days overdue unless our office was contacted and prior arrangements were made. No exceptions after the first incident.

Dirt Busters House Cleaning takes responsibility for employees and their actions. Our policies are designed to help minimize and risks and abuse and are not intended to avoid responsibility. Please do not hesitate to call if you need further clarification of our policies. Thank you for your confidence in allowing us to handle life’s most expensive possession – your home!