This calculator helps you estimate how long it will take to clean a house and what it might cost. Whether you’re a professional cleaner setting prices or a homeowner planning a cleaning project this tool provides accurate estimates based on industry standards and real-world cleaning rates that you can adjust for your market.
House Cleaning Time & Cost Calculator
Property Details
Cleaning Details
Pricing Details
Specialty Services
How to use this calculator
1. Property Details
Start by entering the basic information about the property. By default, this tool estimates a standard cleaning service. A standard maid service typically includes mopping, vacuuming, dusting, wiping down surfaces, and cleaning bathrooms and kitchens. You can customize the estimate by choosing deep cleaning options or adding specialty services.
- Square Footage: Enter the total square footage of your home (default is 2,000 sq ft)
- Number of Bedrooms: Select 1-6 bedrooms
- Number of Bathrooms: Select 1-5 bathrooms
- Number of Living Rooms: Select 1-4 living rooms
- Number of Floors: Select 1-4 stories (each additional floor adds 5 minutes to account for stairs)
2. Cleaning Specifications
Next, specify the type of cleaning needed:
- Kitchen Size:
- Compact: No additional time
- Standard: Adds 15 minutes
- Large: Adds 40 minutes
- Gourmet: Adds 1 hour
- Cleaning Level:
- Standard: Basic cleaning (mopping, vacuuming, surface wiping)
- Deep Cleaning: Adds 20% more time (includes detailed cleaning of baseboards, appliances)
- Cleaning Speed: Choose based on experience level. According to MyHouseCleaningBiz.com, you can expect housekeepers to clean 200 – 300 sq. feet per hour on average. This tool allows you to adjust cleaning speed based on the space.
- Slow: 200 sq ft per hour
- Moderate: 250 sq ft per hour
- Professional: 300 sq ft per hour
- Fast: 350 sq ft per hour
- Insanely Fast: 450 sq ft per hour
Make a plan for cleaning each room in the house.
3. Pricing and Staff
- Rate per Hour: Enter your hourly rate (default $60). According to ZipRecruiter, the average salary for a housekeeper will range from $16.00 – $26.20 per hour on the high-end. If you’re able to charge $60 per hour for cleaning services, you should be able to maintain profitability in most markets.
- Number of Cleaners: Select 1-3 cleaners (time is divided by number of cleaners).
4. Specialty Services
You can remove add or remove any custom service with estimated hours so you can provide a custom estimate for each household. These estimates will also be displayed in the break down of the results. Click the “Calculate Estimate” button to see the results.
Formulas used:
Base Time Calculation:
Base Hours = Square Footage ÷ Cleaning Speed Rate
For example:
- 2,000 sq ft home at Moderate speed (250 sq ft/hr) = 8 base hours
- 2,000 sq ft home at Professional speed (300 sq ft/hr) = 6.67 base hours
Cost Calculation:
Total Cost = (Total Hours ÷ Number of Cleaners) × Hourly Rate × Number of Cleaners
Time Distribution
The calculator breaks down the cleaning time across different areas. This gives prospective customers an understanding on the amount of time you’ll spend in each zone of the house and can be used to support total cost.
- Bedrooms: 25% of total time
- Bathrooms: 30% of total time
- Living Rooms: 20% of total time
- Kitchen: 25% of total time
- Specialty Services: Added separately and included in the output.
Have confidence in your quote
Shane from the ConsistentClean channel on YouTube has on of the best series I’ve found on starting a cleaning business available online. In addition to figuring out your rates, In the series, Shane emphasizes that the most important part of the estimate isn’t necessarily the dollar amount: it’s about conveying confidence to potential clients. “The most important part of the estimate actually is conveying confidence. The only thing that the prospective customer knows about you is what they see from you in the estimate,” says Shane.
ConsistentClean on YouTube.
This means that even if the calculator provides a price range, it’s important to approach clients with a confident explanation and having the guts to charge what you’re worth.
Keep Quotes Simple
Keeping estimates simple is crucial for building confidence with clients, and Shane emphasizes that overcomplicating estimates can actually undermine your ability to win jobs. When you’re overly focused on minute details and constantly recalculating during an in-home walkthrough, it’s easy to lose confidence—which your prospective clients can sense.
As Shane puts it, “One of the mistakes I made just starting out was I made my estimates overly complicated… the more you’re thinking about the price during the estimate, the less confidence you’re going to convey to that prospective customer.” By keeping calculations straightforward, you can focus on what really matters: connecting with the client and presenting yourself as a capable professional.
The House Cleaning Time Estimator tool is designed to keep things simple and intuitive, giving you a clear estimate quickly, without getting bogged down by unnecessary details. It uses a base rate concept for typical rooms, while allowing easy customization for exceptions or additional features.
Handling exceptions and special requests
Handling exceptions and unique situations is an important part of creating accurate estimates, and Shane emphasizes the value of adapting pricing for larger or more complex areas. Instead of letting these situations overwhelm you, he suggests adding extra charges based on the additional time required. As Shane says, “Let’s say that as you go through the kitchen, it’s not typical, it’s huge… come up with a dollar amount that’s fair for that particular kitchen.”
Maintaining confidence when quoting these exceptions is essential. You need to ensure you’re being paid fairly for your work. Asking clients to pay more can feel intimidating, especially when it’s a big request like cleaning both the inside and outside of windows. However, staying profitable is key to the long-term success of your business.
The House Cleaning Time Estimator simplifies this by allowing you to add exceptions or specialty services, making sure you charge the right price without overcomplicating the process. This approach helps you stay confident in your quotes while ensuring an accurate and fair estimate.
Related tools:
House Cleaning Cost and Pricing Calculator: Create pricing projections for any size house so you turn a profit on every clean.
About the Author: Brett Lindenberg
