Carpet inspector

[Louis]

Thinking about doing this. As I get older I might go in this direction. Also it would set me apart from the other guys.
What do you think? Is it worth it.

Thanks

 

[Mikey P]

Play your cards right and you too can travle the world and have your own Vegas penthouse on the broke dick's dime.

 

[Louis]

Lol. Maybe start my own board and go newbie hunting claiming to be the industry expert.
Just trying to figure out if I want to keep doing the carpet thing or go back and finish the business degree that I started when I was a purchaser for Kodak.

 

[Jim Pemberton]

I've been a carpet inspector for close to twenty years, but I pick and choose what I do. I do know people who attempt to do it full time, but for most inspectors its part time income.

One of the things you'll find is that if you are hired by the carpet manufacturer, your inspections will often displease consumers and carpet retailers, due to the fact that either the consumer will find they have no claim, or the retailer will be liable for a bad installation. So don't do this thinking it will make you friends with either group.

That's not to say you won't make some good contacts and build your reputation in your market place by being an inspector, but if you are always honest with your inspections and assessments, you will make those two groups of people unhappy more often than not.

 

[hogjowl]

I've been a carpet inspector for close to twenty years, but I pick and choose what I do. I do know people who attempt to do it full time, but for most inspectors its part time income.

One of the things you'll find is that if you are hired by the carpet manufacturer, your inspections will often displease consumers and carpet retailers, due to the fact that either the consumer will find they have no claim, or the retailer will be liable for a bad installation. So don't do this thinking it will make you friends with either group.

That's not to say you won't make some good contacts and build your reputation in your market place by being an inspector, but if you are always honest with your inspections and assessments, you will make those two groups of people unhappy more often than not.

I can't tell you how refreshing it is to see a guru who shoots straight.

Thanks!

 

[Louis]

Wouldn't do it full time unless something happened and I couldn't clean anymore. More of a part time thing. Also more of a reason for people to choose my company over the competition.

I also think its just wanting to be the best at what I do. When I started at Kodak as a temporary warehouse guy I met the purchaser for the lab. Thought that's a cool job. 5 years later I had his job. Then 5 years later the lab closed. A year and a half later a new carpet cleaner joined the game.

 

[Jim Pemberton]

Becoming a carpet inspector will make you a better carpet cleaner. One reason is it will force you to learn a great deal more about carpet than you would otherwise learn, but even more it will change how you look at carpet problems.

We as cleaners tend to always see issues as cleaning related (especially if other people are cleaning it), and assume when we see a problem that its bad technique, bad cleaning agents, bad equipment, etc.

I will never forget being called to inspect a carpet in a major university. The traffic areas had a strong green "discoloration" that looked like a cleaning agent residue gone bad. From a carpet cleaner's perspective I would have been doing pH tests, looking for indicator dye issues, etc.

It turned out that this multicolored carpet had three colors present: Gold, mauve, and green. When I used a pocket microscope I could clearly see that the gold and mauve fibers were deteriorating and looked like broken glass. Since only the green ones remained intact, it created the "green discoloration".

Had I not approached it as an inspector, I don't think I would ever have thought to look for that issue.

In that way, inspector training would help you.

Again, just don't see it as a springboard to "making friends and influencing people" you want as customers. You'll be seen more like a "workman's comp doctor" in more than a few cases.

It is a nice side income when pushing a wand is no longer a desirable option of course.

 

[Brian H]

More of a part time thing. Also more of a reason for people to choose my company over the competition.

It might make you a better cleaner, but the more inspections you do, the more you will drive business away.

I did carpet inspections a million years or so ago and the vast majority of inspections I did were issues caused by the consumer. When you deliver your report to the retailer/mil, they will be able to say to their customer " What can I do? Brian from Hagopian says you caused the problem". You become the fall guy for the retailer. That person will not remember your company in a good light.

 

[Louis]

I know whenever you tell somebody they're wrong you don't make friends. just tell it is. I honestly don't think I could side with the manufacturer just because they are going to give me more jobs I just wouldn't sleep right.

