How To Hire Maid Service
Not sure what to look for? Read this guide on how to hire maid service.
Scroll down this page for insight into everything you should know and consider before choosing your maid service, whether you buy from us or not. It's honest, educational, and a bit fun.
You are going to spend hundreds of dollars for a one-time cleaning, and thousands of dollars a year for recurring service. Take a few minutes and read everything here before you buy maid service.
Maid service is not cheap, even with the lowest-priced solutions. You owe it to yourself to get educated so you can get it right the first time. A good experience can be optimized, and a bad one avoided.
Download a free comprehensive chart to shop and compare maid services you are considering.
This is the only place to find information to prepare you for maid service, what to expect, what is common and not, put things into perspective, and most importantly, how to get the most from your maid service. If you want the truth, this is where you will find it.
As Georgia's largest home-cleaning company, we have a lot of insight to share.
Scroll through the list of topics and CLICK the ones that interest you, or scroll down this page to see them all.
(This page is copyright-protected and cannot be reproduced or copied without written consent from It's Maid Day)
- Are all cleaning services about the same?
- Prices - Top 60 Maid Companies in ATL Metro
- Coupons, Discounts, and Price Increases
- Do maid services require a contract?
- Common reasons customers stop or change services
- Independent Cleaners working for themselves
- Most Cleaners are Contract Labor, not Employees
- In-Home Estimates vs. Online or Over the Phone
- Providing your own supplies - pros and cons
- Most popular recurring service frequencies and why
- Are you ready for maid service? Are you sure?
- How to determine what's best for you
- Bonded & Insured - Don't believe it, verify it
- Individual Cleaner vs Team Cleaning
- Does tipping make a difference
- PDF to compare Maid Services
Are all cleaning services about the same?
They are, if you want a general cleaning.
How much detail do you want? Everyone has a list of cleaning tasks, but unless you do a side-by-side comparison, you may not catch what is NOT included. Don't assume everything is included.
Maid companies and individual cleaners often skip certain tasks like dusting blinds, baseboards, and ceiling fans during each recurring service, or they charge extra. We don't skip those tasks or charge more. We have the largest and most detailed list of services. Click here for our list of services.
Click here for a PDF comparison you can use to shop and compare.
Just because they include areas to be cleaned, it doesn't say HOW they clean those areas. Here is a great example. Before we mop floors, we use a canister vacuum to get all the dust and debris off the floors. A broom is not as good. A broom will put dust back into the air, where a vacuum will not. If you skip that step, mopping alone will just spread that dust and lose debris across all your floors. Do you want the cleanest floors? Ask how they mop floors. Don't give them the answer, just ask the question.
When we clean countertops, we pick up all items on the counter, clean where they were sitting, and return them to their original places. That is detailed cleaning. That separates general cleaning from great cleaning.
All our cleaners are supervised by a local Area Manager. Area Managers conduct surprise inspections of all cleaners at least once a month and hold weekly meetings to maintain the highest quality.
Customers receive an email after every cleaning to confirm they are completely satisfied, and your Account Manager will call you several times a year to confirm satisfaction. High Quality is not a destination but a daily pursuit, managed and monitored.
Ask about the maids' formal training. Most maid companies use only practical training. Watch me clean and do it the same way. That is common, but grossly incomplete.
All of our cleaners at It's Maid Day are Certified Professional Cleaners from Maid Training Academy, the world's largest residential maid training school. Click here for Maid Training Academy. Click on "Gateway" in the menu to see if their company is listed. Over 300 maid companies use this educator as part of their formal training.
If you decide to skip hiring a maid service and do it yourself, you can enroll in the same classes for $100 to learn how to clean like a professional cleaner. That would be your lowest cost solution.
Regardless of experience, our new employees go through 3 full days of classroom training, including testing. And then 3-5 days of one-on-one practical training, and then 30 days of daily evaluations. and feedback. Yeah, it's extensive and intense, but it drives the best quality and consistency.
Ask anyone you are considering, "How long will the cleaners be in my home?"
Time at home is a good indicator of the quality of cleaning you will receive. Our cleaners are professionals, and work at a professional pace. That pace is faster and more efficient than that of a typical homeowner, so put that into perspective. But asking the question is still important because if the cleaning company doesn't know, they aren't regulating how much time the cleaners spend in the home. So with limited guidance, a cleaner may rush through a home, get out really fast, resulting in a less-than-perfect clean.
All of our times are based on a sophisticated system that accounts for more conditions and factors of your home, and since 2010, we have tracked every job and every customer to confirm that our cleaners have more than enough time to complete a high-quality cleaning. Our cars have GPS systems, and all our cleaners clock in and out of the job using geo-fencing technology. Every week, we run a report for all cleaners to check whether teams are getting out too soon or too late. This report is shared with our Area Managers and, in turn, with all of our cleaners. Times can vary by as much as 30 minutes (15 min. early, 15 min. later) in a home because houses can run longer one time and a bit shorter the next, based on activity in the home. We NEVER leave a home until it is cleaned to the highest standard.
Prices - Top 60 maid companies in ATL Metro
Every year, we contact the top 60 maid companies in the Atlanta metro area, based on Google reviews, that service the 38 cities that make up the Atlanta metro area. See the chart below with the results of that research.
Prices are higher from maid companies "located" closer to Atlanta, of course, and prices start to fall as you go farther out. Prices in the North region, going up 400, are as high as those inside the perimeter. It's NOT about where your home is, as much as it is about where the maid company's location is, which dictates overhead costs and labor costs in that area.
We have offices in Kennesaw, Duluth, and Stone Mountain, which helps in recruiting and still provides local service to customers. We strategically placed our offices on the outskirts of these regions to keep our expenses low, provide better pricing for customers, and retain and recruit the best cleaners, who tend to live farther out. This helps with employee retention, which is what customers want. It is the best of both worlds.
So if you want the best price, choose companies located farther out. That does NOT impact you. Let the maid company worry about driving to get to you. As long as they are reliable and on time, why pay more just because their office is close to your home? Maid companies don't charge for travel time, unlike some HVAC, electricians, and plumbers.
