What a regular visit covers, room by room
Kitchen
- Counters, backsplash and table wiped and dried
- Sink scrubbed, faucet and drain ring polished
- Stovetop, knobs and the front of the range degreased
- Outside of the fridge, dishwasher and microwave, and the inside of the microwave
- Cabinet fronts and handles spot-cleaned, small appliances wiped
- Trash and recycling emptied, floor vacuumed and mopped
Bathrooms
- Toilet cleaned inside and out, base and behind it included
- Tub, shower walls, shower glass and the soap ledge scrubbed
- Sink, vanity top, faucet and drain cleaned
- Mirrors and chrome polished without streaks
- Towels straightened, or swapped when fresh ones are left out
- Floor washed and trash emptied
Bedrooms and living areas
- Reachable surfaces dusted: dressers, nightstands, shelves, lamps, picture frames and window sills
- Mirrors and glass-topped tables wiped streak-free
- Beds made, and sheets changed when clean ones are left out
- Couch cushions straightened, crumbs vacuumed from under them
- Carpets and rugs vacuumed, hard floors vacuumed and mopped
Halls, stairs and entry
- Light switches, door handles and stair railings wiped
- Stairs vacuumed or swept, landings mopped
- Entry floor cleaned and the doormat shaken out
- Trash gathered from every room and taken to your bin
Some jobs take too long to repeat every time. Inside the oven, inside the fridge, laundry, and a full hand-wipe of baseboards are add-ons you can attach to any visit or rotate in once a month. Heavy build-up, door frames, vents and light fixtures belong to a deep cleaning, and glass beyond mirrors belongs to window cleaning. For the plain-English version of what any house cleaning does and does not cover, read the guide to what a house cleaning includes.
Weekly, every two weeks or monthly: which fits your home
Three things decide the schedule: how many people live in the home, whether there are pets, and how much picking up happens between visits. The table shows what each gap usually looks like.
| Schedule | Usually suits | What builds up between visits | Visit length |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weekly | Families with young children, homes with shedding dogs or cats, several adults working from home | Very little; floors and bathrooms never get far behind | Shortest |
| Every two weeks | Couples, small families, one pet, people who tidy a little during the week | Some kitchen grease, soap film in the shower, dust on floors | Middle |
| Monthly | People who live alone, homes empty most of the week, households that keep up with daily chores | Dust on most surfaces, film on shower glass, spots on the kitchen floor | Longest of the three, since more has come back |
Not sure? Start every two weeks. If the house looks tired before the next visit, move to weekly. If it still looks fine when we arrive, try monthly. The schedule can change as life changes: many families go weekly while a baby is small and back to every two weeks later. There is a seasonal pattern as well. In the New York metro area, Google Trends puts July in the top three months for "house cleaning" searches in each year from 2021 to 2025, with February in the bottom three in four of them; for the Hartford and New Haven metro area, June, July and August led on average. If you want a set weekday before summer, ask for the quote in late winter.
How a recurring visit goes
- Before the first visit we confirm the rooms, the schedule, how we get in and anything you want left alone. That first visit runs longest, because it clears whatever has built up.
- On the day we start at the top of the house and work down, dusting before surfaces and surfaces before floors, so nothing gets cleaned twice.
- The kitchen and the bathrooms get the largest share of the time. Bedrooms and living areas are dusted, straightened and vacuumed.
- Floors are the last thing in every room, working toward the door.
- We leave the house as we found it, lights and locks included, and mention anything you should know about, such as a dripping faucet or a loose towel bar.
- The next visit is already on the calendar. If a date has to move, tell us by text or email.
Who books regular cleaning
- Two working parents whose Saturday used to be bathrooms and floors. Weekly or every two weeks, timed for the day before the weekend.
- An older parent living alone, with the visits arranged by a son or daughter who lives somewhere else; our cleaning for seniors page explains how that works.
