The first question on almost every call is what it costs. We cannot answer that until we know how big the house is and what shape it is in, so the quote comes first. Quotes are free and carry no obligation.
What follows is the part nobody explains: everything that happens between asking for a price and a crew standing in your kitchen. We have run this business in Portland since 2005, so this is how it actually goes, terms included.
Getting a quote
Call 1 888 404 7930 or email info@greenearthhousecleaning.com. We serve the Portland Metro Area.
Describe the house honestly. Size, number of bathrooms, floor types, pets, and how long it has been since anyone cleaned it properly all move the number. A home that has not had a real clean in a year takes longer than one that gets tidied every weekend. Understating it only produces a quote that falls apart on the first visit, which helps neither of us.
Say how often you want visits, too. Weekly, bi-weekly and monthly are genuinely different jobs. A monthly home carries four weeks of dust into every visit, so each visit runs longer than a weekly one would.
The minimum, and what it means for small homes
There is a $133 minimum service charge and a two hour minimum visit, which is worth knowing if your home is small.
If what you want is a forty five minute touch up once in a while, we are not the right company for you. Better to know that now than after the invoice.
What we need from you before the first visit
You do not need to supply anything to clean with. We bring our own products and our own HEPA-filtration vacuums, along with washable microfiber cloths instead of paper towels. On general surfaces that means Mrs. Meyer’s, Bona on hardwood, Bon Ami where something needs scouring. No bleach, no ammonia, no synthetic fragrance.
What we do need is this:
- A reliable way in. You provide the entry method, whether that is a key, a lockbox, a smart lock code or being home. If the crew cannot get in, the full service is charged, so this is the item to get right.
- Parking. Parking fees are added to the invoice. Much of inner Portland is metered or permit zoned, so if you have a driveway space or a guest permit, tell us.
- Your priorities. Say which rooms actually bother you. Time spent is finite and we would rather spend it where it counts.
- Sheets laid out, if you want beds made. We will make a bed when fresh sheets are waiting. We do not strip beds.
- A self-cleaned oven, if the oven interior is on the list. Run the self-clean cycle a day or two before we come.
The arrival window is one hour either side
Cleaning visits run Monday to Friday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Crews may arrive up to an hour before or after the scheduled start time. A house earlier in the route that turned out worse than described will push the rest of the day back. If we are going to be later than that hour, we call you.
The office runs Monday to Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM. We are closed July 4th, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.
Why the first clean takes longer than the ones after it
A first visit is not a maintenance clean. It is undoing however long the house went without one, and that is chemistry more than effort.
Kitchens are the usual reason. Airborne cooking oil settles on cabinet fronts, the hood, and the wall behind the range, and over months it oxidizes into a film that will not wipe off. Breaking that down means leaving product on the surface long enough to work, then agitating it. Dwell time is time, and it is the same number of minutes whether the crew is standing there or not.
Bathrooms are the other one. Portland’s Bull Run water is unusually soft, so we see far less limescale here than a cleaner in Denver or Phoenix would. What we do see is soap scum, the fatty acids in bar soap bound up with whatever minerals are around. It builds in layers, and the bottom layer is older and more stubborn than the top.
For a home that has gone a long stretch without professional cleaning, a deep clean is the honest starting point. We suggest one about twice a year. It costs extra on top of maintenance cleaning, and we do not pitch it as a replacement for regular visits. It is a reset, not a schedule.
You will usually get the same crew
The same crew returns to the same home wherever we can manage it. Illness, time off and staff changes break that. When they do, we do not call ahead to warn you, and it is fair to know that going in. What we do instead is give the substitute the full current notes on your home, so somebody who has never seen your kitchen still knows which surfaces you asked us to leave alone.
Everyone is screened with pre-employment checks before hiring. The company is licensed, bonded and insured and complies with employment legal requirements.
How payment works
We take cash, personal or bank check, and online bank transfer through QuickBooks. The QuickBooks transfer carries a 2.95% processing fee with a $1.25 minimum. We do not take credit cards, PayPal or Venmo. A failed online payment adds a $10 fee.
Timing depends on the arrangement. One-time and irregular cleanings are due the day of service. Recurring clients pay the day of service for the first two months, then within 7 days after that. An invoice past 30 days picks up a 5% late fee, and a balance unpaid for more than two months goes to Columbia Collection Service.
Tips are never required. They are appreciated.
Cancelling and rescheduling
Cancel inside 48 hours of the visit and half the service is charged. If the crew arrives and cannot get in, the full service is charged. That second one is why the entry method sits at the top of the list above.
Recurring clients may reschedule three times per year.
What we do not do
Every cleaning company has a list of jobs it turns down. Read ours before you book rather than finding out on the day.
- Pet messes and body fluids: litter boxes, bird guano, blood, feces, urine, an overflowed toilet. Handling those properly requires bloodborne pathogen certification we do not currently carry, so we do not pretend otherwise.
- Carpet shampooing. We vacuum. Shampooing is a different trade with different equipment.
- Rooms heavily affected by mold, or homes with a heavy mold infestation. In this climate that comes up more often than anyone would like.
- Anything above 8 feet, chandeliers, and furniture over 20 lb.
- Outdoor areas: patios, decks, rough concrete, garages, unfinished basements, exterior windows.
- Dishes, fireplace interiors, and removing oven doors.
- Unsecured artwork and heavy hanging mirrors, and homes that have just been fumigated.
If we miss something
Tell us within 24 hours. We do not discount the service, but we will come back and touch up the areas that were missed. The 24 hour window exists for a practical reason: after a day of normal life in a house, nobody can separate what the crew missed from what happened after they left.
Booking a first visit
Call 1 888 404 7930 or email info@greenearthhousecleaning.com for a free quote. We are locally owned, we have cleaned Portland homes since 2005, and we hold 4.6 out of 5 across 65 Google reviews. The office is at 4110 SE Hawthorne Blvd Ste 439, Portland OR 97214.
If you want the terms in one place before you call, they are on our FAQ page.
