5 Cleaning Tasks You Should Be Subcontracting Out

This article is courtesy of MaidThis! Cleaning. MaidThis! is a California-based cleaning service specializing in vacation rental cleaning. They currently serve the greater LA, Orange County, and San Francisco areas.

When it comes to managing your vacation rental home, there are lots of things you can do on your own to save a little money.

That being said, there are plenty of things you probably shouldn’t be doing on your own and should, instead, leave to the professionals.

Some things are tough to get right, are Mike Rowe-inspired “dirty jobs,” or are just downright dangerous. When it comes to these 5 cleaning tasks, we’re going to suggest you literally phone it in.

1. Carpet Cleaning

With a constant stream of guests coming and going, your carpets are subject to a lot of wear-and-tear. Keep in mind, too, that you have little control over whether or not your guests wear their shoes in your home or where their bare feet have been… It might cause your skin to crawl a bit at the thought.

As such, you should give your carpets some TLC at least a few times a year. We’re not suggesting you do it after every guest (that would be excessive and, arguably, cause even more unnecessary wear on your floors), but at least twice a year, if not every quarter.

Sure, you can rent a Rug Doctor from a local retail store and get to it on your own. But do you really want to do that? Depending on the size of your vacation rental, this could take a few hours to complete. If you’re not organized, you could finish one room and end up unable to start the others because you have to wait for that section to dry before walking back over it to reach another area.

Hiring a team of pros to clean your carpets will save you time and a few headaches. They’ll move the furniture in common areas so every inch is covered and use safer chemicals that will help keep your floors looking better longer.

2. Exterior House Washing

If your vacation rental is an apartment or condominium, you can skip this one. But if your place is a free-standing house, you should consider what we’re saying.

The exterior of your house is, well, outside. Stuff that stays outside gets dirty. Our point: Your house gets dirty on the outside.

To keep your place looking fancy-fresh, invest in having a team come and power wash the outside of your home and unclog your gutters once a year. Depending on what your house is made of (vinyl siding, wood panels, and so on), your power wash team may need to make adjustments. They’ll worry about the details so you don’t have to.

3. Periodic Bathroom Deep-Cleans

Bathrooms are disgusting places. You (or your vacation rental cleaning company) obviously clean the bathroom each time a guest checks out, but how often are you deep cleaning it?

Here’s what we mean when we say “deep clean”:

• Scrubbing (and possibly bleaching) tile grout
• Treating water stains in the shower, on faucets, or on the mirror
• Snaking and/or pouring liquid plumber down the drains
• Removing the vent fan cover and thoroughly dusting
• Removing and wiping down light fixture covers
• Scrubbing and disinfecting the baseboards
• Washing or replacing shower curtains
• Soaking shower heads to remove buildup
• Sanitizing waste bins
• Sanitizing bath mats and rugs
• Cleaning or replacing caulking

It’s a pretty big list, isn’t it? Most of these tasks are things you can ask your cleaning team to handle in addition to their normal turnover job. Just be sure to ask with enough advanced warning so they can account for the extra time it will take. Make a point to provide additional cleaning supplies they may need to get the job done faster.

There are a few things on this list, however, like snaking drains and replacing caulking, that they may not be willing to do. If that’s the case, check for a reputable handyman on websites like Angie’s List or HomeAdvisor.

4. Pest Management

Pests are unwanted in every dwelling. From bugs to rodents, they don’t make good houseguests. If your renters spot any, you can rest assured they’ll leave a comment mentioning it in their review. Even if it’s just one time – one mouse or bug – it could be detrimental to your vacation rental business.

If you don’t (yet) have an issue with pests, it’s probably still a good idea to hire a professional pest control service to come evaluate your home once a year. With these kinds of things, it’s best to stay ahead of the game and to avoid the first sign of trouble.

If you know you have a pest problem, instead of laying traps, hire a pro to treat your home. Guests can see store-bought traps and they’re likely to let their mind wander, so better to truly keep it all “out of sight, out of mind.”

5. Remove Pet Waste from the Yard

Listing your home as pet-friendly gives you a lot of advantages over other hosts in your area. Namely, you cater to a specific niche that often gets forgotten or shunned by other vacation rentals.

When you have pets in your home, however, they tend to leave a mess. If you have a yard, you should definitely make a point to keep it free of pet waste. Feces can carry diseases and, frankly, just look gross.

After a guest with pets has checked out, make a point to have someone clean up in the yard. It’s best to hire help for this because they can better dispose of the waste and they’re likely to have better tools to handle the poo with care. Unlike the “periodic” tasks included above on this list, we recommend doing this one every time you host guests with pets.

As a vacation rental host, you want to make more bang for your buck. The saying is true, though – you have to spend money to make money.

When it comes to some cleaning tasks, it’s better to leave them to someone with more expertise. Think twice before doing these things yourself and remember: Sometimes it’s worth it to hire a little extra help.