We've had a cleaning service for several years, but not for the past half year. We'd rather do it ourselves, teach ds how to clean a house and spend the money on something else.

We had them come in every other week. It would get pretty grimy in the meantime, but we'd often sweep the worst floors in the meantime. Once a week would have been too often for us.

We didn't tip, don't know what's customary in the States.

We discussed in advance what we wanted them to clean: floors, counters, bathroom more detailed. No pick-up, we had to clear everything away in advance. Took a lot of time, at the same time the best part is having to do it at a certain time. Now that we do it ourselves we're forever putting off or someone is complaining that it's inconvenient or they'd rather do something else...