Don't go by price alone. Click here to download a free comparison chart of services alongside prices to determine total value.
It's Maid Day's prices are at or below the Median Price. Click here to get your exact price.
The following prices are for a 2,700 square foot home.
March, 2026
Want a deeper understanding of how maid service pricing really works?
Visit the Atlanta maid service pricing guide to see real examples, what drives cost, and how to choose the right service based on your needs and budget.
Coupons and Discounts
Always ask about Coupons and Discounts. Maid companies may not volunteer them.
We provide the following discounts: Deduct these from your estimate, as they are not automatically included.
Click here for our Coupons and Discounts page
-
Monday Recurring Service (Our slowest day)
-
Seniors, starting at age 60+
-
Active or Retired Military
-
Active Law Enforcement, Firemen, EMS, and First Responders
-
First-time customers
-
First-time Recurring Service
-
Free cleanings if you refer customers
Price Increases and Guarantees
Like any service, prices are subject to annual increases. We are the only maid company to offer a 1-year price guarantee, provided you don't change or modify your plan, the condition of your home doesn't match the online estimate, or you violate the terms in our Service Agreement.
Because we collect prices every year, we can report that the average price increase is around 4-5% a year.
It's Maid Day's last increase was 4%, but we had not increased prices for two years. So that is less than 3% a year. We can't guarantee we can keep your price the same for two years, but it is our goal.
Do maid services require a contract?
Most professional maid services do not require long-term contracts—but some companies may use agreements, cancellation policies, or minimum commitments depending on the type of service.
At It’s Maid Day, we believe you should stay with a cleaning service because you want to—not because you’re locked into a contract. That’s why we offer flexible scheduling without long-term commitments.
Historically, maid companies do not have contracts, but they all have Service Agreements that outline their services, limits of liability, and a bunch of important things you really need to read, whichever one you choose. We include ours with every estimate, and it's on our website.
Contracts are starting to crop up in the scene. Some of these "We will clean your home for $20" companies forget to mention in that eye-popping advertisement that they have contracts for at least 3 cleanings or that you have to buy a membership. Memberships range from $100 to $400, and the "membership fee" will be deducted for any missed or late-canceled appointments. Read the fine print. And if they have to use any of the money from the membership fee, you'll need to add more to your membership.
The good news is that the vast majority of the maid services or individuals do not have a contract binding you to future cleanings. And neither do we. We earn future cleanings, one cleaning at a time.
Now, with that being said, don't fire your maid company for one mistake. If they missed something, let them fix it. Sometimes it does take a few cleanings to understand the nuances of your home. We get way ahead of the trial-and-error approach by doing a very detailed work order before we come the first time. This is a huge advantage of our company, but even with that, it may take a few times cleaning your home until we get it 100% dialed in. So work with your maid company on those first few cleanings.
Common reasons customers stop or change maid service
The good news is that most customers are delighted with their maid service, across the board. It frees up your precious, limited time to do more important things.
Some homeowners eventually find themselves re-evaluating their maid service—not because they want to switch, but because something isn’t quite meeting their expectations.
Here are the top reasons customers end or change their maid service provider, from most to least.
-
They no longer need the service
-
Changes in their appointment time
-
Not sending the same cleaners every time
-
Quality issues
Here’s a closer look at why these issues happen—and how to avoid them when choosing a maid service.
-
They no longer need service
-
This is the primary reason we lose customers. 90% of the time, it's the customer suspending or ending their need for maid service. It's not a quality issue; it's a need issue.
-
They sold their home, lost their job, are traveling for the summer, have medical problems, have to pay off Christmas, are doing remodeling work in the home, and on and on and on.
-
When that happens, we handle each of them with appreciation. Most of these customers come back at some point. And most of them are sad about ending their service.
-
-
-
Changes in their appointment time
-
At the end of the day, most customers understand problems can happen from time to time
-
As long as the maid company communicates in a timely fashion, an occasional change is ok
-
If we have to reschedule a customer or if the cleaners are running behind OR ahead of schedule, we call and text as soon as we know.
-
-
At It’s Maid Day, we’ve built our service around consistency, clear communication, and structured cleaning systems—so you don’t have to deal with the problems that lead many customers to switch companies. And don't think that changing maid companies will eliminate the problem.
-
Having a change in your scheduled appointment doesn't happen very often, but prepare yourself, you will get bumped or rescheduled at some point in time.
-
People call out, people have time off, we run into traffic issues, have car problems, or someone gets sick in the middle of the day, or their kid is sick, just to name a few.
-
Remember, you are dealing with people.
-
Yes, we know it is a problem, yes, we know you picked up and prepared for your cleaning, or took time off work, etc., etc.
-
When we call a customer to inform them, most are upset, and we get that. Depending on the circumstances, we try to get them back on the schedule that day if their need is urgent, but at the expense of rescheduling another customer in their place.
-
That is one advantage of working with the right company, and often a larger company.
-
Yes, we plan on call-outs. We staff for call-outs, but sometimes even that is not enough.
-
Our general policy is that we will not bump a customer to a different day more than 2 times in a year. I don't know of anyone who has that policy. They might, but I just don't know.
-
-
-
Here is the best solution if you want the least disruption.
-
Get an individual cleaner. (Yes, we have those too. Click here for a comparison of pros and cons)
-
On a team, you have two people, which means the chances of disruption are twice as high.
-
Our Individual cleaners are fully vetted as having good attendance. If they are a good cleaner but need more time off than normal (2 days a month), they cannot be an Individual cleaner with us.
-
-
Have your cleaning at 8:30 or the first time slot.
-
Most changes in arrival time occur after the first job. There are all kinds of events that can happen to any maid company.
-
If your maid company doesn't have any first-job slots open, ask to be added to the waiting list. Something will eventually open up.
-
-
Most maid companies use a 4-hour arrival window, as many delivery or home service companies do.
-
We give a 30-minute window. That is a huge difference, and 80% of the time we arrive during that window, but if it moves a little, please understand the normal window is much wider.
