Advice on cleaning Retirement facilities?

[gimmeagig]

Hi,
As you know I'm pretty green still and I could use your help.
I just met with the manager of a big retirement facility.Over 80 apartments, studios and one and two bedroom units on three levels.A big spread out complex.Parking not always close. Water not always close either, I might have to use my on board tank.I've got 200ft of hose and another 50ft coming. I could probably handle it with my truck.
The manager had someone who was doing the cleaning but that person flaked on him too many times so he wants to make a change.He had a really clear idea of what the corporation would want to pay.
55.- for a studio
65.- for a one bedroom
75.- for a two bedroom
I imagine there would be several to do per month and then there would be the common areas as well, which we did not address yet and if I got to do those that would change the picture. At this point it's only the rooms. On its own a studio seemed really low to me but if I could combine it with maybe a common area it might still be worthwhile.
So there was a studio that needed to be done, access was relatively easy so I wanted to see if I could do the unit in an hour.
Maybe it's because I'm not a seasoned pro yet or maybe it's because I'm not as efficient as I should be, it took me 1 1/2 hrs to do this unit. That one had a relatively easy setup so if I did a unit on the third floor at the end of the building the picture would change a lot and at 55.- for a studio I could make more money as a greeter at Walmart. And that is if there is no feces or urine or who knows what in the carpets.
So my question to any of you who have done retirement homes before, can you give me a crash course on how to bid what to charge for (emergency ,nights or weekends, serious soiling etc...)
As always, I appreciate your help.

 

[Dolly Llama]

Are these live ins or empties, Rox??

IF they're empties and it took you an hour and a half to clean a studio , you might want to see about that job as WM greeter...
cause you ain't never gonna make any money cleaning at those prices .

there are some options though that "might" allow you to eek out a tiny profit on those jobs.

first, if you're trying to follow in the footsteps on the "world's greatest 53 step cleaners or your a hack" knuckleheads on this board...STOP

Just hose 'em down with pre-spray and flush/rinse the chit out of 'em.
You also need to negotiate additional pricing for urine/feces/blood decon...you WILL run into those situations .

Tell the mngnt you need several units at a time if they expect you to clean for "their" price
Otherwise a minimum charge to cover set up will be added

..L.T.A.

 

[Bob Foster]

Watch out for trip and slip hazards some of remaining residents could be exposed to . Serious dilgence is needed in stopping or warning residents in spite of all the signs you put up.

 

[Brian R]

I had one that I did in the Sacramento area but had to fire them when I started subbing...prices were too low....they understood.

Problem is "it's not in their budget"....which is probably BS but they won't budge on it. (pun)

If you want to take it on...try to get them to give you at least 2 at a time or more.....try to get their hallways etc if they're carpet...get their kitchen if they're tile.

We always charged more for blood, urine etc....that's where we made out.

Problem was...my subs didn't like doing the small work for the big work...whatyagonnado?

I guess I couldn't blame them too much. I really liked doing the facility....really nice people.
When my dad went with me it was like he was in his element. lol

Blood was at least double
urine was at least $25
emergency is just whatever they'll pay....you can't really strong arm them.

 

[gimmeagig]

Are these live ins or empties, Rox??

IF they're empties and it took you an hour and a half to clean a studio , you might want to see about that job as WM greeter...
cause you ain't never gonna make any money cleaning at those prices .

t

I know I'm slower than I should be, but I counted the hour and a half from when I drove into the lot until I was driving back out.
I could have shaved a little more time off if I wouldn't have had a little problem with my hydroforce presprayer.. The little tube with the filter on it had slipped off and I had to get back to the truck to fish it out and reattach it. Also I had to get the water from inside the studio and hook up my adapter to the faucet before I could connect my fresh water hose.My hoses went through the window but it was a long walk from the truck to the apartment through the hallway.Might have cost me 10 minutes. Then I got rid of a rust stain, that took a little time. So am I really so slow that the WM greeter position might be right for me? I hope not. But I have no way to compare my cleaning efficiency. Anyway, if I do that facility again I'll fill up my fresh water tank on board so I don't have to mess with the extra hose, that'll save me some time.And I'll make sure they'll give me enough to do to exceed my minimum charge before they call me.
I do like the old people so I don't mind making a little less money but in the end I'm still in business to make a profit.

