Picture a Sunday evening in Žižkov. Mum comes home after surgery on Tuesday, so her daughter needs help with house cleaning before then. The shower is chalky, the kitchen counter has vanished under everyday stuff, and nobody has looked beneath the bed for months. She rings a cleaner and says, a little apologetically, “I think four hours should do it.” Maybe. But four hours only tells me what she can spend. It says nothing about which room needs to be ready for Mum. Put that time into the bathroom and kitchen and both can feel properly usable. Chase the whole flat and the cleaner may leave five partly finished rooms behind.
Name the result before you count the hours
Forget the clock for a minute. Is the job about keeping a decent flat decent, or rescuing areas that have slipped for months? That distinction matters more than the label on a booking page. Recurring home cleaning keeps up. A deep cleaning service catches up.
Before asking for a price, write down three things: the non-negotiable result, the deadline and the honest state of the rooms. “Bathroom safe for Mum on Tuesday” is useful. “Clean the flat” is not. Mention the furry dog, the greasy cupboard tops and the boxes blocking half the hallway.
Photos help enormously. I would rather see one unflattering close-up of the shower screen than ten wide shots taken from the doorway. For a 70 m² flat, the square metres say little about limescale, clutter or access behind furniture.
Then make two lists. The first has the jobs that must be done. The second is for spare time. In the Žižkov flat, I would put the bathroom and a clear, hygienic kitchen first. Polished internal doors can wait. That may sound obvious; once a cleaner arrives and twenty small requests appear, it rarely is.
When recurring cleaning makes sense
Book a regular visit when the dirt is ordinary and keeps coming back. Think toothpaste around the basin, crumbs in the kitchen, dust on clear shelves, footprints and dog hair. If you are wondering what house cleaners include, our guide to what recurring cleaning includes covers the detail; in brief, most visits deal with the toilet and bathroom, reachable kitchen surfaces, dusting, vacuuming and mopping. Check the provider's own list. Czech cleaning services do not share one compulsory checklist.
Two adults in a Vinohrady studio might be fine with every other week. Add two children, a Labrador and a 4+1 flat, and weekly help starts to look sensible. For an older relative, I would prioritise a safe floor, the bathroom and the kitchen. Giving every room identical attention is neat on paper but not always useful.
The first visit often takes longer. Old marks have to be dealt with, products are unfamiliar and the cleaner does not yet know that the vacuum lives behind the coats. A deeper initial visit followed by shorter maintenance can be the better arrangement.
Oven interiors, windows, blind slats, grout, cupboard tops and upholstery usually do not fit into a short routine slot. Nor does sorting possessions. A cleaner faced with crowded surfaces has two choices: move things carefully or clean around them. Both consume time; neither is decluttering.
When to book a one-off or deep clean
A one off house cleaning visit is simply a normal clean booked once. It works before guests arrive, after a spell of illness, after a long trip or when a family carer needs breathing room. One-off does not mean every corner, appliance and window is included.
Deep cleaning is different. It may include old grease, stubborn limescale, skirting boards, radiators, door frames and reachable spaces behind furniture. “May” is deliberate. Ovens, fridge interiors, windows, carpets and upholstery are often separate items. Ask for them by name.
I also would not use deep clean, handover clean and post-renovation clean interchangeably. An occupied flat has furniture and personal things in the way. A handover job is normally empty, with more attention paid to cupboards, appliances and traces left by the last resident. Renovation dust is another beast. It settles again after the first pass, gets into tracks and fittings, and may need specialist equipment. Dried paint, silicone and adhesive can add yet another job.
One mistake crops up a lot: someone books a standard clean after painters have left. The cheap quote changes at the front door because the job was never standard. Say what happened in the flat. Send pictures. Nobody benefits from a surprise layer of plaster dust.
A decision table based on the state of your home
This is a starting point, not a promise of hours. Clutter, materials, access and crew size still count.
| What the home looks like | Start with | Likely focus for one visit | Quote separately | |---|---|---|---| | Generally maintained; no time | Weekly or fortnightly recurring clean | Bathroom, toilet, open kitchen surfaces, dust and floors | Windows, oven, fridge, blinds, upholstery | | Maintained; guests coming or illness just ended | Standard one-off clean | The named rooms and urgent surfaces | Heavy limescale, appliance interiors, detailed scrubbing | | Grease, crowded surfaces and a backlog | Deep clean, perhaps over two visits | Hygiene first, then details in agreed order | Decluttering, waste removal, windows, work at height | | Empty before moving or handover | Move-in or handover clean | Sanitary ware, floors, listed cupboards and appliances | Disposal, repairs, paint or adhesive removal | | Dust after drilling, sanding or building work | Post-renovation clean | Repeated dust removal from agreed surfaces | Specialist residue removal and builders' window cleaning |
Still unsure? Look at where the minutes will go. Familiar bathroom-and-floor work points to maintenance. If the cleaner will spend Tuesday morning crouched over old grout and pulling dust from forgotten edges, call it what it is: a reset.
How to request quotes you can actually compare
Send the same information to everyone: Prague district, lift or stairs, floor area, number of bathrooms, pets, current condition, photos and one task list. Otherwise two prices are just two unrelated numbers.
Here is a request I would be happy to receive:
> Two-bedroom flat, 72 m², Prague 3, third floor with a lift. Needed by Tuesday: bathroom and toilet, grease on reachable kitchen surfaces, dust, vacuuming and mopping. The shower has heavier limescale. Please price the oven and two windows separately. Photos attached. Do you bring supplies, and is travel included?
Also ask about the vacuum, mop and products. Check parking, transport and work-at-height charges before the visit. If you are booking for a relative, agree that the cleaner will send a few completion photos. If you will be home, a two-minute walk-through is usually enough.
Hourly pricing suits a regular visit with ranked priorities. When time runs out, everybody knows which optional item waits. A fixed price is easier for a tightly described handover or renovation job, provided it rests on photos, a survey and a written scope. A fixed price for an unseen “whole flat” makes me wary.
The best request is candid, not elaborate. Once the provider knows the condition, deadline and must-do jobs, you can compare offers without guessing what each one hides.
If you need help with house cleaning in Prague, Čistýkout is one local option. Its contact form is a place to send the photos and two to four jobs that cannot wait. A few candid details now are much nicer than an awkward renegotiation in the hallway later.