- A couple in a condo or co-op in White Plains or Stamford, where a monthly visit keeps a smaller space looking finished (apartment and condo cleaning covers building access).
- A household with a shedding dog, where hair on the stairs and under the couch is the whole reason for weekly visits.
- A weekend host in Rhinebeck or Madison whose guests arrive most Fridays, so the visit lands on Thursday.
Before each visit
You do not need to clean before we come. What helps is a few minutes of picking up:
- Clothes, toys, mail and dishes off the floors and counters, so the time goes to cleaning rather than moving things
- Fresh sheets left on the bed if you want them changed
- Pets settled where they are comfortable, and mentioned to us ahead of time
- Anything fragile or personal put away
- A note about the room that matters most this week, if one does
What you can skip: wiping down before we arrive, and being home. Leave a key, a code or a note for the doorman and we work around your day. The preparation guide goes through keys, pets and parking in more detail.
What changes the time and the quote
- Bedrooms, bathrooms and the number of floors
- How often we come: a longer gap means more to clear
- Pets, and how much they shed
- Clutter on counters, shelves and floors
- Add-ons on the visit, such as inside the oven or laundry
- Access: parking, a walk-up, or an elevator that has to be booked
Two three-bedroom homes can take very different amounts of time, so each home gets its own quote rather than a figure off a chart. How we quote explains what to send. We clean across Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess, Fairfield and New Haven counties.
Common questions about weekly and biweekly cleaning
Is weekly or biweekly house cleaning better?
Neither wins for every home. Weekly fits busy households: young children, pets that shed, several people home all day, or anyone who wants the house finished every weekend. Every two weeks fits smaller households that tidy a little in between. The test is simple. If the floors and bathrooms need attention well before the second week, weekly pays for itself in a shorter visit and a calmer house. If the home still looks fine at two weeks, biweekly is enough, and monthly may be too.
How often should an apartment be cleaned?
A one-bedroom with one person and no pets often does well with a visit every two weeks or once a month, because there is less floor and less kitchen to keep up with. Add a second person, a dog or a home office and every two weeks becomes the usual answer. In an apartment the kitchen and the bathroom set the pace more than the square footage does, so if either one is heavily used, lean toward the shorter gap. Doormen, keys and elevator bookings are on the apartment and condo cleaning page.
What is on a weekly house cleaning checklist that a monthly one leaves out?
The list itself is the same: kitchen, bathrooms, dusting, floors and trash, room by room as shown above. What differs is the starting condition. After a week there is a light film to remove; after a month there is real dust on every surface, soap scum on the shower glass and grease on the stovetop, so the monthly visit takes longer to reach the same result. Customers on any schedule can set a rotation on top of the core list, such as inside the fridge one visit and the oven or baseboards the next, so the slower jobs still come around.
How much does weekly or biweekly house cleaning cost?
It depends on the size of the home, how often we come, pets, clutter and any add-ons, so each home is quoted on its own. Two things hold everywhere. A recurring visit is shorter than a first visit or a deep cleaning, because there is less to clear, and a longer gap between visits means more work each time. Read how we quote, then send your bedrooms, bathrooms and preferred schedule through the quote form for a free quote.
How often should baseboards be cleaned?
Baseboards gather dust slowly, so they rarely need doing every visit. Most homes are fine with a full hand-wipe during a deep cleaning and a quick pass now and then as an add-on to a regular visit. Homes with pets, radiators, wood heat or a lot of traffic near the floor may want them more often, and pale baseboards show scuffs sooner than dark ones. If they bother you, mention it when you book and they go into the rotation.
Do you tip a weekly house cleaner?
Tipping is optional. Some customers on a regular schedule tip now and then, some give something at the holidays, and many do not tip at all, and none of that changes the cleaning. Our guide to tipping house cleaners explains what people commonly do for weekly, biweekly and one-time visits, and what a tip is not. The quote covers the cleaning; a tip is separate and only ever your choice.
