Hiring a Cleaning Company in Cape Cod: 7 Questions to Ask
Five minutes of questions tells you more than any quote does. Here is what to ask, and what a good answer sounds like.
Sherlock Holmes Cleaning · Before you book
You are handing someone a key to your house
Hiring a cleaning company means giving a stranger a key to your house. Most people decide on price and a friendly phone call. These seven questions take about five minutes and tell you far more than either.
Ask us the same seven. Any company worth hiring will answer all of them without hesitating, and will send you paperwork rather than reassurance.
1 and 2: who carries the risk
Are you insured and bonded, and can I see the certificate? The two are not the same thing. Liability insurance covers damage to your property. Bonding covers theft by an employee. A company can have one and not the other. Ask for the certificate rather than taking the word for it: a real one names the insurer, the policy number and the expiry date. If the answer is that they are fully covered and nothing arrives in your inbox, you have your answer.
Are your cleaners employees or subcontractors? Almost nobody asks this, and it decides who is liable when something goes wrong. If cleaners are employees, the company carries workers’ compensation and is responsible for them. If they are subcontractors, responsibility can land on you as the homeowner when someone is injured in your house. Employment status also predicts turnover, which is why you get a different person every visit who does not know your house.
3, 4 and 5: who comes, and what they do
These three decide what the service feels like six months in, once the novelty of a clean house has worn off.
Do you background check, and what does it include?
“We check everyone” is not an answer. Ask what is actually checked: criminal record, identity, references, work authorisation, and whether it happens before the first job. For a seasonal property where nobody is home, this is the most important question on the list.
Will I get the same crew each visit?
A crew that comes back learns which door sticks, which floor cannot take water, and that the office does not get touched. A rotating crew starts from zero every visit. It is also a security question: three people you know is a different proposition from eleven you do not.
What exactly is included, in writing?
“A full clean” means whatever the company decides on the day. Ask for the scope room by room, and specifically about the usual exclusions: inside the oven, inside the fridge, interior windows, baseboards, blinds, ceiling fans, beds, laundry.
6 and 7: what happens when it goes wrong, and what it costs
Listen for the shape of the answer rather than the words. A policy sounds like a policy. Everything else is a hope.
If I am not happy with something
- You want a stated window, usually 24 hours
- And a crew that comes back and puts it right at no charge
- “Tell us within 24 hours and we come back” is a policy
- “We’d discuss it” is not
- Ask whether it has ever actually happened, and what they did
How the price is calculated
- Hourly is honest for a first deep clean, but gives you no ceiling
- Flat rate per visit is what most recurring clients want
- Per square foot is common in commercial work, rare in homes
- Ask what triggers a higher price: first visit, long gaps, pets
- On the Cape, ask directly whether summer rates differ from winter
One more worth asking, and one to ask yourself
Are the products safe for pets and children?
Plenty of companies can go low-residue, low-odour or fragrance free on request. The ones that have never been asked will hesitate, and that hesitation tells you something about how many households they have thought carefully about.
What are you actually buying?
Most people think they are buying hours of labour. What they are really buying is not having to think about it: the same crew turning up on the day they said, working to a scope both sides agreed, and leaving the house in a state nobody has to inspect. Judge the answers above by whether they point at that outcome or away from it.
Ask us the same seven. We are insured and bonded, our cleaners are background checked, you get the same crew back, the scope goes in writing before anyone starts, and if something is wrong you tell us within 24 hours and we come back.
See what we do in your town: Falmouth, Mashpee, Hyannis, or the whole Cape.
Hiring a cleaner on Cape Cod: common questions
What is the difference between insured and bonded?
Liability insurance covers damage to your property. Bonding covers theft by an employee. They are separate policies and a company can hold one without the other, so ask about both and ask for the certificate.
Should I be home during the cleaning?
You do not need to be. Most customers are not. We work with lockboxes, codes and keys, all logged and handled by the same crew every visit.
Do I need to provide cleaning supplies?
Not with us. Our crews arrive fully equipped. It is worth asking any company though, because some expect the household to supply products and equipment.
Do prices go up in the summer on Cape Cod?
For many companies they do, particularly for turnover cleans in season. Ask directly and get the answer in the written scope rather than discovering it on a July invoice.
How soon can you start?
Most standard cleans are booked within a few days. Flood and water damage is different: call and we move on it the same day.
Put us through the same seven questions
Tell us about the property and what you want cleaned. We send a written scope and a written price, and you can hold both up against anyone else’s.
The Sherlock Holmes Cleaning team
Everything here comes from the crews doing the work, not from a copywriter. We started by cleaning and disinfecting businesses during the pandemic, then reinvested in carpet, upholstery, power washing and restoration equipment. Today we clean houses, seasonal rentals and businesses from Bourne to Provincetown, with insured, background-checked crews and a written price before anyone starts.
Nine services, one crew, the whole Cape
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