 

[Jamesh921]

80 units isn't a lot. BUT, it's not a bad start for an O/O such as yourself.

A start-up O/O should have the time to fit these units in when they come up. I figure you'll only be doing a few each month. Try to set up a common area to do every couple months as well.

It'll give you a chance to learn/practice what works, and what doesn't work, on several different types of spots/stains, ect...

You'll also learn how to clean effectively, but FASTER.

You could market your services to the staff as well and "possibly" pick up some work there to help grow your business.

A "Retirement Complex" is the same as an apartment complex, only with less loud music and much nicer parking lots and lawns.

In this line of work, EVERYTHING is extra, like;

Rotary/Deep scrubbing for heavily soiled or high traffic areas

Urine treatment

Blood

Restretching/repairs/patches

Deodorizing/Dissinfecting

Water Extractions

Carpet protector (in especially "problem" units) is a possible sale

Rust spots or any type of specialty spots

etc......

All of these services should be billed ON TOP of the $55, $65 and $75 you would charge for each unit. Plus, you get the common areas as well.

You won't get rich off these types of accounts (unless you have several of them with crews that can pound them out efficiently), but it will give you a consistant income that you can rely on "year round".

And once you build your business to the point that you don't need them any more, you can drop them. OR, sell the account to someone esle who is just starting up.

 

[bob vawter]

The problem wit an old folks home is.......
they're full of OLD PEOPLE!
Bob Foster nailed it.......you'll have old bitties TRIPPING over yor hose THE MINUTE you lay them out.......
Nursing homes have limited ingress and egress which leaves YOU running the hoses thru the MAIN ENTRANCE.......BESIDES you'll spend all day looking at pictures of great-grand kids that never visit anymore....lovely!
Gotta KNOW when to walk........

 

[idreadnought]

If your new then take the work at any price per se. You need experience and credibility. Those prices are low but they obviously were unhappy with the last people and after you build repor with them then you could raise them some. Also, rust stain would of been extra. Usually the cost of cleaning is just that with everything special being extra. Hang in there, you will get faster and more effiecient. Welcome to the industry

 

[Walt]

Negotiate the price up a little. Even if its just 5 dollars. The other guy flaked at those prices. Your not a flake, so you deserve more.

Then have a minimum of two apartments. Trust me there will always be something to do. And charge more for extras.

You'll do fine.

 

[Brian R]

Most places are willing to put up with and expect that flakiness. When it becomes too bad they look to find another.

Also, the newness wears off for some companies and the facility knows... that by getting another company the homey moon phase starts all over.

When THAT ends...they will find another.

It really IS all about numbers for most commercial....more so for the Retirement Facilities. I've done more than the one I had but there sure was a lot of crap to put up with.

I just had a really nice one and kept it for a while. The girls (older ladies) actually cried when I came in and said I had to "fire" the job.
I just said "we've outgrown each other"....they understood because they knew how I was doing things differently.

The sub structure is harder to do for commercial jobs for just this reason. It works soooo :arrow: much better for quality residential jobs.

This kind of job is for supplemental income and bread and butter in the winter.
Don't try to use it as your main source of business because the profit margin is so low.

Most of the time it's a "when ever you get to it" type of situation anyway so you can hit it between jobs if you're running early.

You get that check for a few hundred dollars every month and it looks good then because you've forgotten about what you did to get it.
Hard not to lose your ass unless you're set up to save it a bit.

 

[John Watson]

Roxy, that is the same prices I started doing rentals with in 1980. I was working for property managers with over 5000 units and all they wanted was cheap. Lots of good advice to gleen through here, There is a differance of needing bucks to eat or you want steak instead of hot dogs. One avenue to look at is volume, end/first of month and mid month is the buisyest times if I remember right. I would ask him what is his normal turnover rate, 1-5 or more per mo. If you get 8 to 10 units to do in a day give him a break 1 or 2 are more money.. Just an idea. I always ended up the short end of the stick on rentals with the lower dollar amounts. Like someone else mentioned charge extra for all extra you do. If you can survive at his rates make sure he has them pevaced and MT before you get there. We have a few rentals we maintain for our clients but we charge by the SQ Ft. .30-35, there is extra charges for heavy soiling, stain treatments, carpet repairs and color repairs. It is my option if the unit requires a deodoriation treatment and what the charges will be.

