Seven lines on Hometress’s published checklist end with “(up to 9ft)”. The Terms of Service say cleaners work from standard two-step stools, “do not climb higher (no ladders)” and “will only clean areas within safe reach from the floor or the step stool.” Neither document tells you whether your own reach, from your own stool, gets anywhere near nine feet. The worksheet below helps you rule out work beyond your reach; it cannot establish that a task is safe.
For an independent cleaner preparing for a Philadelphia visit, the question is practical: is this fan, shelf or vent within reach of me and the stool I have, without stretching? The guide sets Hometress’s own Terms of Service and checklist beside two outside documents, a stool maker’s product page and a university safety office’s step-stool page. It is document research, not hands-on testing, a product endorsement or a Hometress safety rule.
The short answer
- Record your flat-footed reach (A), an identified, permitted lower step’s height (B) and the surface height (C). C above A + B rules out direct hand access. C at or below A + B is not permission to climb or proof that you can clean the surface safely.
- If C is lower than A + B but you would have to stretch, rise onto your toes or use a step the stool is not meant for, the university page says to stop. The Terms exclude ladders, so the line is not done from there.
- The Cosco page states 8 feet 3 inches as the maximum height reachable from the top step of one two-step model. That is below nine feet. The published checklist does not say whether “(up to 9ft)” describes a cleaner’s reach or the highest item height a line covers, so do not assume your stool gets to the top of it.
- Do not climb higher to complete or measure a line. If the equipment, instructions or measurements cannot be confirmed, leave that part undone and record the unresolved question.
What the Terms and the checklist say
Section 4.1 of the Terms of Service is titled “Standard Service Limitations (Safety & Scope)”. Its Height Safety item reads: “Cleaners work safely using standard two-step stools provided by Hometress or the client. They do not climb higher (no ladders) and will only clean areas within safe reach from the floor or the step stool.” That is the text as read on October 31, 2026. It does not say which stool you will find on a particular job, so the stool in front of you is the one to check.
Seven checklist lines carry “(up to 9ft)”. Six are in the Standard list: light fixtures, door frames and shelves, and room decorations and picture frames under Entire House; closet shelves and hanging rods and vent covers under Bathroom; vent covers under Bedroom; and kitchen vent covers under Kitchen. The Standard lines carry into every higher tier. The seventh, refrigerator and cabinet tops, is a Deep-clean extra. A separate line, “Ceiling Fans Dusted”, has no height on it at all. See the published tasks by cleaning tier for what each tier adds; a worksheet does not change a booking.
For the rest of the Terms’ safety language, including chemicals, lifting and leaving a job, see the safety guide for independent cleaners. This guide adds only the measuring.
The three-number worksheet
This is an editorial planning aid, not a maker’s method, a safety assessment or Hometress policy. It supplies no average height or typical reach. Take measurements from the floor without stretching or climbing; use a confirmed measurement supplied by the household if necessary. If a height cannot be established safely, write unknown rather than improvise.
- A, your reach. Stand flat-footed beside a wall in your work shoes. Raise one arm without stretching and have someone note the comfortably reached height, then measure that mark from the floor. Do not rise onto your toes or strain to make A larger. The university page says not to wear “open toe shoes, sandals or high heels” on a stool or ladder, so measure in shoes you could safely climb in.
- B, your step. Identify the exact stool and confirm its use instructions, standing surfaces and load limit. For this worksheet, record only a lower step the instructions permit; the top-step warning below still applies. Measure the step while standing on the floor, not on the stool. If the instructions or suitability are unknown, do not use the stool and do not invent B. For floor-only planning, B is zero.
- C, the surface. Record the height of the actual surface to be cleaned, not an assumed ceiling height. Do not climb to obtain C. Height does not record horizontal distance: a cabinet’s far edge can remain out of reach even when its height is below A + B.
If C is higher than A + B, rule out direct hand access from that position. Even a smaller C does not establish stability, balance, usable working reach or clearance. Do not climb just to test the sum. The university page’s stop rules apply independently:
- “If you need to stretch or stand on your tip-toes while on a stepstool, you need a ladder.”
- “If you have to stand on the top step of the stepstool to reach the destination, switch to a stepladder instead; do not overreach with the stepstool.”
- “Ensure the stool or ladder is safe and stable to use before climbing.” and “Inspect the feet to make sure they are level with the ground.”
Read with the Terms, these rules lead to one place: a line that needs a ladder is a line you do not do. The page is undated; the University of Kentucky’s office is writing for its own workplace, and this guide takes the rules, not any claim about Hometress jobs, from it.
If you use an extendable duster. The first-job kit guide pairs the fan, fixture and vent lines with one. A tool can change where your hand has to be, but this guide has no source on how far a tool may safely be extended or what it does to your balance. Do not add a pole’s length to A and treat the result as safe working reach. Tool-assisted work needs the exact tool’s instructions and a separate suitability check; this worksheet does not assess it.
