[didjeridude]

We've all been here I'm sure so I'm hoping there will be plenty of experience on what people think of the age old hypothetical.....

4 people live together in a sharehouse, 2 are relatively clean and tidy (but not anal about it), and the other 2 are relatively unclean and messy. If we basically assume that no-one is lazy but the differences in cleanliness simply reflect differences in personal thresholds for tolerance of general mess and scum, then where does one draw the line? ie: how far must the clean people lower their standards before they are justified in putting their foot down and simply tell the others to clean up or find somewhere else to live?

I take this approach because I think there must be a balance. If each person in the house has an equal vote, then its not fair for the cleanest person in the house (who happens to be me in this hypothetical) to expect everyone else to change their lifestyle to your standards, HOWEVER, when a house is tidy and clean, this generally does not bother people whom are unclean, but when the house is messy and dirty it does annoy people who do not wish to live in filth and mess. So there IS an unfair imbalance beyond a certain point.

I'm interested in peoples thoughts on where exactly they believe this point should lie?

[Hemerage]

Whoever lived there first, decides the level?

If you all moved in at once, I suggest you make some sweet-sweet graphs plotting levels of tidiness, and find the mid point. (make sure you do it in colours)

[drater]

How messy are we talking here? Need some examples to see if you're being anal or not.

[big eddie]

We have immigration for a reason, get a cleaner.

[Madam Lasher]

Communication is the key to this arrangement; talk about what is reasonable ie. Everyone being responsible for mess outside their bedrooms.

I personally can't stand dirty/messy people

[hussy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by big eddie

We have immigration for a reason, get a cleaner.

Exactly!

If 4 people couldn't manage to communicate about the acceptable level of grime in their house, they should definitely all chip in to get a cleaner in once a week.

[yani_s]

Make a roster for cleaning parts of the house on the fridge with paper and magnets. If someone is being lazy and not doing their part, eat their food and drink thier milk with extreme prejudice.. if problems persist, shit in their bed.

[Hemerage]

Make a cleaning roster if you want to look like a loser mum.

[bakeraus]

I don't think its a issue of making all these military plans. I think as long as the dirty people only leave their mess in their room its all good. People all live different and have different expectations. I'm personally a clean person as it makes life easier for me.

I think you have a good view on the situation already and knowing people are going to be unclean.

Some things would be good to know....

Who's cooking you going to change it up every night? From where I come from the cook doesn't clean if you decided to group cook.

If you vacuum you don't dust. Even if only two people do it the other two can take the reigns next time. But I prefer to make this a loose thing with out to much stress doing it on the right day as things come up for others.

If you have two bathrooms maybe put the dirty buggers in one.

It will break down quick if people get all shitty and uptight about the smallest things. Keep it relaxed living with people can be simple or super hard and unhappy as we would have all been through that.

[partyewe]

get a cleaner and never fight over it ever again.

[larrisajones]

I know a few places that drew a roster up and have successfully had a cease-fire ever since.

My flattie and i are as anal as each other - her pet hate is kitchens and mine is bathrooms so it works very nicely.

[Random_Kiwi]

The problem with a roster is that it doesn't specify HOW clean the bathroom is to be when finished...one persons clean is another persons "WTF? There's still soap scum in the plug hole!!!"

4 people chipping in for a cleaner to come and vacuum, mop, clean kitchen and bathroom once a week would be like $10 each, max...then it's just keeping things tidy, no one has to lift a finger (aside from the odd wipe down of the bench etc) and if it's not being done to your standards, you put a rocket up the cleaners ass...everyone is happy, no tension in the flat when you have to make some slackass re-do the bathroom coz it's still filth

[SubbyBoy]

i used to live with a pig of a flatmate years ago...

He never used to wash the dishes, clean anything or do anything really.. just the laziest turd i had ever met in my life....

problem was that he was a good friend so i put up with him for 6 months after which i had to ask him to clean up or leave... luckily enough after a few months he got transferred..haven't had flatmates since really....

Sometimes the only way to get things properly done is to do them yourselves.. just think of it as this -- the other person's cleanliness will never be upto ur levels so just do things urselves..

yes, the question of fairness and other things etc come in but this is how u tackle it -- charge them an extra monthly fee for cleanliness... i.e. one weeks extra rent per month for keeping the place clean.. trust me on this, after a couple of weeks, the unclean ones will start cleaning up!

[drater]

After living with boys-boys for the past 2 years, we now have another female in the household.

Even after one weekend, the cleanliness difference is astounding.

[hbomb203]

i think people should be able to keep their bedrooms however they want (as long as they don't leave communal stuff, eg crockery, in there to grow mold and become useless). shared areas (kitchen, bathroom, lounge room) should all be clean and useable by the whole house.

you should all be able to agree on a standard - sit down over a friendly dinner, agree on some standards that you're all going to meet. eg dishes done every night or every other night, don't leave your sh/t all over the house, don't let the shower get so filthy it gets footprints in it when you use it.

doing up a roster is anal and a bit annoying, but in my experience it's proven to be a good way of getting and keeping things clean.

[Oblivia]

I don't think its too much to ask for vacuuming and kitchens and bathrooms, and mopping to be done once a week, no matter how low the messy peoples standards are. If didj you require much more than that you might have to do the extra youself.

Having gone from having fairly low standards, living in a cluttered house with 6 other people, to having much higher ones, after going home for a few days a few weeks ago I feel your pain.

[didjeridude]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oblivia

I don't think its too much to ask for vacuuming and kitchens and bathrooms, and mopping to be done once a week, no matter how low the messy peoples standards are. If didj you require much more than that you might have to do the extra youself.

