Carpet cleaning

[Only me]

I have several chronic health conditions that cause me a lot of pain. I do not have a job and therefore my husband feels that I should be 100% responsible for the house.

 

Long story but we have to host about 20 girls from my daughter's college hockey team. It will literally only be about 9-10 hours. They just need to stay here to sleep on the way to a game. Their college is 4 hours away from us and they are playing a a school an additional 8 hours from us. It's going to be a big inconvenience but I've agreed to it because my daughter is one of the drivers. She won't get home from practice until midnight the night before and then has several hours of classes from about 8-4. They are leaving at 4:30 and it will be difficult for her (or any of the drivers) to drive 8+ hours and not get there until 1 am. It will help a lot stopping at our house.

 

Due to my health problems and lack of help from anyone else, my house is a bit of a mess. I don't mean things like dishes, laundry or the main bathroom and I'm not a hoarder. I mean more like piles of papers that need to be gone through and things like washing windows, floor boards, cobwebs, ceiling fans.

 

Since we will need to have people sleep on couches I need to spot clean and vacuum those. We also have a sofa sleeper in the basement so now I need to straighten the basement up. It's a mess-mostly from stuff from my college daughter who graduated but she won't have time to help. The basement is also our catch all for things we want to store but since it is hard for me to bend over or lift it isn't very organized. I realize that college kids probably won't care but I'm embarrassed by the mess and it's totally up to me to clean it up.

 

The biggest thing is our carpets. They need to be shampooed. We have dogs and we spot clean but they need a deep cleaning since some people may have to sleep on the floor. My husband used to do it regularly but ever since I got sick he has stopped doing stuff. He holds it against me that I don't work full time and that I don't keep the house as clean as he wants. Today I asked him if he was going to be able to do it before the kids come and he had a fit saying "your arms aren't broken". I told him I don't Know how to run the machine and asked if he would show me and at least help me move furniture but he refuses.

 

He said I can just hire someone. The problem is I really just want a few rooms and the stairs done. How does that work? Will I still have to move furniture? We have a piano so I don't even want that moved. Do they have to move it? Can I just keep it there?

[dirty ethel rackham]

I would call a cleaning service for straightening and cleaning the house. Explain your needs and they can give you a quote.  Make sure they are bonded and insured.  Then I would call and get the carpets cleaned.  They can lift the furniture for you and they usually place styrofoam risers under anything they have cleaned to prevent the legs from getting wet from the carpet.  They should even be able to clean those couches.  They probably won't move the piano and I don't think you would want them to do so. 

 

You didn't say when they would be coming, but, with the holidays approaching, cleaning services tend to fill up fast.  I would hop on it soon. 

 

 

[TranquilMind]

I have several chronic health conditions that cause me a lot of pain. I do not have a job and therefore my husband feels that I should be 100% responsible for the house.

 

Long story but we have to host about 20 girls from my daughter's college hockey team. It will literally only be about 9-10 hours. They just need to stay here to sleep on the way to a game. Their college is 4 hours away from us and they are playing a a school an additional 8 hours from us. It's going to be a big inconvenience but I've agreed to it because my daughter is one of the drivers. She won't get home from practice until midnight the night before and then has several hours of classes from about 8-4. They are leaving at 4:30 and it will be difficult for her (or any of the drivers) to drive 8+ hours and not get there until 1 am. It will help a lot stopping at our house.

 

Due to my health problems and lack of help from anyone else, my house is a bit of a mess. I don't mean things like dishes, laundry or the main bathroom and I'm not a hoarder. I mean more like piles of papers that need to be gone through and things like washing windows, floor boards, cobwebs, ceiling fans.

 

Since we will need to have people sleep on couches I need to spot clean and vacuum those. We also have a sofa sleeper in the basement so now I need to straighten the basement up. It's a mess-mostly from stuff from my college daughter who graduated but she won't have time to help. The basement is also our catch all for things we want to store but since it is hard for me to bend over or lift it isn't very organized. I realize that college kids probably won't care but I'm embarrassed by the mess and it's totally up to me to clean it up.

 

The biggest thing is our carpets. They need to be shampooed. We have dogs and we spot clean but they need a deep cleaning since some people may have to sleep on the floor. My husband used to do it regularly but ever since I got sick he has stopped doing stuff. He holds it against me that I don't work full time and that I don't keep the house as clean as he wants. Today I asked him if he was going to be able to do it before the kids come and he had a fit saying "your arms aren't broken". I told him I don't Know how to run the machine and asked if he would show me and at least help me move furniture but he refuses.

 

He said I can just hire someone. The problem is I really just want a few rooms and the stairs done. How does that work? Will I still have to move furniture? We have a piano so I don't even want that moved. Do they have to move it? Can I just keep it there?

Use a truck-mounted steam cleaner to really get it clean.  They will move furniture but it costs more.  They will put it back if you want. 

[Guest]

Stanley Steemer has their prices on line, as do a few others. Who ever you hire will move what needs to be moved, usually not a piano or china closet.

 

With your husband not understanding the medical issues....try taking him in to the next appointment. I had a similar problem, and my dr and the nurse explained the restrictions. There are a lot of people who were raised to think a woman is malingering rather than has restrictions due to medical, and they need help understanding. Five years ago I was very ill, and it was 4 years till my energy returned...I still get stupid comments like 'gee, you never danced at a wedding reception before', as they all pretend that nothing ever happened and formerly I was too stupid to know how to dance, when really I had no energy and would have appreciated an armchair.

[magnificent_baby]

Just had mine done this morning. It looks brand new and I am so glad I spent the money, versus using my own machine. 

 

The company I used suggested to pick up everything possible, vacuum really well and they will clean what is visible (I didn't want to pay extra for them moving furniture but they do offer that if desired). No furniture was moved and I am so pleased with the results, wish we would have done this a long time ago. It cost me $230 for around 1100 square feet. I chose a company with really good reviews and before/after pics on Yelp.

 

I was in a similar position as you when my husband refused to help me in the basement because it "wasn't his stuff". I hounded him for weeks to help move the numerous totes that have been sitting in the middle of the basement, and he finally realized he needed to step up so he worked on that this weekend. We also have a party coming up and I told him I just can't do it all myself.