Most articles that answer this question answer it very vaguely. This one is different. We’re Squeakly, a residential cleaning company based in Victoria, BC, and we’re going to walk you through exactly how professional cleaning is priced, what drives costs up or down, and what to watch out for when you’re comparing quotes.
The Question Almost Every Client Asks First
When someone contacts us for the first time, the first question is almost always the same: “What’s your hourly rate?”
We don’t have one.
Squeakly charges a flat fixed fee per clean, and when we explain that some clients need a moment to warm up to the idea. Hourly billing is what most of the industry does, so it’s what people expect. But once we walk through why fixed fee works better for them, most people come around quickly.
Why Fixed Fee Is Better for You as a Client
With hourly billing, you’re carrying risk. A messier home takes longer, which means a higher bill. A slower cleaner costs you more. You don’t really know what you’re going to pay until the job is done. Or, worse, it’s done on time and budget but you’re left with a partially cleaned home.
Fixed fee flips that. You know the exact price before we walk through your door, and it doesn’t change based on how long the job takes. That certainty matters, especially for recurring service where you’re budgeting month to month.
It also protects you on harder weeks. Had a dinner party the night before your scheduled clean? With hourly billing, that’s a bigger bill. With Squeakly, you pay the same rate you always pay.
There’s another benefit that doesn’t get talked about enough. When cleaners are paid hourly, there’s an awkward dynamic when a job runs long. A cleaner who quoted two hours but isn’t finished at the two-hour mark has to choose between leaving an incomplete job or working for free. Fixed fee removes that tension entirely. Our job isn’t done until your home is clean — full stop.
What Actually Drives the Price of a Clean
Our pricing is built around square footage as the primary variable. We also account for factors like pets, but as a company we’re moving toward pricing based entirely on known, objective factors rather than judgment calls made quote by quote. That consistency benefits clients as much as it benefits us.
Beyond size, the type of clean matters significantly. We offer four service types, and they’re priced quite differently from one another.
Recurring service is your regular scheduled cleaning — weekly, biweekly, or monthly. The more frequently we visit, the lower the price per clean, because a regularly maintained home is genuinely faster and easier to clean each time.
An initial clean is the first visit for a new recurring client. It’s priced at the same level as a one-time clean because the home is starting from scratch, but if you move forward with recurring service, you receive a discounted rate applied to that first visit.
A one-time clean is a single visit with no ongoing commitment. It’s priced higher than recurring service for the same reason — we’re starting fresh every time, with no baseline established.
A move-out clean is the most intensive service we offer. These cleans are thorough by necessity — appliances, baseboards, closets, walls — and they almost always have a hard deadline tied to a tenancy end date. We price these at a premium intentionally, because they represent a genuine commitment of time and care.
How We Price Compared to the Rest of the Market
Pricing in the residential cleaning industry in Victoria varies widely. On the low end, you’ll find discount platforms and deal apps offering cleans for $80 to $99. On the higher end, established local companies with trained staff, insurance, and service guarantees charge considerably more.
Squeakly sits in the professional tier. We’re not the cheapest option, and we don’t try to be. For recurring service, most Victoria homes fall somewhere in the range of $175 to $385 per visit depending on size and frequency. One-time cleans and move-outs are priced higher to reflect the actual work involved.
If you want an exact quote for your home, we keep the process simple — reach out and we’ll turn it around quickly.
Two Situations Where Fixed Fee Made a Real Difference
The Post-Party Clean
One of our recurring clients hosts regularly. Under hourly billing, a messier-than-usual home the morning after a gathering would mean a higher invoice. With our model, she pays her regular biweekly rate — full stop. The post-party clean costs exactly the same as any other visit.
The Move-Out Clean
Move-outs are unpredictable by nature. You don’t always know what you’re walking into until you’re there. Appliances haven’t been cleaned in years. The tops of cabinets were forgotten about. The walls need a wipe-down throughout.
An hourly quote for a move-out is almost always an underestimate, which means clients either get a surprise at billing or a job that stops when the clock runs out. Our flat move-out rate means you know the number going in, and we don’t leave until the place is done.
What You’re Really Getting When You Go Cheap
We’ve re-cleaned after discount services more than once. Clients who come to us after trying a $99 offer often notice the difference quickly — not always in what’s visible at first glance, but in the details, the consistency, and whether the same standard holds up visit after visit.
There are a few things we offer that lower-priced options typically don’t include.
We back every clean with a 24-hour re-clean guarantee. If something wasn’t done to your satisfaction, we come back within 24 hours at no charge. That guarantee means something because we stand behind it.
We’re also fully insured and bonded. This matters more than most people realize until something goes wrong. If there’s damage or something goes missing, you have real recourse with an insured company. With an uninsured cleaner, you don’t.
Cheap cleaning is cheap for a reason. You’re typically getting less training, less oversight, no service guarantee, and no insurance coverage. For a casual one-off tidy before a relaxed gathering, that trade-off might be acceptable. For ongoing service in your home — a space where you and your family live — it’s a gamble that most people eventually stop making.
Quality, consistency, and peace of mind have a price. We think it’s a fair one.
What to Ask Before You Book Anyone
Regardless of which company you choose, these are the questions worth asking before you commit.
Are you insured and bonded?
Do you offer any satisfaction guarantee?
How is your pricing structured — hourly or flat fee?
What’s included in a standard clean, and what costs extra?
Who specifically will be cleaning my home, and is that consistent visit to visit?
The answers will tell you a lot about what you’re actually buying.
Ready to Get a Quote?
We keep our pricing transparent because we think you deserve to understand what you’re paying for and why. If you’d like an exact quote for your home in Victoria or the surrounding area, contact us — we’ll have a number back to you without any guesswork involved.