-
-
-
-
Not sending the Same Cleaners every time
-
Most people, let's say 51%, don't care who comes as long as the home looks great after the cleaning
-
If you want the same cleaner(s) every time, there is a better solution.
-
Once again, we are back to Individual Cleaner. That is one reason some of our customers choose our Individual Cleaner option, priced the same as team cleaning.
-
-
If you want the same person every time, then be prepared to be rescheduled. Some of our customers will tell us that if (Name) can't clean our house, they would rather reschedule. That's cool with us, and it will probably be ok with most maid companies.
-
In the end, you are dealing with people, and no one has perfect attendance. So it can happen.
-
Our turnover is the lowest in the industry because we really take care of our cleaning staff, offer a full suite of benefits, including paid time off. Most of our staff have been with us for years. And because we pay our people a very competitive rate, we are not the lowest-priced maid service. We are at the Median Price range. Our profit margins are small, but our customer and cleaner retention rates are very high.
-
-
Quality issues
-
Have we been fired over quality issues? Yes, we have, but only a couple of times. Was it legit? In a few instances, it sure was. Everyone can have a bad day.
-
Some customers have zero tolerance, and I get that. We don't make many mistakes, but when we do, we always take care of our customers. And so will your maid company, whomever you use, if you give them the chance to fix it.
-
Most of the time, it is an issue with expectations. Most of our limited number of quality complaints stemmed from incorrect expectations. That is why we instruct customers to review the Quality Checklist to see what is included, and then review our Service Agreement to see what is NOT included. We have been fired for not getting paint off the floor. We don't do that type of cleaning. There are companies that do "Post Construction Cleaning," and they will get paint off floors.
-
Look at your list of cleaning tasks. That's what they are hired to do. Nothing more.
-
If you want something added, contact the office. Not the cleaners, the office. They will add it to your future work orders, so anyone who cleans your home will have those instructions.
-
And if you do ask for something to be added, depending on what it is, there may be a charge. Your cleaners don't work for free, regardless of where they work, even for themself.
-
-
Independent Cleaners working for themselves, not a company
We can't cover all the options without talking about the Independent Cleaners.
They are typically the lowest-cost option, but not much lower than maid services. Most independents have experience cleaning for companies and know how to get pricing from maid services to set their rates. They realize they have to be lower than companies to compete. I have called a few over the years, and they tend to be about 20% less than maid companies. That's the good news.
There are a lot of problems with Independents. Some are great, but most are not. Many of our recurring customers have used independent companies but switched to maid companies for the following reasons.
-
No background check unless the homeowner does it themselves
-
No or limited insurance, including Workers ' Compensation and Damage Claims. While most will claim they have liability insurance, it is used for large claims, not minor damage claims. If they don't provide you with a Certificate of Insurance that you can call to verify coverage, it's just an empty promise. Our customers have told us stories about damage in their home, and when they confronted their cleaner, it was the last they ever heard from them.
-
Not very reliable. Independents don't have backup cleaners to step in if they feel ill, take a vacation, or they are just not very reliable. Most maid companies have plans in place to cover cleaning jobs when cleaners call out or have time off. Reliability is generally much better with a maid company. Scroll down for more insight into the reliability of maid service. It's great insight for sure.
-
They go out of business or just stop showing up. It's hard to make a living as an independent cleaner. Getting new customers is hard, time-consuming, and expensive. Customers suspend service primarily because their need for maid service has ended, not because of quality. They sell their home, have financial changes, travel, work changes, and on and on. We lose about 20% of our current recurring customers each year due to life changes. If an independent cleaner doesn't replace these customers quickly, they find that they are just not making enough money to support themselves. This is the most common reason why customers choose a maid company and not an independent. They tried using an independent, but it eventually failed every time. That's what they have told us.
There is a better solution if you prefer to have just one cleaner cleaning your home.
It's Maid Day is the only maid service in Georgia to offer both Team Cleaning and Individual Cleaners for the same price. Our individual Cleaners are real W-2 Employees, fully insured, with backup cleaners if they have time off or call out for the day.
Most Cleaners are Contract Labor, not Employees
Most maid companies use 1099 contract labor. You should know how that impacts your liability, quality, and reliability. It's Maid Day only hires W-2 Employees.
Get proof if Maids are Employees or 1099 labor. Ask them to send an email to confirm. You can also check their employment page, as they often say, "You are contractors and can choose your own hours."
The main reason maid companies hire or contract with cleaners is that it reduces their costs and liability, as liability is shifted to the homeowner and the cleaner.
1099 Contact Laborer cleaner can be paid a little more by the company, because the company is NOT paying for:
-
Unemployment tax - Paid by the contractor on their own, and often to their surprise
-
Tax deductions on behalf of the cleaner - Contractors often have a large tax bill and no savings to pay
-
Worker Compensation Insurance to cover injuries - Liability shifts to the homeowner
-
Benefits or paid time off - The cleaner has no benefits and seldom saves for sick days or time off
-
Equipment or supplies - Limited by law
-
Training - Limited by law
-
Company car - Limited by law
Turnover is much higher with contractors. We hire lots of cleaners who come from other maid companies because they were surprised by large tax obligations and the lack of benefits or paid time off.
The law limits the amount of "Control", including Quality, Supervision, and Supplies used. Click here for the DOL notice on limits.
Homeowners can be liable for any accidents or injuries, even if they go through a company, if they use 1099 Contract Labor. You are reminded of that every time you drive down the street and see billboards reading, "Have you been injured?" Click here for the details of "Court Case A-176-597". The homeowner was liable even though he used a maid service.
Scroll down to see the table comparing different maid services, the Quality advantages of using It's Maid Day, and the risks of using 1099 Contract Workers, or Independent Cleaners.
In-Home Estimates vs Online or Over the Phone
The purpose of an estimate is to give you an accurate price.
