Written by Maria
The journal
Straight answers to the things people actually ask me, including the ones where the honest answer costs me the job.
4 min read
What house cleaning actually costs in Valparaiso
Real 2026 house cleaning prices for Valparaiso and Northwest Indiana, by home size and frequency, with the hours behind each figure.
3 min read
Deep clean or regular clean, and how to tell which you need
The practical difference between a deep clean and a regular clean, what each one covers, and how to work out which your home needs.
3 min read
The move out clean, and the five things they actually check
What a landlord, buyer or agent actually inspects on a move out clean in Indiana, and what a move out clean includes that a regular clean does not.
4 min read
What goes wrong in a lake house nobody is watching
What actually goes wrong in a Northwest Indiana second home over an empty winter, and the checks worth doing while nobody is there.
4 min read
Seven questions worth asking any cleaning company
The questions that actually separate cleaning companies in Northwest Indiana, and what a good answer sounds like.
5 min read
Why your house smells closed up when the heat comes on
The dust on top of door frames and return vents is what you smell in October. What to wipe before the furnace runs, and what the EPA says about indoor air.
5 min read
Should you get your air ducts cleaned?
Somebody offers every autumn. The EPA's own guidance is that duct cleaning has never been shown to prevent health problems, with three exceptions worth knowing.
4 min read
The mat by the back door is doing all the work
From November to March most of what lands on your floors walked in on somebody's shoes. What a mat actually has to be, and why it matters past the floor.
4 min read
Road salt and hardwood floors, and how to stop it
By February salt has been tracked in for three months. Why it dulls a finish, the order that stops it, and the point where cleaning cannot fix it.
5 min read
Where the stale spring smell actually comes from
Nine times out of ten it is one of four places, and none of them is the room that smells. All four are the same problem, which is moisture.
5 min read
Spring cleaning, in the order worth doing
Top down, one room finished rather than five started, and the two jobs worth the effort. Why the order is most of why spring cleaning never seems to end.
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