Is it worth splitting the cost of a cleaner?

For a lot of shared houses, yes. A cleaner every other week takes care of the heavy stuff, and everyone just keeps on top of the daily bits. Agree up front what each person pays, what the cleaner covers and who lets them in. Whoever has the private bathroom or the biggest room might pay a bit more, if everyone thinks that's fair.

What do we do about a roommate who never does their share?

Talk to them privately first and ask whether the schedule clashes with their schedule. If nothing changes, bring it to the house meeting and use a consequence you all agreed on in advance, like covering someone else's week or paying toward a cleaner. A rule agreed before the problem is much easier to enforce than one invented during it.

What if one person's standards are way higher than everyone else's?

Write down what 'done' means for each job and agree on it together. Anyone who wants to go further is welcome to, on their own time. That way nobody turns into the house inspector and nobody feels judged.

Does a partner who basically lives there count as a roommate?

If they're there more than half the week, showering, cooking and using the kitchen, it's fair to talk about them joining the rotation or the supplies kitty. Raise it at the house meeting, kindly and without putting anyone on the spot.

How to split cleaning with roommates

To split cleaning fairly with roommates, first agree on what each person handles on their own (their bedroom, their own dishes, their laundry) and what everyone shares (kitchen, bathroom, living room, laundry area and trash). Then break the shared spaces into chunks that take roughly the same effort and rotate them weekly on a chart everyone can see. A shared kitty for supplies and a quick check-in once a month keep it working.

Step 1: what’s yours and what’s everyone’s

Most roommate fights start because nobody ever said out loud where “mine” ends and “ours” begins. Write both lists down.

Everyone handles their own:

their bedroom;
the dishes they used, washed the same day (or at least before bed);
their laundry, including getting it out of the machine promptly;
their own food, on their own shelf in the fridge.

Everyone shares:

kitchen: stove, counters, sink, floor, microwave and fridge;
shared bathroom: toilet, sink, shower or tub, mirror, floor and trash;
living room and hallway: floors, dusting and general tidying;
laundry area or utility room, if you have one;
trash and recycling, all the way to the curb or the dumpster.

Step 2: make chunks of similar effort

“You take the kitchen, I’ll take the living room” usually goes wrong, because the kitchen is far more work. Build chunks that take about the same time instead. Here’s an example for three people:

Chunk	What’s in it	How often
A · Kitchen	stove, counters, sink, kitchen floor, inside the microwave	once a week, plus everyone’s own dishes daily
B · Bathroom	toilet, sink, shower, mirror, floor, empty the trash, swap the hand towel	once a week
C · Common areas and trash	vacuum and mop the living room and hall, dust, take out trash and recycling	trash whenever it’s full, the rest once a week

With two bathrooms or more people, add a chunk D (fridge and laundry area, say) or pair two people on the heaviest one. If you’d like to see how each chunk fits into the days of the week, the weekly cleaning schedule lays it out.

Step 3: pick a rotation system

Three common setups, and what each one is good for:

Weekly rotation. Each week everyone takes a chunk, then it shifts. Fairest option, because everyone does their time on the bathroom.
Fixed areas. Each person keeps the same chunk for good. Works when one person loves cooking and doesn’t mind the kitchen, or someone hates bathrooms and will happily own trash and the living room forever.
Points. Every job is worth points based on effort, and everyone needs the same total each month. More setup, but great for big houses or wildly different schedules.

Whatever you pick, put the schedule where everyone can see it: on the fridge, in the house group chat or on a shared list on your phones. If it only lives in one person’s head, that person becomes the house nag, and nobody wants that job.

Step 4: a kitty for supplies

Dish soap, sponges, toilet paper, trash bags, bathroom cleaner and shared laundry detergent: agree on a fixed amount each month that goes into a kitty or a shared account. One person per month is in charge of restocking. No more “I’m always the one buying toilet paper.” The same idea works for shared food, and the guide on how to split groceries covers a few ways to do the math.

Step 5: write down the house agreement

It doesn’t need to be a legal document. One page with:

the two lists (yours and everyone’s);
the chunks and the rotation system;
the kitty amount and who restocks;
the dishes deadline (same day? by morning?);
what happens when someone skips their week;
the date of the next check-in.

Anyone new reads it before they move in. Anyone leaving gives notice so the schedule can be redone.

When someone doesn’t pull their weight

It’ll happen. Exams, travel, night shifts, a rough week. A few rules that help:

Swapping is fine, vanishing isn’t. If you can’t do your week, say so and trade with someone.
Talk in private first. A passive-aggressive note on the fridge or in the group chat (“someone forgot the bathroom AGAIN”) only makes it worse.
Fifteen minutes once a month. A short house meeting to see what’s working and what isn’t. If the setup is too heavy for someone’s life, change the setup, not your patience.

Not sure what belongs on the list in the first place? Start from the complete list of household chores and cross off whatever your place doesn’t have.