So which one gives you the most accurate price? Probably the In-Home Estimate. This allows the maid company to inspect your home. They will inspect the following areas:
-
Check for soap scum and stains in showers and tubs
-
Inspect kitchen cabinets for food spots, stains
-
Examine the condition of your floors
-
Determine how much of your home has carpeting versus hardwood floors
-
See how much dust is on furniture, baseboard, etc
-
Count the number of bathrooms and rooms
-
Determine if you have a clutter problem
-
Confirm how many people live in the home
-
See the volume of furniture and decorations in your home
The home inspection can take 20-30 minutes, or longer. And then they have to calculate your price, sit down with the homeowner to go over the estimate, and, of course, sell you on their services. This can take about an hour from start to finish. Keep in mind, about 1/3 of all maid companies still do it this way. Have we gotten prices from these companies? Yes, we have. They tend to be more expensive than the Median price. That is why they prefer to meet with you face-to-face.
Online Quoting has become the norm over the last 10 years. You can get a price in a few minutes. They will ask you for your square footage or the number of rooms to be cleaned, how many people live in the home, the number of pets, number of bathrooms, and you get your price. And then they show up at your home.
Convenient? Yes. Accurate? Not by a mile. This can lead to price changes once they get to your home (Disclaimer in the estimate), or a poor job because they don't have enough time to do a good job the first time, or they are just doing a general cleaning.
Those maid companies tend to be more expensive as well. If you are going to guess about the condition of your home, they will guess high because they know that changing the price once they arrive can go badly for the cleaners. So online quotes are not very accurate.
The same can be said about getting prices over the phone if they only ask a few questions. Most of them will tell you that it is an estimate and that your final price will be determined when they show up. Read the fine print.
How do we do it? We can do all the above, and it's the customer's choice. Typically, we build your cleaning plan over the phone using a pricing tool we built 15 years ago. You can also build it yourself because it's also on our website, so you can use it at your convenience. And yes, we do In-Home Estimates too. Once again, your choice.
When we provide the estimate over the phone, we ask the same questions about the condition of your home as if we were there doing an in-home inspection. People know the condition of their home, and as long as they are honest in their answers, we can provide an accurate price and time allocation to ensure your home looks great at the price we quote over the phone or in person.
Last year, we cleaned over 8,000 homes in the metro area, making us the largest home cleaning company in Georgia. We primarily price homes based on square footage and use online property records to confirm the square footage, number of baths, and number of rooms. There is no need to waste your time with an in-home inspection or be nervous that your price will change when we show up. And if you still want an in-home inspection, we would be glad to do that too, but only during normal business hours.
Click HERE to get your prices online. OR call us 770-344-3500 for prices or to schedule an In-Home consultation
Providing your own supplies - Pros and Cons
About 25% of our customers request that we use one or more of their specialty cleaning solutions, like glasstop stove cleaning paste, stone shower solvents, stainless steel sprays, or floor cleaning solvents.
As a general rule, maid services will provide their own supplies. In fact, they prefer their own supplies, even though using a customer's supplies would seem more cost-effective for the cleaners. To the contrary, it often is not.
Why do customers prefer or even require a maid company to use their products?
-
Prevent damage
-
Highest quality results
-
Safety for children, pets, and the entire household in general
These are all valid concerns. They should also be the goals of every maid company, and they are for us.
Whomever you hire to clean your home, you should always ask, and better yet, get proof of what they use to clean your home.
When gathering quotes from the top 60 maid companies, our team spent considerable time reviewing their websites. We could not find a single company to list exactly what they use. What we found were general claims that their products are "Safe and Effective" or "Green and Environmentally Responsible." Well, that's great, but what exactly do you use?
We are the only maid company that shows you exactly what we use. Click here for our cleaning solutions.
Our products are Safe and Effective, recommended by manufacturers of stainless steel appliances, safe and brilliantly effective on all floors, including marble and stone, environmentally safe for your loved ones, and our dusting spray is "Endust free," which is hypoallergenic and fragrance-free, designed to reduce allergens on surfaces and in the air. We do use a Bleach-and-Water solution, similar to Tilex, only for Mold Control, with the customer's permission. All our rags and mops are laundered at our facility; we never use rags, mops, or sponges from one house to another; we empty our vacuums after every home; clean and maintain our vacuums and all equipment.
When setting up a new customer, we review all of our cleaning solutions and ask if they are ok with our products or if they have something they want to supply.
We also train and monitor our staff to never bring a product or use equipment from home to clean a customer's home. It is grounds for immediate termination; it's one of a few zero-tolerance policies.
The downside, or "Cons," of requesting your maid company to use your products or equipment.
-
It may be denied/rejected
-
It may increase your price
-
It may not be as good
Denied/Rejected: There are certain products we cannot use, and you may receive the same response from other maid companies. Here is a quick reason why. Either way, it should be a discussion with your maid company, but be prepared for some pushback.
-
It may not be safe to use or practical
-
The list of things we have rejected might surprise you. Acids (Really? Oh yes), Polish paste (We don't polish wood, we dust), Extension ladders (Oh brother), and many other such things.
-
We will not use an oil-based floor cleaning solution for several reasons. The first is that you shouldn't use an oil-based floor cleaner repeatedly. Because it's oil-based, it can build up over time, making your floors look dull. The main reason is that it's unsafe for our employees, because it's a slip-and-fall risk. Although we don't walk over freshly mopped floors, it can happen by accident, and wet floors from an oil-based floor cleaner are super slippery.
-
Remember, if our people get injured, it's our liability, not yours. And if you use contract labor and they slip and fall, then you, as the homeowner, own the liability because they're contract labor and you provided the product. Let that sink in for a minute. That's a double wammy. Case closed.
-
-
-
Using your product may result in a price increase because it is not as good or requires more time.
-
If a team cleans your home, you need enough bottles for each cleaner to have their own supply, because team cleaning has cleaners in different locations in the home. Running back and forth to share a product takes more time and disrupts the rhythm of cleaning. This might be ok with just one cleaner, and this is why we provide Individual cleaners as an option.
-
Your product may not perform as well as ours, requiring more time and effort to achieve the same high-quality results as with our standard solution.
