Do I Suck At Carpet Cleaning?

[Jeremy N]

I mostly do WD work and build backs. Lately I have been gearing up to do more carpet cleaning.

I see you guys talk about how fast you can clean carpet and all that jazz. Why is it that it takes me longer? Yesterday I cleaned a house that had 3 bedrooms, bathroom, hallway, office and rug in almost 3 hours. I did vacuum the whole deal. We're not talking about big rooms or anything either.

Not only that but I'm a tired muther too! Why didn't someone let me know that it was such hard work?

Am I just a slow dude or something?

 

[Brian R]

You'll get better and quicker as you do more.

 

[Derek]

You'll get better and quicker as you do more.

yep.

if you are like me, then you don't do resi jobs too often. so for ppl like us, it will take even longer to get a system down. i used to take a good 4-5 hours to do a job the size you are talking about. now i can do it in about 2.5 - 3 hours.

so you are already way faster than i was !gotcha!

 

[Jeremy N]

Did I mention that I was tired after one freaking house?

Don't some of you guys do 3-5 houses a day?

Sonofa...

 

[sweendogg]

What kinda of equipment are you using ie truckmount, portable? size of wand? glides? etc.

All these things effect how effeciently we can clean.

 

[Dolly Llama]

were you moving furniture?
Learn to set up rooms so they can be cleaned with max efficiency

there are lots of "little things" that can add up to large productivity gains WITHOUT being in a hurry or sacrificing quality

I call it "economy of motion" and it encompasses everything from the way the van is set up to the smile and thank you at the end of the job


..L.T.A.

 

[Brian R]

Did I mention that I was tired after one freaking house?

Don't some of you guys do 3-5 houses a day?

Sonofa...

As you do more, you will learn to relax a little and let the equipment do the work. You are probably wrestling the wand and that is wearing you out quick. Once you get the feel for it the jobs won't seem so bad.

3 hours to do a house that size is WAAAAAAAAy to long for anyone who has been doing it more than 6 months.
Unless your equipment is crap or it's near Bawbs house in the ghetto.

 

[cleanimagemarketing]

You know what, I'm going to swim upstream here and say: Who cares how fast you are? Did you do a thorough job? Did you charge enough to cover your expenses and make a nice profit? Was your customer pleased with your balance of price and service?

There are all kinds of cleaners out there. Some want to be fast to get as many jobs as they can done in one day. They market to people who are more concerned with price, which is a good majority of the market. Others would rather do one or two small jobs a day, charge a little more and do a real thorough job. This cleaner hits the higher end of the market.

One thought isn't necessarily better than another. But I sure hope you didn't come home tired AND with empty pockets!

 

[Brian R]

Hey Phil,
Maybe it's me but your links aren't working on your website.

 

[cleanimagemarketing]

Hey Brian,

Yeah, the site is in the works. I'm hoping to have the completed site up next week.

 

[juniorc82]

Hey speed will come with experience. I say this stay until the job is done right. I catch myself rushing sometimes and have to tell myself to slow down. In this economy doing a good job is what matters most.

 

[Jeremy N]

I run a TCS Chief II with a 47 blower.

 

[sweendogg]

Ok, well I did a lightly soiled MBR, Den, Hall 2 sets of stairs, Basement traffic lanes in 2 hours but made 280 on the job no furniture to move.. so. Monday I had an upper hall, set of steps, dining room, family room, and main entrance area with furniture moving, moderatley soiled and lots of dry soil that took me 3 hours for only 205.00. It all averages out, some houses let you move quickly while others not so much, but if you are offering the best possible service and charging enough to make a profit, that is what matters at the end of the day.

 

[green guy]

this may sound funny but how is your nutritional intake

 

[steve frasier]

not that IGAS but why should the home owner sit around for hours because you don't care how fast you are

 

[bob vawter]

[quote="Jeremy N":jdv0nf8n]Did I mention that I was tired after one freaking house?

Don't some of you guys do 3-5 houses a day?

Sonofa...

As you do more, you will learn to relax a little and let the equipment do the work. You are probably wrestling the wand and that is wearing you out quick. Once you get the feel for it the jobs won't seem so bad.

3 hours to do a house that size is WAAAAAAAAy to long for anyone who has been doing it more than 6 months.
Unless your equipment is crap or it's near Bawbs house in the ghetto.[/quote:jdv0nf8n]
oUR RECORD IS 11 GHETTO HOUSES in one day!

 

[sweendogg]

Now thats what I call squirt suck and go bawbers!! :mrgreen:

BAwb you HAVE to have some great photos besided just the homeless shelter cleaning .. you need to post a few... ONLY IN THE RUBBER ROOM!!!

 

[joeynbgky]

i gots the tcs chief not the 2, so you went all out. same basic setup as mine. We do about 3-5 houses a day and 0-3 apartments. (our drivetime is short. Only one person rides in the van

 

[Jeremy N]

Oh dang, it looks like I'm gonna have to get in better shape!

