For most homeowners in Houston, it seems as if there’s never enough time in the day. Between work meetings, school plays and basketball practices, it seems as if every moment spent relaxing is precious. With such a busy lifestyle, who wants to come home and do housework after a long day?
Keeping a clean and well-maintained home goes beyond just “keeping up with the Jones,” as they say. Your home is an investment, and if you let it fall into disrepair, then you’re not going to get as much out of your investment when it comes time to sell. Clogged cutters and broken garage doors don’t exactly inspire confidence in buyers.
Inside, your home doesn’t have to be perfectly neat as a pin all the time, but housework, grocery trips and laundry all need to be done at some point. Cleaning your home regularly gives you the chance to look closely at your home and spot any problems that may be on the horizon. When you clean your bathroom, you’ll be able to spot any mold growing or leaky pipes. When you wash your hardwood floors, you’re helping to preserve them so they stay in good condition and checking for any signs of termites or pests.
But all of these tasks take time away from your relaxation — so why not hire someone else to do them? If you find yourself feeling guilty about putting off home projects, it’s time to take action and hire a home service to do the work for you.
With all that extra time, you’ll feel less stressed and more relaxed. Here are the top home services in Houston that will make life easier.
House cleaning
Does anyone really enjoy scrubbing floors or dusting bookshelves? Unless you’re Danny Tanner from “Full House,” probably not. Cleaning an entire home can be a major task depending on the size of the home and the type of work that must be done. Larger homes obviously take time to clean, but so do smaller homes if they’re older and require a little extra care here and there. Even with having kids clean their rooms and partners pitching in for half the work, you can still end up spending a whole day cleaning your home.
Unless you hire someone to do the house cleaning for you. When you hire house cleaning services, the company will dispatch a team of professionals to your home to scrub it from top to bottom. You can work with the company to decide what you’d like done and when you’d like the professionals to arrive.
While all house cleaning services vary by company and the amount of work you want done, most house cleaning services include:
- Vacuum all floors.
- Dust furniture, ceiling fans, blinds, wall hangings and decorative items
- General tidying
- Make beds
- Empty trash
With most house cleaning services, you can decide what tasks you’d like your team of professionals to do, though some companies may charge extra for certain services.
Having regular house cleaning services can take a lot of pressure off you and your family each week, and some services will even come to your home when you’re not there. Imagine coming home from work and walking into a clean home. With house cleaning services, it can be done.
Grocery delivery
Most people spend about 40 minutes going through the grocery store, but that doesn’t include time spent driving to the store and loading and unloading your car. Weekly grocery trips can turn into hours-long projects if you’re unprepared, but with grocery delivery services, all that work can be done for you.
Grocery delivery services such as Instacart and Amazon Fresh cut down on your time spent grocery shopping. When you shop from your couch, you have a clear head to decide what you need for the week, and you can plan out your meals, making sure you don’t forget an ingredient. Even when we make lists, we can still forget items, especially when we get distracted by a sale price or have a child in tow. Best of all, you can usually save your grocery lists and reorder them each week. With a few minor changes depending on what you plan to make for meals, this will save you even more time.
Some stores such as Walmart and Target even off curbside pickup for groceries. If you want to save on a delivery fee, these grocery services save you the trouble of doing the shopping. All you need to do is swing by, maybe after work or your favorite workout class, and grab your groceries. Many stores will even help you load your car, so your total trip time gets cut down to maybe 10 minutes.
Though it can be hard to relinquish control and let someone else choose your bananas, grocery delivery services save time and energy better spent relaxing.
Subscription boxes
Nowadays, there’s a subscription box service for just about every industry — home decor, perfume, athletic wear, meal prep — and if you like a little variety in what you buy and like to be surprised, then having a few subscription boxes can save time spent shopping.
There are hundreds of subscription services out there for just about every niche, but here are a few of our favorites:
- Meal prep: Blue Apron, Hello Fresh and other meal kits will send recipes and all ingredients right to your door. All you need to do is cook them. You can set up different delivery options for these services, such as just one or two meals a week, but they can free up your time and make dinnertime less stressful for busy homes.
- Pet supplies: Your furry friends can have their own subscription boxes too. Some will deliver food and supplies while others give you pooch fun treats and toys.
- Household necessities: Don’t you hate it when you run out of toilet paper? When you set up regular deliveries for household items, you’re sure to have a fresh supply of toilet paper, laundry detergent and other household necessities right when you need them.