-
Using a floor cleaning solution measured with a measuring cup will require you to leave a measuring cup behind, and increases the risk of the cleaners getting it wrong. Yes, it should be simple, but our mop water solution is dispensed using a special bottle that has
-
Using your equipment, such as a vacuum cleaner, might add time, and you assume liability for any damage.
-
I totally get why some customers require us to use their vacuum. Although we maintain our vacuums exceptionally well and empty the bag after every home, some people just prefer that we use theirs. OK, we can do that.
-
Here are the potential problems
-
There are no bumper guards on customers' vacuums. We are careful, but if you want us to vacuum all the way to the wall, the vacuum will rub against or touch the baseboards. If there is no "SOFT" bumper guard, there is a chance it will leave a mark on your baseboards. We tell all customers that if we leave a mark on baseboards, furniture, or anything, we are not responsible, and the customer needs to buy and install soft bumpers on their vacuum. You can see our vacuums and cleaning solutions on our website. Click here
-
Another problem is that customers seldom have two vacuums. If you want team cleaning, you need to provide two; otherwise, it will take more time, and time is money, so your price might go up.
-
Most consumer vacuums have a head (the part that touches the floor) that is much narrower than our professional vacuums. That means more vacuuming time and, once again, a potential price increase, even if you choose one of our Individual Cleaners. And last but not least, and yes, I am going to say it, most consumer vacuums are not as good as ours, even a Dyson.
-
The last and probably the worst part. If the maid company breaks your vacuum, they are not liable. Many consumer vacuums are really expensive and not as durable. We tell customers, both verbally and in writing, that if they want us to use their equipment, including their vacuum, any damage remains the homeowner's liability.
-
-
-
Most popular recurring service frequencies and why
Monthly recurring service is the most popular frequency. About 60% of recurring customers get their homes cleaned monthly, 40% are Bi-Weekly, and less than 1% Weekly.
There was a big shift in those stats starting in 2020. It used to be 60% Bi-Weekly and 40% monthly, but after the pandemic in 2020, labor costs increased, and people shifted from Bi-Weekly to Monthly.
Although there was a shift toward more cost-effective monthly cleaning, the total number of homeowners who had their homes cleaned increased. Maybe it was caused by COVID and by keeping your home clean and sanitized, but I believe it was a shift in people wanting more free time to do what matters most.
Also, it is good to know that the monthly service is on a 4-week rotation, not on the same day each month. A 4-week rotation is the only way a maid company can schedule both Bi-Weekly and Monthly without causing double bookings. So with a Monthly plan, your cleaning will be every 4 weeks. That results in 13 cleanings a year, and your cleaning date will move down the calendar each month. So if you start on the 23rd of the month, your next cleaning might be on the 21st, and every month it will move closer to the 1st. That's just how it works.
It's Maid Day, also provides cleaning options every 6 weeks (same price as monthly) or every 2 months (20% more than monthly). We are the only maid company that provides these longer frequencies for people who don't need their home cleaned every month, but want to stay on a schedule.
Are you ready for maid service?
If you are new to maid service, there are a few things you need to do to understand so you can prepare and get the most from your maid service.
The good news is that maid service can be a wonderful experience. And if you get recurring service, it is something that most people keep for a lifetime. Not only does it give you a professional cleaning, probably better than what you have done for yourself, but it also frees up your time to enjoy life.
We said this page would be honest and educational. That is the sole purpose of this page. Fair warning, this section may touch a nerve with some people. That is not the purpose. It is designed to help you.
-
Pick up before the maids arrive.
-
Customers with maid service experience know they need to prepare their homes for cleaning. Pick up and put away clutter, like clothes, toys, dishes, pots and pans, and items on countertops that would normally be put away. The maids are there to clean
-
Our policy, as found on our estimate, service agreement, and website, is as follows:
-
If we run into a few clothes, toys, or general clutter in a room, we will gladly pick them up and put them in some order. The problem comes when an entire table, dresser, floor, or counter is completely covered. Our policy is "Any area completely covered with clutter will not be cleaned, and there will be no price reduction."
-
-
If you are looking for someone to help you organize, that's not what a maid service does
-
There are professional organizers who specialize in helping you get organized. They cost about $100 an hour, and the best place to find these certified professionals is through the top association.
-
National Association of Productivity and Organizing. Click here for their website
-
-
-
-
There are no refunds
-
The industry standard is "If you are unhappy with your service, the maid company will come back and reclean any areas that are not cleaned to your satisfaction within reason."
-
And doesn't that make sense? If someone makes a mistake, let them fix it.
-
We don't make many mistakes, but if it does happen, we will come back the next day and fix it.
-
The best way to avoid being disappointed in your cleaning is to know exactly what they clean and how they clean. Use our detailed side-by-side comparison (Click Here) and review our Quality Checklist that clearly outlines what we do.
-
-
You're hiring a maid service, not labor
-
You don't need to instruct and manage the cleaners. They should know what to do and how to clean.
-
Not only does that slow them down, but it's also kind of insulting.
-
Of course, you can ask questions and provide some clarity, but you hired a maid service to clean the areas listed in their estimate.
-
It's Maid Day understands the importance of getting insight and instructions on certain things unique to your home. That is why we use a detailed questionnaire when setting up a customer. No one else does this. It is like a virtual walk-through of your entire home, gathering all the details of exactly how you want your home cleaned. Those detailed notes go into your work order and all future work orders for recurring service. That way, we do a great job the first time and all future jobs, because everything you want is in the work order. We call all customers after their first cleaning to confirm satisfaction and update, change, or add any new notes to future work orders. We call again after your first recurring service to do the same thing one more time. We are proactive, and this has resulted in happy customers who know, with confidence, they are getting their homes cleaned just the way they want.
-
This is one of the reasons why It's Maid Day is the largest home cleaning company in Georgia.
-
-
-
Don't hover over your maids. Watching the cleaners while they clean is unnerving and can cause them to lose focus. Does anyone work better if someone is watching them? No.
-
Don't stop and correct your maids in the middle of a cleaning. Good, well-trained maids will check their work before leaving each room, and the Team Leader will check the entire home before leaving. That is when any corrections are made.
