Hire a Cleaning Crew

Some contractors have found they make a dramatic impact by doing a clean sweep of their projects. They hire cleaning crews to do a final clean-up after the job is finished, and sometimes even bring in the crew during longer projects to keep up with the dust.

“It’s almost impossible to completely control dust during the project, but we explain that concern to the homeowner, and we tell them that we provide a cleaning service at key points in the work,” says Tom O’Grady, president of O’Grady Builders LLC in Drexel Hill, Pa. O’Grady provides a professional final clean-up on kitchen and bath projects and additional clean-ups for larger projects. For a recent two-story addition, for instance, his cleaning crew arrived after specific cut-through work on masonry was done and then again at the midpoint of the four-month project, when considerable work had been completed.

Remodelers often recognize the value of these services when they find customer feedback indicates final cleanliness isn’t satisfactory. Curb Appeal Renovations in Keller, Texas, for instance, began using a service two years ago when the owners were getting unsatisfactory comments. “People were telling us that after we left, they felt they had to have their maid service in to really clean up,” Curb Appeal owner Robin Burrill says. “We learned that our male crews and subs just weren’t doing a good final cleaning.”

The contractors stress that they routinely do broom cleaning and tidy up the site each day, removing trash so nothing accumulates. The final cleaning gives everything a shine and typically includes dusting, vacuuming and cleaning surfaces, as well as sometimes cleaning windows, both inside and out, depending on the project.

In most cases, companies work with the same cleaning crew, which eventually learns what is needed over time on each job so there are few surprises. Costs typically run between $100 and $150 for a routine cleaning of remodeled and adjacent rooms. Burrill tells his crew what to clean in each project and what cleaning equipment to use, to avoid any mistakes that could lead to scratching or marring new surfaces.

Not all cleaning crews offer the same quality, however, says Brian Collier, director of construction services at Granite Custom Builders in Chadds Ford, Pa. He used five or six companies before he found one that satisfied his needs. “Reliability and quality can be a problem,” he says. “They weren’t thorough enough for our taste.” He also notes that some companies tend to start strong and then drop off as they become complacent with the regular work.

His company has the crew sign a contract—the same one it uses for all subcontractors—outlining responsibilities for timeliness, respect, smoking, insurance and other areas. “It turns off some of them, but when they do a job, they see it’s not burdensome,” he says. The company does require insurance coverage, which he says can be a burden for the small companies he prefers to use.

The benefits make the cost well worth it, especially when it’s considered within the context of a five-figure remodeling project. “Customers love it—it gets strong feedback,” Burrill says. “When you think about what it does for them so that they can just move right in, it’s huge. It’s part of our selling points that a professional cleaning crew will finish off the project.”

O’Grady, in fact, schedules the crew to clean up before customers return from a vacation scheduled during the work, even if the project still is underway. “It leaves a good feeling, and it’s not a lot of money.” It pays off well for the company, he adds, because most work arrives by referral. “Our customers really like it, and they let people know how nice their house looked when we left.”

It also reminds contracting crews of the need to take care of all details and focus on the deadline, Collier notes. “We schedule the cleaners as we near the end of the project, and we remind our crew that the cleaners are coming on a specific day,” he says. “That emphasizes to them that we need to be out by then. It keeps us all in line.”