 

[Nate The Great]

I mostly do WD work and build backs. Lately I have been gearing up to do more carpet cleaning.

I see you guys talk about how fast you can clean carpet and all that jazz. Why is it that it takes me longer? Yesterday I cleaned a house that had 3 bedrooms, bathroom, hallway, office and rug in almost 3 hours. I did vacuum the whole deal. We're not talking about big rooms or anything either.

Not only that but I'm a tired muther too! Why didn't someone let me know that it was such hard work?

Am I just a slow dude or something?

Your not the only one. I'm also a slow cleaner. Or I guess you could say through.

 

[Jim Bethel]

[Or I guess you could say through.

You could also say thorough as well Nate

 

[Nate The Great]

[quote="Nate The Great":3ljcmsdq][Or I guess you could say through.

You could also say thorough as well Nate [/quote:3ljcmsdq]


lol..... shut up.....

 

[Carpet Cleaning Fool]

Do you pre spray one room at a time or what?

I probably would have pre sprayed the entire job in one shot. The trick is you have to move fast before your pre spray dries.

sometimes when cleaning a vacant, and I'm not in a hurry, I'll drag butt and turn a 1 hour job into a 2.5 hour job. :-) ...

I mostly do WD work and build backs. Lately I have been gearing up to do more carpet cleaning.

I see you guys talk about how fast you can clean carpet and all that jazz. Why is it that it takes me longer? Yesterday I cleaned a house that had 3 bedrooms, bathroom, hallway, office and rug in almost 3 hours. I did vacuum the whole deal. We're not talking about big rooms or anything either.

Not only that but I'm a tired muther too! Why didn't someone let me know that it was such hard work?

Am I just a slow dude or something?

 

[Ron Werner]

3 hours to do a house that size is WAAAAAAAAy to long for anyone who has been doing it more than 6 months.
Unless your equipment is crap or it's near Bawbs house in the ghetto.

Really?
Don't let him see my video

 

[Able 1]

The work really isn't that hard... Look at all the fat assed carpet cleaners there are. You will learn tricks to be more efficient as you go.

 

[Lumber Jack]

I am also semi slow what you described would have takein about 2-2.5 hrs. You know what most custys tell me... The last guy that came here was in n out in a hour and it looked like crap. We are paid labor to some degree. I tell my custys I take a little more time but I take alot of pride in THIER CARPET AND I WANT IT TO BE THE CLEANEST IT CAN BE, I have never had anyone complain for doing a good job,in fact I get some nice TIPS for taking my time. You will get used to the wand in time sound like you are putting pressure on YOURSELF that make you nervous.
Joe B told me you should have fun cleaning carpet. U know what I love my job I was a drywall contractor with 6-15 employies I would never go back.
So dont give up!! Don't stress about being slow you will learn the tricks of the traid in time and the wand will get easier. I had a friend tell me to with furniture prespray first move furniture towards middle clean move back clean middle tabs under done. Thats helped me out a lot I went after Prop Management first so I could get use to the wand hoses and setup. I just started going for more Resi Customers a few months back.
Take your time the women really do appreciate your efforts.

 

[randy]

Wednesday I spent 7.5 HOURS cleaning 1500 square feet of commercial carpet. When I looked at it I was thinking it could still be encapped but would take a couple hours. Well I ended up having to HWE the entire thing, and then encapped it. The extraction was very slow as the carpet was holding a lot more soil then it originally appeared. Literally I could see areas starting to wick within 45 minutes of extraction. Like a idiot I figured well I'll just keep at it and do it myself. Knowing what I now know, a second technician would have been a great idea.

The one positive was they called the next afternoon and were astounded at how great the carpet looks. I have already got a few more jobs from them. That is what makes the 7.5 hours an investment with a quick return !

Focus on mainly on quality, and then on incremental improvement in the efficiency of your production time , and you will do just fine. Most fantastic technicians aren't exactly super fast.

 

[Curtis Pennington]

Time is money....how simple is that?

 

[Brian R]

[quote="Brian R":38wve21e]

3 hours to do a house that size is WAAAAAAAAy to long for anyone who has been doing it more than 6 months.
Unless your equipment is crap or it's near Bawbs house in the ghetto.....Or you are incredibly anal about vacuuming up every spec of soil that your HWE would have sucked up anyway :mrgreen:

Really?
Don't let him see my video [/quote:38wve21e]

 

[Ron Werner]

[quote="Ron Werner":wc4m6n2l][quote="Brian R":wc4m6n2l]

3 hours to do a house that size is WAAAAAAAAy to long for anyone who has been doing it more than 6 months.
Unless your equipment is crap or it's near Bawbs house in the ghetto.....Or you are incredibly anal about vacuuming up every spec of soil thatYOU THINK your HWE would have sucked up anyway :mrgreen:

Really?
Don't let him see my video [/quote:wc4m6n2l][/quote:wc4m6n2l]