-
It's ok to do a walk-through after the cleaners are done. We always ask first-time customers if they want to walk the home after they are done and check their work. Just don't drag it out. A walk-through should take no more than 20 minutes for a typical home.
-
If you are looking for perfection, you will never find it. A maid will touch and clean thousands of things in a home. If you find a few little minor things, put them into perspective. 2 minor little things divided into hundreds, if not thousands, of things in your home is still 99% correct. Now, if you see a room missed or, in general, the home was not cleaned well, be prepared to send pictures to the maid company. They will usually ask for this to help with training and discipline if needed. And good companies will come right back to fix any mistakes, right away.
-
Time is money. If you try to manage the maids and they go over their allocated time, the maid service will ask you to pay more. In fact, the trend is toward maid companies moving to a pure hourly rate based on how long they spend in your home. Your cleaners don't want to work for free.
-
-
Read the Service Agreement
-
Every company should have a service agreement. If they don't, do not hire them.
-
The service agreement contains all the little details that are so important to know
-
How to determine what's best for you
This is the million-dollar question.
The best way to come to that conclusion is to continue to read everything on this page. If you have read this far, you are on the right path.
Once you have all the knowledge on this page, use the free side-by-side comparison to choose the service that best fits your needs. Click Here
The other thing to consider, which is not in the comparison, is which rooms you don't need cleaned and what frequency you need for recurring, if that is of interest to you.
Customers often remove rooms they don't need cleaned, such as a bedroom used for storage or an office you may not want people in. Our pricing tool allows you to remove as many rooms as you want.
Most people also exclude the finished basement. Most traffic and use are on the main floor and upstairs, where the Master Bedroom is often located. A basement can always be included in future cleaning, but for recurring service, most people exclude the basement for practical reasons and to keep the cost of cleaning for the areas with the most traffic and use.
We also provide a CORE cleaning as an option. The CORE cleaning focuses on the hardest- and most-used areas of your home. The CORE cleaning plan includes the Kitchen, all Bathrooms, all Floors, plus one extra room of your choosing. Most people choose the Family Room or the Master Bedroom. This cleaning leaves the other rooms, where the only thing typically left to do is dusting, because we have already vacuumed or mopped the floors in that room. Dusting is the easiest task in home cleaning, and some people prefer to clean those areas themselves for many reasons. It's Maid Day provides the most options in cleaning plans and frequencies.
Bonded & Insured - Don't believe it, verify it
Never take someone's verbal confirmation that they are insured.
It is important and prudent to ask any cleaning company to provide you with a Certificate Of Insurance. The Certificate of Insurance is a one-page overview of the coverage. There may be several certificates depending on how many insurance companies underwrote the coverage.
We are the only maid service that posts its certificate online.
Click here for a copy of our Certificate of Insurance
When we get prices from other maid companies, we ask a few to send us a copy of their certificate, and fewer than half do. That should be a red flag.
When looking at the certificate, make sure to do the following:
-
Check the name of the insured.
-
Does it match the name of your cleaning service?
-
-
Check the Policy Effective Date and Expiration Date.
-
Make sure it is current.
-
-
Call the insurance company to confirm the policy is still active.
-
Really? Oh yes. Certificates are provided with the first month's payment. If the policy lapses for nonpayment, the maid service still has the document showing full-year coverage.
-
The phone number is printed at the top of the Certificate, and these calls happen all the time, so the process takes just a few minutes to confirm.
-
-
Look for all these Insurance Policies
-
Works Compensation
-
General Liability
-
Theft / Bond
-
Theft claims, how to prevent them, and what to do
The good news is that theft claims are rare, at least with our company. I can't speak for everyone else.
Most of the time, if a customer calls to report something is missing, we tell them to look again. And look in places you may not normally look. Over 90% of these customers eventually find the item.
We have been in business since 2010 and have cleaned over 100,000 homes. In that time, we have had 3 claims that we believed, or were most likely, to involve one of our cleaners.
In all of those situations, the customer could have prevented it by following one simple rule.
-
Don't leave money or valuables unsecured.
-
Always put valuables in a secure place. That is NOT the sock drawer. If you have expensive jewelry, you should spend $50 and get a small safe and keep it in your closet. What some customers have done, which is brilliant, is to put a keypad lock on their master bedroom closet. They cost between $25 and $100, and then your entire closet is a safe, including all your handbags, clothes, and other expensive items you place in it.
-
I think the other reason why our exposure has been so low is that during employee training, which includes an Ethics class, we tell cleaners that we take all claims seriously, that we cooperate with police, and that we run the most extensive background check in the industry. That's the next section on this page.
Background Checks - They are not all the same
Background checks are not expensive, but the price goes up with extended checks.
National Super Criminal Checks are about $10-$15 to run. You've got to be a pretty bad person to appear on that report. State-level checks are a little better but cost a little more.
The most extensive search is the county-level checks. This picks up misdemeanors, like shoplifting and petty theft. It also picks up drug arrests, battery, and other acts of violence that, for us, automatically disqualify a candidate. These run between $30-$50 or more, depending on where they have lived. The more places they have lived, the higher the fees can go. And some States like New York and California charge around $100 each, to get the results.
Ask the maid company to explain how extensive their background checks are. Don't give them the answer, let them tell you. And then have them put it in writing. I bet you don't get too many of them to send them.
It's Maid Day runs a background check on every employee at the National, State, and County levels.
How often do applicants fail the background check?
Our first step in preventing the hiring of those people is to include that question in our employment application. Click here to see our application. We do get people submit an application saying they cannot pass a background check, but want to explain why, and that they are not the same person. I can't tell you how many people we have to turn away who may be good people now and possibly good cleaners, but we just don't hire them. It is a huge liability to us, and not ethical to the customers we serve. I can't say the same thing about other maid companies.
And yes, we have hired people, and their background checks revealed they lied to us. That is rare, but it has happened. We run the background check before they report to work, but it can take a day or two to receive the full report. We never let a new cleaner clean unsupervised until we get the full report back.