 

[Dolly Llama]

couple/three times rust has been mentioned

what's hard about rust??
It's one of, if not THE easiest stain in the world to get out

DON'T hit it with pre-spray and just dribble some rust remover on it and walk away to do other stuff
*POOF* it disappears within seconds to minutes


..L.T.A.

 

[gimmeagig]

Thank you very much.Lots of great advice here. I have a much better idea on how to deal with this now. John I like the idea of having the units pre vacuumed, that makes a lot of sense, I'm sure they use good vacs.But (it's probably something obvious) what is MT? :mrgreen:

 

[Jamesh921]

couple/three times rust has been mentioned

what's hard about rust??
It's one of, if not THE easiest stain in the world to get out

DON'T hit it with pre-spray and just dribble some rust remover on it and walk away to do other stuff
*POOF* it disappears within seconds to minutes

There's nothing "hard" about removing a red stain or rotary scrubbing either, but we charge extra for it.

Rust remover does cost money so, in my opinion, so should removing the rust.

Just because it's easy doesn't mean it should be free - right?

Interesting story:
Back in the 80s I did VCR repair on the side. The instructor who taught me VCR repair told the class a story about how the tower at Tinker Air Force Base (largest AFB in the United States) in OKC went down.

They couldn't land or take off ANY planes.

NONE of their techs could figure out what the problem was, so they called in this guy who had more letters after his name than a PHD, OBGYN and 3 DDS's combined.

Back then, their computer systems were huge and took up LOTS of space. So, this guy walks in to this large room filled with the computer systems, looked around for about 20 minutes, pulled a small screwdriver from his shirt pocket, turned a screw and POOF, the tower came back online - he sent Tinker a bill for $12,005.00.

When Tinker recieved the bill they felt compelled to ask the guy to "justify" his charges.

He simply stated,

"The $5.00 was for turning the screw - the $12,000.00 was for knowing "which" screw to turn."

 

[adamh]

I clean some old folks places and I will not go there until after 9pm. That way the old people are in bed and not tripping on the hoses. Complete pain in the neck with them running around.

 

[bob vawter]

Complete pain in the neck with them running around.

that wasn't funny......at all!

 

[renegade_cowboy]

Set up a sliding scale for the tough rig outs.. if you have to work harder, charge more.

 

[John Watson]

Sorry Roxy, MT= Empty, back in the day (60's-70's) when I used a hot wrench (Cutting torch) for a living we marked our MT oxy and accetalene bottles with welders chalk (Soapstone). I guess you could say we were precursers to the language used on the internet today LOL!!!!!

Used this on to really get questions asked.. ICURMT

 

[rwcarpet]

Complete pain in the neck with them running around.

that wasn't funny......at all!

Just a suggestion......after spending the last 4-5 years visiting my parents in a nursing home, you will notice that most use walkers.

Get some of those "jiggler" pads, cut 'em down, attach them to the walker legs and....walaa!...they do the cleaning for you.

If you really need cash flow, go for it, but it will be a PITA. I remember visiting Mom one day, and as soon as I got out of the van, I could smell the familiar odor of "wate tank", with the added fragrance of "old farts and urine". Guy had just got done cleaning one of the units and was dumping on the lawn. I at least try to hide the APO hose.....

 

[gimmeagig]

LOL that's awful!

 

[GCP]

Watch out for trip and slip hazards some of remaining residents could be exposed to . Serious dilgence is needed in stopping or warning residents in spite of all the signs you put up.

 

[rwcarpet]

Complete pain in the neck with them running around.

that wasn't funny......at all!

Just a suggestion......after spending the last 4-5 years visiting my parents in a nursing home, you will notice that most use walkers.

Get some of those "jiggler" pads, cut 'em down, attach them to the walker legs and....walaa!...they do the cleaning for you.

If you really need cash flow, go for it, but it will be a PITA. I remember visiting Mom one day, and as soon as I got out of the van, I could smell the familiar odor of "wate tank", with the added fragrance of "old farts and urine". Guy had just got done cleaning one of the units and was dumping on the lawn. I at least try to hide the APO hose.....

I used to talk with the in-house maintainence man when he was cleaning carpets. He had a little rug-doctor thingy that he would use. Of course, that would be safer than stringing out hoses, but a lot of buckets and dumping. I was going to try to demo the pad system, but never got to it.

The old days.....