If I insisted on the cleaning duties being done this frequently, it would be as if I were Adolf Hitler himself. Put it this way, the house gets cleaned about once per fortnight on average because I do pretty much all of it. So I'm cleaning twice as often as I should in a house of 4, one other person wipes down the basin in the bathroom from time to time, and the other 2 do not clean at all unless I specifically ask them and keep hassling them, which makes me look like the big nasty house bossy man.

I have been asking for a discussion for a couple of months and the attitude is like, "oh didj has forgotten to hassle everyone to find a time to meet, so we don't have to meet anymore."

Where the problem really lies is that I don't want any of my housemates to live elsewhere. we are all friends and get on really well (except for when I am the big nasty house bossy man) and they are all tops people.

I've resisted suggesting a cleaner so far because I am the only one with a stable income and savings, but I'm definately convinced. It gives them a choice... pay up or clean up.

[big eddie]

Tell your filthy hippy flatmates to get jobs while they are at it.

[Fangoriously]

You won't change them, seriously.

It will just get to the point where they will dig in their heels and refuse to do it out of spite.

I suggest only cleaning your room and areas that you really care about - say, the shower or kitchen sink or something.

Then move out ASAP.

[silvaside]

ejaculate on their belongings.

that'll learn 'em.

[hussy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by silvaside

ejaculate on their belongings.

that'll learn 'em.

Yeah I tried that once, worked a treat.

[didjeridude]

Quote:

Originally Posted by big eddie

Tell your filthy hippy flatmates to get jobs while they are at it.

now now eddie, we were all poor arse students once upon a time and besides, hippies listen to reggae apparently and the messy ones hate reggae.

[drater]

So are any of these hypothetical flatmates ITMers? That would be pretty hilarious.

[Hooch1981]

Are you still living in sharehouses Didge?

After leaving Watson I decided it was me and one housemate maximum from then on

[Horrid_Haight]

There's a few living at our place who feel comfortable with everything unclean. It seems like the mess is being left by both people who are just dirty, and those who aren't cleaning just to teach the dirty ones a lesson. Fucking pigs.

I've tried talking to them, and they all say they're going to get their shit together but it hasn't happened. So, because we've all got separate leases and they can't kick me out, I just treat them like kids. Picking up empty wrappers and asking "Is this yourss?" in a really condescending tone of voice. But other than that, I just tax food and drink as payment for the extra housework I put in, and as far as I know, they don't notice. The odd anonymous prank always makes me feel better too.

[big eddie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by didjeridude

now now eddie, we were all poor arse students once upon a time and besides, hippies listen to reggae apparently and the messy ones hate reggae.

Ah well, if you are living with students the game changes. You need to lighten up.
Uni sharehouses don't really equate with clean.

Why are you living with students anyway? Do they bring round a lot of nubile/naive poon? if so, isn't that a worthwhile tradeoff?

[Oblivia]

Have you had the meeting yet didge? I think I would say "I am prepared to do more than you, but not all of it" and make some roster, as lame as it is, but take more than your share of stuff in the hope that a little guilt will get them to pull their finger out.

[datakid]

i am a good natured pig, and once lived with an angry anal clean person in a share house, and the cleaning roster was good for us!

you know, it's not really much between four people to keep a house clean, and if you've got your roster you know what you need to get done that week, it's not a big drama. pigs don't like cleaning, but if pushed they'll generally acknowledge that it might be nicer not to be living in filth : )

and the structure of a roster kind of makes the cleaning process seem fair and reasonable.

[Juggalo Muli]

I live with 2 other guys... and rather than argue over cleaning and shit. We just pitch in for a cleaner. Comes every monday morning.

Highly recommend it! Cleaning is never an issue now!

[SlicyDicer]

Fuck me that's lazy.

[lexah]

hmmm i am rather liking the cleaner idea...

[Ruthykins]

I'm slightly messy, I'll come home take my shoes, sox and pants off and they sit in the lounge room until I decide to move them...that sorta thing. When I was share housing tho, I made sure all the common areas remained spotless. No excuses. The operative word in all of this is SHARE.

[dance strategy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by big eddie

Why are you living with students anyway? Do they bring round a lot of nubile/naive poon? if so, isn't that a worthwhile tradeoff?

Of course he prefers home delivery, why else do you think he still puts up with it ... oh didj, you lazy lazy man

[Juggalo Muli]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SlicyDicer

Fuck me that's lazy.

getting a cleaner?


Not so lazy when you have a party on the weekend and then the cleaner comes Monday and the place is spotless again

[lexah]

ive just got a new housemate in and i underestimated how much i appreciated the routine with the one who was there before

not enjoying these past couple of days at ALL.. just hope everything settles down soon...

[rhys]

Quote:

Originally Posted by didjeridude

Where the problem really lies is that I don't want any of my housemates to live elsewhere. we are all friends and get on really well (except for when I am the big nasty house bossy man) and they are all tops people.

I've resisted suggesting a cleaner so far because I am the only one with a stable income and savings, but I'm definately convinced.

do the right thing didj, offer to fund the cleaner. that way everyone wins.

[Marshy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lexah

ive just got a new housemate in and i underestimated how much i appreciated the routine with the one who was there before

not enjoying these past couple of days at ALL.. just hope everything settles down soon...

I'm laughing because I'm cruel.

[beatsta]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marshy

I'm laughing because I'm cruel.

I'm laughing because I only shared house once and she ended up in my bed for the few months she lived here and payed rent

[Alistair]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rhys

do the right thing didj, offer to fund the cleaner. that way everyone wins.

THIS.