Homeowner Service Agreement
Clear expectations help us care for your home consistently and respectfully. Before your first service, please review the agreement below. We'll answer any questions before asking you to sign.
Birch & Beam Stewardship · Central Vermont · Last updated September 2026
Thank you for inviting Birch & Beam into your home. We're a small, local cleaning company in Central Vermont, and we take the trust that comes with a key to someone's home seriously.
This agreement explains what you can expect from us, what we ask of you, and how we handle the things that come up. If anything is unclear, just ask. We'd rather talk it through than have you guess.
Who will be caring for your home
Birch & Beam works with carefully selected local cleaning professionals. When scheduling allows, we try to send the same cleaner or small team so they can become familiar with your home.
Our promise
We will be consistent. We will be honest. We will be discreet. We will pay attention. We will communicate clearly and follow through.
Our services
Your written estimate describes your service, what's included, and the price. Our work falls into three categories.
Regular cleaning keeps a lived-in home fresh on a recurring schedule. It generally includes:
Kitchen: counters, sink, stovetop, and the outside of appliances and cabinets
Bathrooms: toilets, sinks, tubs, showers, mirrors, and fixtures
Throughout the home: dusting reachable surfaces and furniture, vacuuming, and mopping floors
Finishing touches: emptying household trash and recycling, making beds, and completing a final walk-through when these tasks are included in your service
Deep cleaning is more detailed and takes more time. It's usually a first visit, a seasonal reset, or a home that hasn't had regular care in a while. It reaches areas a regular clean doesn't, such as baseboards, doors, and built-up grime. Your estimate spells out what your deep clean covers.
Add-ons are done only when they're included in your written estimate or you've approved them separately. They include inside the oven, inside the refrigerator, interior windows, extensive wall washing, heavy buildup, detailed organizing, laundry, dishes, and similar tasks.
Not sure whether something is included? Ask us before your visit and we'll tell you.
What we ask of you
Access at the scheduled time. A working key or code, or someone home, plus running water, power, and heat. In winter, a cleared and safe path to the door. If we cannot enter the home at the scheduled time, please contact us as soon as possible. Depending on the cleaner's schedule, the visit may need to be shortened or rescheduled. We do not currently charge a lockout fee.
Extra requests go through us. If you'd like something added on the day, please contact us rather than asking your cleaner. Your cleaner can't add work or change pricing during a visit, but we'll quote it quickly and find a time.
Internet access
Our cleaners use the ZenMaid app to view your home's checklist and any details you've shared with us ahead of time, record their time, and communicate important notes. If reliable cellular service is not available at your home, please provide access to Wi-Fi during the cleaning visit. A guest network is perfectly fine. Login information will be shared only with the cleaner assigned to your home and used only for work-related purposes.
Your home and household
Pets. We love meeting your animals. Please tell us about your pets, and secure any pet that's nervous, protective, or likely to slip out an open door. Our cleaners don't feed, walk, or give medication to pets.
People at home. You're welcome to be home during a visit. Please let us know if children, guests, or others will be there. Our cleaners can't supervise children or care for anyone in the home.
Clutter and access. We clean the surfaces we can reach. Picking up clothing, papers, toys, and personal items beforehand lets us spend our time cleaning. Sorting or putting away significant clutter is organizing, which is an add-on.
Fragile, sentimental, and loose items. Please put away or point out anything fragile, valuable, or irreplaceable. We won't handle items that are loose, damaged, unstable, or improperly installed, such as a wobbly shelf or a loose towel bar. If we notice one, we'll let you know.
Special surfaces. Tell us about specialty, unsealed, delicate, or damaged surfaces, such as natural stone, unsealed wood, or antique finishes, and how you care for them. If we're unsure about a surface, we'll ask or leave it alone.
Allergies and products. Let us know about any allergies or sensitivities in your household. If you'd like us to use your own products, leave them out and labeled, and we'll use them as directed. We can't be responsible for results from products we're asked to use.
Hazards. For everyone's safety, we don't clean suspected or extensive mold, pest infestations or droppings, bodily fluids, significant animal waste, or anything involving needles or sharps. Please don't smoke indoors during a visit, and keep any weapons secured and out of sight. If a cleaner finds an unsafe condition, they may skip that area or end the visit, and we'll follow up with you.
Heights, heavy items, and outdoors. Our cleaners use a step stool for ordinary reach but don't climb ladders or stand on furniture. We don't move heavy furniture or appliances, and we don't do exterior work such as outside windows, decks, or gutters. We're glad to suggest a trusted local pro.
Scheduling and cancellations
Life happens. Kids get sick, plans change, a road washes out. We understand, and we'll work with you.
We ask for 48 hours' notice whenever possible if you need to cancel or reschedule. The cleaner scheduled for your home sets that time aside, often turning down other work to do it. A last-minute cancellation is income they usually can't replace, and a little notice gives them a fair chance to fill the time.
We do not currently charge a cancellation fee, and we do not require a card on file. If we ever change that, we'll tell you in writing before the change takes effect.
If we need to reschedule because of weather, illness, or an emergency on our end, we'll let you know as early as we can. When Vermont roads are unsafe, we'll reach out early rather than risk the drive.
Payment
Your price is confirmed in writing before your first visit. If a visit needs to change in scope or price, we'll talk with you first.
We send an invoice electronically after each visit, and payment is due within seven days. If we adjust our rates, you'll receive at least 30 days' written notice.
If something isn't right
With the cleaning. Please let us know within 48 hours. We'll look into it, and if something in your service was missed, we'll make it right.
If something is damaged. Please tell us as soon as you notice, within 48 hours when reasonably possible. Our cleaners report any damage to us, and we'll tell you. We'll review the circumstances with you and work toward a fair resolution.
We aren't responsible for ordinary wear, damage that was already there, items that are unstable or improperly installed, or damage caused by surface conditions we weren't told about. Sentimental value can't be replaced, so please secure irreplaceable items or tell us about them in advance.
Privacy, keys, and photos
What we see in your home stays with us. We don't discuss your home or your household with anyone outside Birch & Beam.
Keys, door codes, and Wi-Fi details are kept secure, shared only with the cleaner caring for your home, and returned or deleted when service ends.
We never photograph your home for our own use, such as social media, without your permission. We may take photos to document our work or show you something worth your attention.
The kind of working relationship we hope for
We do our best work with clients who see this as a partnership, and most people who call us already do. We welcome kind, communicative clients who value the people caring for their homes. That means:
Treating your cleaner with courtesy and respect, as you would any skilled professional
Bringing concerns to us directly and calmly, so we have a real chance to address them
Keeping your home a safe place to work
Respecting the scope, schedule, and boundaries we've agreed on
We hope we never need this part, but protecting the people who do the work is part of how we care for homes. Birch & Beam may pause or end service in cases of unsafe conditions, harassment, discrimination, threatening behavior, repeated nonpayment, chronic late cancellations, or repeated boundary violations. In most cases, we'll talk with you first. If someone's safety is at risk, a cleaner may end a visit and leave, and we'll stand behind that decision.
Changes and ending service
You're free to pause or end service at any time. We just ask for as much notice as you can give.
If we change this agreement or our policies, we'll give you at least 30 days' written notice before the change takes effect. Changes won't apply retroactively.
Review and agree
When you've read the agreement, please complete the short form below. Questions? Contact us at care@birchandbeamstewardship.com or 802-262-5821.