Questions to Ask Before Hiring a House Cleaner in Harrisburg

Eleven questions, what a good answer sounds like, and ours for each one.

Negreiro Cleaning Services LLCSeptember 18, 2026

Hiring a cleaner means giving somebody access to your home, usually on a repeating basis, often when you are not there. It deserves more thought than most people give it, and the questions that matter are not the ones people usually ask.

These are the eleven worth asking anybody, including us. Our answers are underneath each one, and two of them are answers a larger company would give differently.

1. Who Will Actually Be in My House

The most important question and the one people forget. Ask whether it is the same person or people each visit, or whoever is on the schedule that week.

A rotating crew means a dozen different people learn your house over a year and none of them is responsible for what the last one missed. It is also a dozen people who have had your door code.

Ours: Thais and Joseph, the two owners. They do the work themselves, every visit, and there is no crew behind them.

2. Is Anyone Background Checked, and Who Exactly

Listen closely to the answer. A company that says our team is background checked is making a claim about people it may hire next month.

Ask which specific people have been checked, and when.

Ours: Thais is background checked. That is the accurate claim and it is the one we make, which is why this site never says our team.

3. Are You Insured

Straightforward question, and a yes or no answer is fine. What matters is that somebody has thought about what happens if something gets broken.

Ours: the business is insured. If something gets broken or damaged, you speak to Thais directly on 717-831-2653. Breakages are handled by the owner, in a conversation, not through a form or a claims department.

4. Do You Bring Your Own Supplies

Some companies expect you to stock products. That is not automatically bad, but it needs to be known before the first visit rather than discovered on it.

Also ask whether they will use a product you provide, which matters if anyone in the house reacts to a scent or a cleaner.

Ours: we bring our own supplies, equipment, and products to every visit. If there is a product you would rather we use in your home, tell us and we will use it.

5. How Do You Work Out the Price

A per square foot rate sounds precise and assumes an average condition, an average layout, and an average number of bathrooms. If your house is not average in all three, the number is wrong in one direction or the other.

A price given over the phone is a guess about condition, which is one of the four things that actually sets the cost.

Ours: we look at the home first and send a written estimate. The longer version is in what actually drives the price.

6. Will I Get It in Writing, With Hours

A number on its own cannot be checked. A number with the hours behind it can, and it tells you whether the company has understood the size of the job.

If two quotes are close but one plans three hours and the other plans six, one of them is wrong about your house.

Ours: a written estimate with the price and how long we expect to be there, and nothing gets added to the number after the fact.

7. What Exactly Is Included, and What Is Not

Ask for the list by name. Baseboards, door frames, light fixtures, grout, window sills, inside the microwave. A company that answers kitchens and bathrooms has told you nothing.

Then ask what the add ons are. Inside the oven, inside the fridge, inside cabinets, interior windows, laundry, and the basement are the usual ones.

Ours: the room by room list is on each service page, and the difference between a deep clean and a standard clean is spelled out rather than left to the word deep.

8. What Happens If I Need to Cancel or Move a Visit

Ask before you need to know, not after. Notice periods vary and so does whether anything is charged.

Ours: 24 hours notice to cancel a visit or move it to another day, and moving it is free with that notice. Inside that window we have usually turned down other work for the slot.

9. How Does Access Work, and Who Holds a Key

If you will not be home, somebody has a key or a code. Ask who, where it is kept, and what happens to it if that person stops working there.

This is where a rotating crew is at its weakest and where a two person company is at its strongest.

Ours: the two people with access are the two owners. Some clients stay, some hand over a key or a door code and come back to a finished house.

10. Where Are Your Reviews, and How Many Are Real

Look for reviews on a platform that verifies the job happened. Testimonials on a company's own website can be written by anybody, including the company.

Ask how many reviews they have rather than only what the rating is. A perfect five from three reviews says less than a 4.8 from thirty.

Ours: 4.8 stars across 29 Thumbtack reviews, 33 jobs completed, and Top Pro for 2025. Five of those reviews are written out and all five are on this site word for word. Our Google reviews start at zero, because the profile is new, and we would rather say that than pad the page.

11. Can You Actually Take My Job

The question people never ask, and the one that saves everybody time. Some companies say yes to everything and then send whoever is free.

Ask about your actual schedule, your actual town, and your actual house. A cleaner who is honest about what they cannot do is telling you something useful about the rest of their answers.

Ours: there are two of us. We do not take large commercial contracts, we work seven days a week from 8am to 9pm, and York is scheduled in advance rather than at short notice because it is a drive. If we cannot fit you in, we will say so rather than booking something we cannot keep.

Four Answers That Should Make You Pause

Not proof of anything on their own. Worth a second question, every time.

A firm price before anybody has seen the house. It means the number is based on an average home, and your home is either better or worse than average. One of those costs you money and the other one turns into a conversation on the day.

Our team is background checked, with no names attached. Ask who, and when. A claim about a team is a claim about people who may not have been hired yet.

A list that stops at kitchens and bathrooms. Every cleaning company on earth does kitchens and bathrooms. The difference between companies is what else is named, and a vague list is vague for a reason.

No written anything. If the price, the hours, and the inclusions only exist in a conversation, then the version that gets remembered later is whichever one suits the person remembering it.

None of these mean somebody is dishonest. They mean the answer has not been thought through, and a cleaning arrangement that has not been thought through is one you will be renegotiating in three months.

Hiring Questions We Get Asked in Harrisburg

How do I book with Negreiro Cleaning Services?

Call or text 717-831-2653, or fill out the free estimate form on this site. Tell us the size of the home, how many bathrooms, what kind of clean you want, and when you need it. We come look, send a written price, and put you on the calendar.

Will it be the same cleaners every time?

Yes. Thais and Joseph do the work themselves, so it is the same two people at your door every visit. There is no crew and no rotating staff, which means nobody has to be shown around your house twice.

Do you speak Spanish or Portuguese?

Yes. We speak English, Portuguese, and Spanish. Thais handles the calls and the scheduling, so you can arrange the whole thing in whichever of the three you would rather use.

How do I pay, and is a deposit required?

We take cash, check, and Zelle. No deposit is taken to hold a date and no card is kept on file. Payment is due for work completed, at the price on the written estimate.

Ask us all eleven

Call or text 717-831-2653. If an answer is no, you will hear no rather than a maybe.

Get my free estimate Call 717-831-2653