Where the two documents point different ways
The Cosco two-step folding step stool page describes model 11829GGB, a Type IA two-step stool. It says its “featured large platform on the top step allows you to reach a maximum height of 8 feet 3 inches”, within a longer marketing sentence. The University of Kentucky step stool safety page says that needing the top step to reach means switching to a stepladder. These documents have different scopes and give different top-step messages: the maker describes its particular platform; the university gives general workplace guidance. Neither is an instruction sheet for an unidentified stool. The Terms exclude the ladder.
This guide does not resolve that difference by granting permission to use the top step. Its conservative editorial approach is to stop if reaching the task needs that step, even when a product page describes a top platform. Always follow the stool’s actual instructions; if the instructions or equipment choice remain unresolved, do not climb.
The figure matters for a second reason. 8 feet 3 inches is a maker’s stated maximum for one model, in a sentence on a page that showed no date when read October 31, 2026. It does not describe your stool or your arm. It is also below nine feet, which is a reason not to treat “(up to 9ft)” as a promise of reach. It may instead cap the height of the item a line covers. The checklist does not say, this guide does not guess, and a confirmed C can still flag work beyond direct hand reach without deciding what the checklist’s height wording means.
The seven lines, and what to measure
Lines are quoted as published. Each row asks you to measure a surface, not to trust a line. The table is not a ruling on any line’s scope.
| Checklist line | Where it sits | What to measure for C | The question the numbers answer |
|---|---|---|---|
| “Ceiling Fans Dusted” | Entire House, Standard. The line gives no height. | The blade surface your hand has to reach. | A + B is only a height screen; it does not assess the fan, its movement or safe access. |
| “Dust Light Fixtures / Door Frames / Shelves (up to 9ft)” | Entire House, Standard. | The top of each fixture, door frame or shelf you plan to dust, one at a time. | One line covers three kinds of object at different heights. Measure each object, not the line. |
| “Dust Room Decorations & Picture Frames (up to 9ft)” | Entire House, Standard. | The top edge of the highest frame or decoration. | A single high frame can be out of reach while the rest of the wall is fine. |
| “Dust Closet Shelves And Hanging Rods (up to 9ft)” | Bathroom, Standard, as the published list groups it. | The highest closet shelf or rod you have to dust. | Above A + B rules out direct hand access. Lower shelves still need their own access check. |
| “Dust Accessible Vent Covers (up to 9ft)” | Bathroom and Bedroom, Standard. The same wording appears in both. | The vent cover itself, not the ceiling. | Is the cover inside A + B? The line’s own word is “Accessible”. |
| “Dust Kitchen Vent Covers (up to 9ft)” | Kitchen, Standard. | The vent cover itself. | Kitchen ceilings and vent covers are separate numbers. Measure the cover. |
| “Wipe Down Refrigerator And Cabinet Tops (up to 9ft)” | Deep-clean extras. | The refrigerator top and each cabinet top separately; record horizontal access as a separate issue. | Wiping needs your hand to reach across a top, not only to its front edge. |
Two fictional visits
These examples are invented to show the decision. They are not customer stories or tested results, and the numbers in them are made up, not typical heights or reaches.
A bedroom ceiling fan
A is 82 inches. An identified stool’s instructions permit its lower step, 10 inches high, so B is 10 and A + B is 92 inches. The household supplies a confirmed fan-blade height of 86 inches. That passes only the height screen. You do not climb because the arithmetic looks favorable. This fictional visit assumes the fan is already off and stationary, its own care instructions are known, and safe access from the permitted lower step has been independently established. Only then is the reachable dusting done without stretching or tip-toes. If any of those conditions is unresolved, the task is left undone; the note says why.
A kitchen with a high cabinet top
Same A and B, so A + B is 92 inches. The Deep-clean line says “Wipe Down Refrigerator And Cabinet Tops (up to 9ft)”. Confirmed dimensions put the refrigerator top at 70 inches and the cabinet top at 104 inches. The refrigerator is not automatically reachable across its full depth just because 70 is below A. In this example, only the part safely accessible from the floor is wiped. The cabinet top is 8 feet 8 inches, under nine feet but 12 inches beyond A + B. Direct hand access is ruled out. You do not climb higher or improvise with a tool to make the arithmetic work. The note identifies the cabinet top as “declined, out of direct hand reach”, distinct from the refrigerator work and anything still unconfirmed.
Leave a reach note
A useful personal record has five fields: the line and room; A, B and C in inches; the step you stood on, or the floor; the outcome (done, partly done or declined); and what you left. This is a suggested note format, not an app feature or a Hometress reporting rule. What a declined line means for the booking is not covered here.
If measuring before you climb matches how you work, apply to join Hometress. It is free to join.