I decided to try Dusty's because they got a five-star rating on Yelp. I told the guy who answered the phone that this was a massive deep-clean project as the tenants left years of filth and debris everywhere, so it was going to be close to an all-day job. On the positive side, he could send out a crew in just two days. However, their arrival window was from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. I was a bit skeptical, but I'm not in the business of cleaning to really know how much time is needed. They arrived a tad late (at 2:08 p.m.) and worked their butts off till 6:08 p.m. But there were a few problems.
First, four hours simply weren't enough to finish cleaning. Second, they arrived with a carpet vacuum cleaner. All the floors are either wood or linoleum. As the saying goes, they brought a knife to a gun fight. Third, they had no shop vacuum. How can you do any sort of thorough job without a shop vac? There were crevices, where the floor meets the wall, that couldn't be cleaned, and cobwebs on the drapery rods that were missed. Fourth, they had no ladder of any sort, only a small step stool that maybe was 9 inches high. How did they expect to clean the ceiling fan blades and light bulb covers? Fifth, their native language was Spanish, and their English was not really all that good. Oh heck, why try to sugarcoat it? -- it was downright bad. This created built-in communication problems. I told the one gal to NOT clean the cupboards under the kitchen counter because I'm tearing out and replacing the whole system, sink and all. I don't know how long she was into cleaning it before I happened to walk around the corner and catch her in full blown scouring mode on those cupboards.
Fortunately for the project, I did have a two-step step stool which allowed them an extra 20 inches or so to access the high shelves in the bedroom and kitchen. They also needed it for cleaning the ceiling fans in the living room and bedrooms. However, they used rags to dust and clean the ceiling fan components. After they left, I went back over their job with a shop vac brush attachment to get them really dust-free.
They did clean the wood floors fairly well with some sort of sopping wet swifter. I was a little apprehensive of warping giving the wetness of their approach, but it air dried with no apparent ill effects. Unfortunately, the tenants had left gooey or otherwise scrub-resistent crud on the wood floors which water -- or whatever was in the swifter mop head -- was totally ineffectual in removing. I'll have to go back with 409, or something stronger if necessary, to remove those stains. I think they should have done so but suspect they weren't prepared for that kind of cleaning.
The bathroom was really disgusting, but the one lady pretty much brought it back from the brink of hell. I was impressed with what she accomplished. The tenants must have decided against a shower curtain because I now have wood rot by the tub that a contractor will have to fix.
The gal doing the kitchen did a decent job with the linoleum floor and a so-so job on the exterior of the refrigerator, getting the broad areas really clean, but no so much with the crud where fittings met the sheet metal. She did, however, do an OUTSTANDING job on the interior of the refrigerator. It was so dirty, I had contemplated having to replace it. But she made it look almost new. (Fortunately, she didn't have to clean the stove. It was so gunked up and corroded, I had already junked it.) She also deserves massive kudos for the getting the grease off the kitchen walls. Before she hit the job, if you put your hand on the wall, pulling it off would feel like you were wearing a Velcro glove. You would then need turpentine or acetone to clean your hand.
Bottom line, the message that drastically SEVERE DEEP cleaning needed to be done was not effectively communicated to the two-woman crew. They worked VERY hard and did the best they could given the tools they had, though I wish they had brought their own ladder, shop vac, and more caustic cleaning chemicals. When they departed, they mentioned mine was the third job they had that day. I don't know where they got their stamina.
Would I use Dusty's again? (a) Yes, if it's just routine necessary cleaning. I was really impressed with the thoroughness and "elbow grease" that those two women brought to the job. (b) But maybe not if the place ever gets so filthy again as it was, because apparently no one expects that level of crud. Some years ago I had a similar situation and hired Merry Maids who sent out three women. The two from Dusty's did a way better job than the three from Merry Maids. read more