- Clothing: Stitch Fix and other similar services will send you clothes to try right to your door. Try them on, keep what you like and send the rest back. You can set sizes and styles you like as well as brands you prefer.
When you have these services set up, you’ll find that you stress less about everyday problems. That peace of mind can make all of your subscriptions completely worth the money.
Gutter cleaning
You will be hard pressed to find someone who likes to clean their own gutters. It can be a dirty and time-consuming task, especially when you have a lot of trees that drop leaves and debris hanging above your home. We say why bother with the work when you can have gutter cleaning services done for you?
When you hire an expert in gutter cleaning services, you don’t have to worry about having the right equipment. Professionals in gutter cleaning services will have their own ladders and other tools. Even if your home is tall, your expert will bring the right tools to get the job done right the first time.
Even though most gutters need to be cleaned just twice a year, having an expert in gutter cleaning services to do the work will save you a lot of time. While it may not seem like such a big task, gutter cleaning services can take up a whole day if your home is especially large or has a tall roof line. It takes time to set up the ladder, clean the gutter and then move the ladder down. Experts in gutter cleaning services also need to take their time to do the job right, and some clogs can be difficult to get rid of, especially if the home is under some very large trees.
Professionals in gutter cleaning services are also trained to spot problems they might see while cleaning your gutters. If water has been spilling onto the wooden frame of your home, an expert in gutter cleaning services will let you know in case the wood begins to rot and creates a hole. Having an extra eye on your home for gutter cleaning services can save you money in the long run.
Pressure washing
When it’s time to clean your house, driveway or deck, pressure washing services are the way to go. Though you could invest in the equipment yourself or rent it from a local hardware store, you will find that you’re saving so much more time and effort by hiring an expert in pressure washing services that you won’t even give it a second thought.
Pressure washing services keep away dirt and debris from your home, and with regular pressure washing services, you’ll find that your home stays in good repair for a longer period of time. Dirt and mold can easily attach to your siding, making it look dingy and dark, and overtime, that mold can cause real problems if it’s able to find its way into your home. With pressure washing services, that mold can be washed away.
Your driveway and deck can also benefit from pressure washing services. Overtime, oil stains and dirt can darken your driveway, and you probably notice the weeds and dirt forming in the cracks. With pressure washing services, an expert will blast away the stains and debris, leaving your driveway looking like new.
The same pressure washing services can be used on decks and patios. With wooden decks, soft washing, which uses a softer pressure and a mix of chemicals to kill mold and mildew, can be combined with pressure washing services. This will protect your deck without damaging it. Stone patios can always benefit from pressure washing services, especially when weeds are growing between the crack and your grill has left grease drips and stains.
Investing in pressure washing services ensures that your home stays in good condition all year round. Mold and dirt will be washed away, keeping your home’s curb appeal high.
Lawn care
You have house cleaning services, but what about lawn care services? If your backyard is especially large or difficult to mow, then hiring a lawn care service will give you hours of time back each year.
Lawn care can be difficult to stay on top of, especially when you work long hours, When you hire a lawn care service, all the work is done on someone else’s time, and your lawn still looks beautiful. If you don’t have a green thumb or tend to trim your grass too short, having an expert take care of your lawn can keep it looking green and well maintained, even when you’re on vacation or too busy with work.
What’s really great about lawn care services is that, like house cleaning services, you don’t need to be home when the work is being done. Lawn care companies have their own equipment, and reputable companies will clean up their work once they’re finished, which means you come home to a professionally serviced lawn.
Laundry service
Don’t have time to run your favorite dress to the dry cleaners? Need to have a suit pressed before a big conference? Laundry services will pick up your clothes, wash or dry clean them and deliver them pressed and clean right to your doorstep.
Like house cleaning services, you can set your laundry services based on what you need, and a professional will come to your home, grab your laundry and drop it back off when it’s finished. Some services, like Hamper, can be scheduled via app or kiosk, and they will even deliver your laundry to your office.
Whether you choose to invest in house cleaning services, grocery delivery or pressure washing services, the goal is to make your life easier, get a little bit of time back and stress less. You don’t need every house service, so choose the ones that take the biggest stressors off your plate and get back to enjoying your weekends with your family.
Tell us: Which of these home services are you most interested in? Share your thoughts with us and let us know how our gutter cleaning services or pressure washing services can help you.