The Backup Bench

One cleaner is zero cleaners.

Not a slogan. A description of what happens at 9:40 on a Friday morning when the only person who can reset your house texts to say their car will not start and you have a 4pm arrival.

The maths of a single point of failure

A same-day turn has six hours of room for a four-hour job. That works perfectly — until it does not, and then there is no slack anywhere in the system.

Now price the fix. A backup cleaner costs you nothing until the day you use them, and maybe $40 more than your primary when you do.

Capiche? Here is what a real bench looks like.

Building the bench

• A primary who does most of your turns and knows the house.
• A second who has actually cleaned it — not a name you found on Facebook at 9:41 on Friday. Someone who has done a turn there, knows where the linen lives, and has the door code.
• A third you are on friendly terms with — another owner's cleaner, or a local company you have used once. This is your break-glass option.
• A cleaning company as the outer layer. More expensive per turn, but they carry their own bench, which is the entire product you are buying.

The trick with the second cleaner is use them. Send them every fifth or sixth turn, deliberately, even when you do not have to. A backup who has not been in the house for eight months is a stranger with a code.

The other single points of failure

Cleaning is the obvious one. It is not the only one. Ask the same question of every link: what happens if this person does not answer?

• Who else has a key or the lock code?
• Who can meet an HVAC technician on a Tuesday?
• If your smart lock battery dies, who physically gets in?
• If you are on a plane for nine hours, who answers the guest?

Also defined: Double Booking