Damage claims - Eventually, you will have one
Not all customers will have a damage claim, but the longer you have maid service, the higher the odds of a claim.
If you want detailed cleaning, cleaners will need to pick up items to clean or dust them, and where they were sitting. With hundreds of items in a home, there is a chance they may drop something.
In this section, we will review Prevention, Reporting Damage, and Determining who is at fault
Prevention
It all starts here. To my surprise, none of the other maid companies we received prices from asked any questions about the home we wanted cleaned. The questions were simply to get a price, and when we asked, "What's the next step?", they all said, "We just need to set a date for service."
Every customer, whether for a one-time cleaning or a recurring service, will complete a questionnaire with us over the phone, which takes about 10-20 minutes. The questionnaire is a virtual walk-through of the home. We gather important questions to help us build a detailed work order and provide clear instructions to our cleaners on how you want your home cleaned. This completed form is then emailed to the customer to confirm the instructions that will be included in your work order. If needed, we can, and often do, add even more notes to the work orders throughout the year for recurring customers, which becomes a permanent record in all future work orders.
One of the questions we ask is:
"We're always careful when we dust and clean your home. However, if an item is priceless or is really expensive, the only way to guarantee it's never damaged is to never touch it. So, do you have any items that we need to avoid touching, like Antiques, Artwork, or Collectibles?"
This reduces your risk, as well as ours, of an expensive damage claim.
If you choose another maid company, you should proactively tell them, in writing, about these items that should not be touched. Don't just tell the cleaners, tell the company so it can be added to your work order and documented; otherwise, you are wasting your time. That is why we ask our customers to call or email the office with any new instructions. They are the ones who enter that into the system, which the cleaners see every time they clean your home. Yes, you can tell the cleaners, and yes, we have a form in their app that will notify the office, but we all know that information can be misinterpreted if there is a middleman.
And if your entire home is filled with collectibles, antiques, artwork, or fragile items, we recommend our CORE cleaning, which includes but is not limited to the Kitchen, Bathrooms, and Floors, plus one room of your choosing. This leaves the dusting of the rest of your home to the homeowner. Pretty good solution, right?
Reporting Damage
The most frustrating experience for any homeowner is to come home to find a broken item or damage. It damages trust and is often the final straw for people seeking maid service from any source.
You want, and deserve, honest people in your home. And that comes right back to what type of cleaner you use to clean your home. If it's an independent, and they damage or break something, they know it is coming out of their pocket. The same is often the case with Contract Labor, which we discussed before, is the majority of maid companies, but not us.
Our employees know they will NOT be fired if they break something. Our employees also know that if they do not report a breakage or damage right away, they will get fired. That is a big difference.
As the largest maid company in Georgia, we know and budget for accidents and damage. We clean over 8,000 homes a year, and the probability of having a few a year is very predictable. So we have a well-defined process and money set aside to respond quickly to all of them. You may not get that with a smaller maid company.
Example: We had a cleaner trip while carrying her vacuum upstairs, the vacuum hit the wall and punched a hole in it. The cleaner reported it to the homeowner immediately. We were there the next day to patch it, and back in two days to sand and paint the area.
Not all damage claims are apparent at the time. If you happen to find something, contact the company right away. DO NOT delay. That will impact the company's decision to accept liability.
Determining who is at fault
OK. Buckle up. You may not like this next section, but we said this would be honest and educational.
Most damage claims are reported by the cleaner. Most damage claims are under $20, like a broken soap dish, a wine glass, or something tipped over and hit a hard surface like the floor or a countertop. So most damage claims are in the kitchen, bathrooms, or on shelves. Those are clearly the cleaner's fault.
As a general rule for It's Maid Day, claims under $50-$100 are seldom challenged, even if only reported by the customer and not supported by the cleaners at the point of the accident.
Although our cleaners know they will not get fired for damage claims, we do track each damage claim by cleaner and by customer. If a cleaner has too many claims, they are subject to termination. Since we started our company in 2010, we have terminated two cleaners for excessive damage claims. So it can happen, but it's rare. Our people are NOT rushed to get through a job, and that is a big factor in preventing damage.
All claims are investigated to some degree by the maid company and, if it's a large claim, by the Liability Insurance company. If the claim is reported by the owner and not the cleaners, we look at the following to help determine who is at fault. If you are looking at other maid companies, you should ask them how they handle small damage claims. I am confident they will be reluctant to reply, in part, because they may be suspicious of the question or lack a process for handling claims.
Just because a maid company has a liability policy doesn't mean you can simply submit a claim and have it automatically paid. Most liability policies have a deductible that the maid company pays, or even the Independent or contractor, if they have coverage. Deductibles are typically $1,000. Even if they are as low as $500, the maid company or contractor is funding it, and so they will make the decision. And if the claim exceeds the deductible, the insurance carrier investigates and has even more questions.
-
Is there proof we caused the damage, or a probability
-
If the claim is not submitted by the cleaners, we need proof or probable cause that the damage was caused by us. The timing of reporting a claim is a big factor. If the customer calls a week after we were in the house, the probability that we will pay for the damage will go way down. A lot can happen in a week, and as a prudent business, we have to consider whether this is a fraudulent claim.
-
Taking pictures of any damage is a must, or allowing us to come to the home the next day is too.
-
We had a claim we denied due to the type of damage, and the probability that the cleaners, who have worked for us for years, would have certainly reported to the office. It was a hard decision to make, but all evidence indicated that it was not us. The client fired us, and then a week later called back to say that, after further consideration, they determined their dog had caused it.
-
So if you happen upon any damage, do your own investigation. Ask your children, think about what else could have caused the accident.
-
We had a claim about scratch marks on the floor. When we came out to investigate, the scratch marks were from a large piece of furniture that was moved across the floor. Our cleaners are well-trained not to move heavy furniture for many reasons. We denied the claim.
-
-
Did we use ordinary care?
-
If we turn a faucet and it breaks, but upon inspection we find that the faucet is rusted or previously damaged, it is not our fault just because we touched it
-
If we dusted an item on a wall and it fell because it was not properly hung, it is not our fault.