 

[Jim Pemberton]

I know whenever you tell somebody they're wrong you don't make friends. just tell it is. I honestly don't think I could side with the manufacturer just because they are going to give me more jobs I just wouldn't sleep right.

This is the part that you will find distasteful Louis:

You won't be siding with the manufacturers, you will be reporting the conditions you observe and rendering your opinion to the party who commissioned you as to the nature of the problem. Since many complaints are the result of the customer being oversold and under informed by the retailer, you will in complete honesty have to report that there likely is not a valid complaint to the manufacturer.

Even if you are hired by the consumer, you still are under the burden of truthfully reporting that the carpet is performing according to the specifications of the manufacturer, though not often according to the promises of the retailer.

 

[Desk Jockey]

I agree with Brian I was a certified inspector back in the day....man that was a long long time ago. As an inspector you made no one happy the homeowner ALWAYS wanted it replaced whether it deserved to be or not. Neither the mill or the retailer was ever too excited to hear about it if it was a flaw. We quit because just like Brian mentioned we were making enemies of all involved.

 

[Louis]

Maybe I should stick to inspections out of my service area. I think doing it just to be a better cleaner might be worth it. I'm a single truck operation and the competition is crazy here so this would separate me from the rest of the tards here.

Also if I ever get to leave this arm pit of California I will have some options.

So the next question is how does one prepare for this? I'm a master textile cleaner but its been awhile since I got my boy scout patches.

What a good school that wont break the bank? I have seen prices vary by over $1000.

 

[billyeadon]

Maybe I should stick to inspections out of my service area. I think doing it just to be a better cleaner might be worth it. I'm a single truck operation and the competition is crazy here so this would separate me from the rest of the tards here.

Also if I ever get to leave this arm pit of California I will have some options.

So the next question is how does one prepare for this? I'm a master textile cleaner but its been awhile since I got my boy scout patches.

What a good school that wont break the bank? I have seen prices vary by over $1000.

I agree with the posts above that the main reasons from above. This will give you a better knowledge base about carpet, installation and maintenance. The only way to make money in inspections is to do commercial inspections. But in order to do commercial inspections you need to have a reputation with the mills that you know what you are doing. That is the Catch 22. You can't make money doing crushing problems on residential polyester.

As for schools things are changing in the inspection arena. Jeff Bishop has retired and I don't think Mike West is teaching inspection anymore. The best schools are in Dalton GA because that's where 95% of the mills and other related industries are located. I would probably look for a school taught by Ron Toney.

 

[Louis]

Lol Ron lives 2 miles from me. I haven't talked with him since we did a rug cleaning and repair together. He still rides his unicycle around his neighborhood.

So why the huge difference in pricing between schools. I have seen the class go for as little as $1200 to over$2500.

 

[Shane Deubell]

Maybe I should stick to inspections out of my service area. I think doing it just to be a better cleaner might be worth it. I'm a single truck operation and the competition is crazy here so this would separate me from the rest of the tards here.

Also if I ever get to leave this arm pit of California I will have some options.

So the next question is how does one prepare for this? I'm a master textile cleaner but its been awhile since I got my boy scout patches.

What a good school that wont break the bank? I have seen prices vary by over $1000.

You dont have to become an inspector to be an expert and separate yourself from the local drifters. You can start today right now by starting to educate your customers on all the information you already know. The tricky part is rewriting everything in the customers viewpoint. Leave behinds, e-newsletters, mailers, seminar at a local retail partner or maybe even community college, phone script,blogs, website etc. Anything your creative mind can come up with.

A great place to start is the iicrc manuals, should easily be able to come up with 20 topics. Like i said, have to rewrite it though in the homeowners view.
Short, paragraphs breaks, bullet points, bold, anything to make it easy to read in a couple minutes.

 

[harryhides]

I'd agree with Jim and Bill having been an active Inspector for 20 yrs - always part-time - there just wasn't enough work in my market.
So for starters you need to find out how many Inspectors already serve your area - check out the NICFI web-site - http://www.nicfi.org/
I'm pretty sure that there are quite a few very good Inspectors in your area.

What I learned by taking the training to become an Inspector helped me tremendously in my cleaning and repair business especially rubbing shoulders with other Inspectors at related conferences and symposiums.