What should I ask before hiring a house cleaner?

Before you hire a house cleaner, ask what each visit includes and what it costs in writing, who employs the cleaner, what insurance the business carries, what products it uses, how it handles keys, pets and breakage, and what happens if you cancel or are unhappy. The answers tell you more about a cleaning business than its price does.

Start with what you want done

Write down the rooms, the tasks, how often, pets, allergies and anything that must not be touched. A clear request gets quotes you can compare, and it becomes the checklist you hold the cleaner to. If you are not sure how often you need a visit, see how often to have your house cleaned.

The questions to ask

What exactly is included, and what is extra? Ask for a written list of tasks per room. Inside the oven and fridge, interior windows, baseboards, blinds, laundry and dishes are often add-ons. Ask whether the first visit is priced as a deep clean, and what the recurring price is after it. What house cleaning costs in Virginia covers what drives the number.

How do you price it? A flat fee per visit, or an hourly rate per cleaner? How many cleaners come, and for how long? What happens if the job runs over?

Who employs the cleaner? This matters more than most people expect. The IRS lists housecleaning workers, housekeepers and maids among household workers,^[1] and a worker is your employee if you can control not only what work is done but how it is done, whether the work is full time or part time.^[1] If an agency provides the worker and controls what work is done and how, the worker is not your employee.^[1] Social Security and Medicare taxes apply to a household employee you pay $3,000 or more in cash wages in 2026.^[1] A business that employs its own cleaners, or a self-employed cleaner running their own business, keeps those duties off your plate.

What insurance do you carry, and can I see the certificate? Ask about liability coverage, for damage to your home, and workers' compensation, for a cleaner hurt on the job. Do not assume a small business has workers' compensation: Virginia's Workers' Compensation Act does not count domestic servants as employees,^[2] and it also leaves out employees of a business that regularly has fewer than three employees in Virginia unless they choose to be covered.^[2] A certificate of insurance names the insurer and the dates; call the insurer if you want to confirm it.

Are you bonded, and what does the bond cover? "Bonded" is used loosely. Ask what the bond pays for, the amount, and how a claim is made.

Do you hold a local business licence? A routine cleaning business is not usually a licensed contractor: Virginia's contractor licence is defined around the construction, removal, repair or improvement of buildings and other improvements to real property.^[3] Local licensing is different. Virginia counties, cities and towns may levy license taxes on businesses, trades, professions and occupations,^[4] so it is fair to ask whether the business is licensed in the locality where it operates.

What products and equipment do you use? Ask for the product names if anyone has asthma, allergies or chemical sensitivities, or if you have stone counters, hardwood or other surfaces that need particular care. Ask whether the crew knows to never mix cleaning products unless the label says to,^[6] and, if they disinfect, whether they use registered products: an EPA-registered disinfectant carries an EPA registration number on the product.^[5] For allergies, EPA suggests a vacuum with a HEPA filter on carpet and fabric-covered furniture.^[7] Ask whether they bring one, or will use yours.

How do you handle keys, alarms and pets? Ask where keys or codes are kept, who has access, and whether the same cleaner or team comes each time. Ask how they work around pets and whether pets need to be shut in a room.

What happens if something breaks, or a room is missed? Ask how you report it, how quickly they come back, and how they settle damage.

What are your cancellation rules? Ask how much notice either side has to give, and what a late cancellation or a locked-out visit costs.

Can you give me references? Ask for recent customers with homes like yours, and ask those customers whether the same cleaner kept coming and whether problems were fixed.

Red flags

• No written quote or task list, only a verbal price.
• Pressure to pay for many visits up front.
• Vague or no answer about insurance, or a refusal to show a certificate.
• A different person every visit with no explanation.
• Offers to "treat" mold, sewage or other contamination as part of a routine clean.

Stop and call a pro if

• The house needs more than cleaning: mold, sewage, a biohazard or heavy contamination. Those are specialist jobs; Virginia's contractor definition even counts remediation, cleanup or containment of premises to remove contaminants as an improvement,^[3] which is a different kind of work from house cleaning.
• Cleaning turns up a leak, water stains or damaged flooring, which need a repair, not a cleaner.
• The work needs ladders above head height, such as high windows or a two-storey foyer light.

Finding a cleaner on Loclis

You can browse house cleaning businesses, look up cleaning services around Blacksburg, or read the other cleaning answers. To get quotes, describe the job on Loclis in your own words.