-
Homeowners accept certain responsibility for the fact that we will touch items, and if they break or are damaged while we are using ordinary care, we will not be liable. And not just with us, but with any maid company.
-
Make sure to ask any maid service you are considering if they have a formal process for handling damage claims and how it works. I would be shocked if any of them are prepared for that question, but we are.
If you are concerned about damage claims, you should be bold enough to ask.
Individual Cleaner vs. Team Cleaning
We are the only maid service that gives you a choice between Individual or Team cleaning. There are advantages to each choice, depending on what you like, whether you buy from us or someone else
Regardless of whether you choose a Team of cleaners or an Individual with It's Maid Day...
-
The Price is the same
-
They're real employees, not 1099 contractors
-
They're all Certified Professional Cleaners by Maid Training Academy, the world leader in training home cleaners.
-
Your satisfaction is always guaranteed
Here are the differences that would apply to any source you choose, so make sure to ask the maid company who they will send. The majority of maid companies work in teams, but some, mostly those that work with contractors, will only send individuals. That is a good indication that they use contractors.
-
Team Cleaning gets done faster because there are 2 or 3 cleaners on the job, compared to an Individual Cleaner. If your recurring service is 2 hours with a team of 2 cleaners, then an individual cleaner will be in your home for 4 hours.
-
A team can schedule up to 4 customers a day with arrival times of 8:30, 10:30, 1:00, and 3:00
-
An individual cleaner cleans 2 houses a day at 8:30 and 1:00
-
-
A team has 35-40 recurring customers.
-
An individual has just 20 customers, so they get to know your home a little better and faster.
-
-
A team has a mix of Senior Cleaners and New Cleaners
-
An individual cleaner is always a Senior Cleaner with It's Maid Day and must have extensive house-cleaning experience and work for us for an average of 6 months to be fully vetted.
-
A person with poor attendance or inconsistent cleaning cannot become an Individual cleaner
-
-
-
An Individual Cleaner is our highest-paying job because they work from home and drive their own car, so we can pay them about $4 more an hour without impacting the price customers pay for service. That is why Team Cleaning and Individual cleaning are priced the same with us.
-
Our turnover rate for Individual Cleaners is much lower than that of team cleaners, in part because they are paid more and are seasoned veterans who have chosen house cleaning as their long-term career.
-
And because they are more experienced, they tend to be a little more mature. All of our Individual Cleaners are over 30, with a median age of 44. The median age of our team cleaners is 31.
-
-
Team schedules change when someone on the team calls out or has time off, resulting in different teams cleaning your home about 25%-50% of the time. This is true with all maid companies that use teams.
-
An individual cleaner is the same person who cleans your home 75%-100% of the time, and, if you prefer, we can reschedule your cleaning to the next available time for your Individual Cleaner.
-
-
Individual Cleaners are only available for recurring service. Initial cleanings, such as Spring Cleaning or Occasional Deluxe / CORE cleaning, are too large for just one cleaner. That is true for any company, so if you need a deep cleaning, you should only choose a company that can send a team. One person could do it, but imagine cleaning nonstop for 6-8 hours. Quality would decline over time.
-
Many of our Teams are run by seasoned cleaners with great reviews and good attendance, so our Teams still provide high-quality cleaning, and you will be happy with either option.
Regardless of your choice, your satisfaction is always guaranteed.
And when your cleaner does have a day off or calls out sick, whether it's a team or an individual, we can usually get another team or person to clean your home, so your service should have no or limited interruptions.
Does tipping make a difference?
We get this question often from new customers. Our standard reply is "It's never expected but always appreciated."
Regardless of whether there is a tip, our cleaners will do a great job. And tipping doesn't get you a better cleaning.
We don't track what or when customers tip directly to the cleaners, but we do track tips that are included in the payment. So, at a minimum, I can tell you that about 25% of our customers tip, and the average tip is $10-$20 per cleaner on a team, or $20-$40 if it's an Individual Cleaner. Some customers tip much more than that, and from the bottom of my heart, the company appreciates it.
What tipping might get you is better attendance by your designated cleaner or cleaning team. Cleaners know every one of their customers who typically tips, or as they are often referred to as "A Tipping Customer."
If a cleaner has a personal appointment, such as a Doctor visit or Dentist, they have told us they will work around A Tipping Customer. If a team has to make last-minute changes to their schedule because another cleaner called out, they will insist they don't lose their Tipping Customer. So, yes, it can make a difference in the consistency of cleaners that clean your home.
Above all, it helps the cleaners financially. It's Maid Day, pays our cleaners more than any other maid company in the Atlanta metro area, all the while maintaining customer prices at or below the Median Prices. We are large and have economies of scale, plus our profit margins are probably lower than our competitors', but we make it up on volume.
With that said, Cleaners don't make much money. They do well, and we pay them a wage that allows them to thrive, but I do see the smiles and the overall better mood of the cleaners when they get tips. It not only helps them financially, but it also helps them feel appreciated. It's not an easy job, and one most people refuse to do, so any tip, no matter the amount, is priceless.
If you want a deep dive into pricing, Click HERE to learn everything you need to know about pricing your cleaning. Everyone should know how pricing is developed, who has the lowest prices, and why, and who has the highest prices, and why. And everything in between. This is our popular 2026 Pricing Guide that focuses purely on pricing
Closing Comments
Thanks for taking the time to learn more about "How to hire a maid company." We trust you found the information helpful in your pursuit to make the best decision for you and your family.
There are many choices in maid services, and we hope we have helped you feel more confident in choosing the best value for your home cleaning needs and in preparing for your cleaning.
If you are interested in learning more about It's Maid Day, please call us at 678-344-3500 to get prices over the phone or to schedule an in-home estimate and home inspection.
If you want to continue to learn about us and our services, click on your hometown City below.
We proudly service the following cities, with cleaners who live and work in your area.
Click on your city for more information about our local service in your neighborhood.
Yes, we are Georgia's largest Home Cleaning Company.
-
Stone Mountain
Ready to Price Your Cleaning?