Older adults · Duncan & Cowichan Valley

Housekeeping for seniors in Duncan, BC

Regular light housekeeping for older adults across the Cowichan Valley — unhurried, respectful of your home and your things, and the same familiar person at the door every single visit.

The same face, every visit

Letting somebody into your home takes trust, and that gets harder rather than easier as you get older. Agencies send whoever is available — a different person most weeks, each one needing to be shown round again.

That never happens here. Rama cleans every job herself. After the first couple of visits she knows which cupboard the mop lives in, which chair is not to be moved, and which photographs get dusted carefully. You are not explaining yourself again every fortnight.

What gets done

• Kitchen — counters, sink, appliance fronts, microwave inside, floors washed
• Bathrooms — toilet, tub and shower, sink, mirrors and floors, with particular care around grab bars and rails
• Living areas and bedrooms — dusting, vacuuming, floors, mirrors
• Beds — made, or linens stripped and changed
• Laundry — washed, dried and folded during the visit
• Bins emptied and re-lined, and recycling put out on the right day if you would like
• Tripping hazards — cords, loose mats and clutter in walkways tidied or flagged, whichever you prefer

Gentler products, if you need them

Fragrance sensitivity, asthma and COPD are common, and strong cleaning products make all of them worse. Unscented products are used on request at no extra charge, windows get opened while the work is happening, and if your household already has products it trusts, those get used instead. Just say so when you book.

For families arranging from away

A lot of this work is arranged by an adult child living somewhere else — Victoria, Vancouver, Alberta, further. That is straightforward:

• You arrange the schedule and agree the rate
• Invoices go to you, paid by Interac e-Transfer
• Your parent simply gets the visits, with nothing to organise or pay on the day
• If you would like a short note after each visit confirming it went ahead, just ask

For many families the real value is not the cleaning itself. It is knowing that a reliable person is inside the house every week, and would notice if something had changed.

What this is not

This is housekeeping only. It does not include bathing, dressing, medication, mobility assistance, meal preparation or any form of nursing or personal care — that work needs trained, licensed care workers, and it would be wrong to blur the line.

If your family needs that kind of support, start with Island Health home and community care or a licensed private agency. Housekeeping very often runs alongside it, covering the cleaning that funded support hours are too valuable to spend on.

Cost

The same starting rate as regular house cleaning — from $50 an hour, with products and equipment included. Smaller homes and apartments are usually 1.5 to 2 hours on a regular schedule. Every household is quoted on its own; see pricing for how quotes are worked out.

Regular clients get a short written service agreement setting out the visits, the rate and how notice is given — useful for everyone, and especially where a family member is coordinating from a distance.

Areas covered

Duncan and North Cowichan, plus Chemainus, Crofton, Cowichan Bay, Mill Bay, Shawnigan Lake and Ladysmith. Full list of areas served.

Common questions