How long would this take you?

[Bryce C]

We have a job this afternoon/evening in a factory office. Two floors about 3700 square feet. We are vacuuming with edges, cleaning the carpets, and agitating the first floor with a puny 10" crb as it is all we have, the second floor we will be using a carpet brush as the carpets are in better shape. Upgrades coming but it's what we have for now. I think I'll get a second 10" crb soon so I can link them together on commercial jobs.

We're splitting up on two different floors each with our own 500 psi heated portables with 2 three stage vac motors. Using pump sprayers, bridgepoint flex powdered prespray, and a simple spotter kit. The facility is mostly well spaced cubicles with some open areas and hallways. As much as I hustle and try to work intelligently stuff just feels like it takes forever. We have no deadline as they are disengaging the alarms when we enter at 2pm and no one will be in the facility from then until Monday.

 

[Jim Pemberton]

Emptying and refilling portables is a bottleneck to production. Do you have a third party available (unpaid kid? Ask me how I know about this) who can be busy with a cart and clean and dirty buckets (never use one for both purposes!) so that you can keep working?

 

[Kenny Hayes]

Your crb will get the edges. You’ll find with all the crap they have around and under their desks even if they pretend to move stuff, the crb will be more than adequate. With two portys going it shouldn’t take long, except you’re new. I’d be cimexing and bonneting it as needed. If there happened to be plush carpet somewhere, I’d extract that. Best of luck with the headaches!

 

[Cleanworks]

We have a job this afternoon/evening in a factory office. Two floors about 3700 square feet. We are vacuuming with edges, cleaning the carpets, and agitating the first floor with a puny 10" crb as it is all we have, the second floor we will be using a carpet brush as the carpets are in better shape. Upgrades coming but it's what we have for now. I think I'll get a second 10" crb soon so I can link them together on commercial jobs.

We're splitting up on two different floors each with our own 500 psi heated portables with 2 three stage vac motors. Using pump sprayers, bridgepoint flex powdered prespray, and a simple spotter kit. The facility is mostly well spaced cubicles with some open areas and hallways. As much as I hustle and try to work intelligently stuff just feels like it takes forever. We have no deadline as they are disengaging the alarms when we enter at 2pm and no one will be in the facility from then until Monday.

Probably about 4-6 hours with 2 people and 2 machines. This is the type of job better suited to vlm with a Phoenix or similar orbital machine. Take one person 2-4 hours depending on how much time you spend vacuuming.

 

[Mikey P]

you should be done in time for your trip to Texas..



Next time take this and be done in 3 to 4 hours..

 

[Jimmy L]

Portables are so outdated
I would rather use a walkbehind

 

[Cleanworks]

Portables are so outdated
I would rather use a walkbehind

It's a cleaner and walker all in one.

 

[Bryce C]

Probably about 4-6 hours with 2 people and 2 machines. This is the type of job better suited to vlm with a Phoenix or similar orbital machine. Take one person 2-4 hours depending on how much time you spend vacuuming.

An orbital machine would still take out deeply impacted grease tracked in from the factory through the office area? The folks who hired us said the previous carpet cleaners weren't effectively cleaning that aspect, I guessed they were using orbital machines. Maybe they were just goofballs I don't know..

 

[Bryce C]

Portables are so outdated
I would rather use a walkbehind

Are walk behinds those oblong machines that have 100 psi, single vac, and a rotating agitation brush?

 

[Bryce C]

you should be done in time for your trip to Texas..



Next time take this and be done in 3 to 4 hours..

Next time take what?

Half way done 4 hours in. We decided to use 1 portable and have the other half doing bucket brigade and getting ahead with prespray, spotting, and agitation. All the down time when we split up with different machines to dump and refill, spray, scrub, and the rest just seems painfully slow. Not sure how to speed this process up really.

 

[Kenny Hayes]

Are walk behinds those oblong machines that have 100 psi, single vac, and a rotating agitation brush?

Don’t listen to him. There’s nothing good about those!

 

[Bryce C]

Don’t listen to him. There’s nothing good about those!

Janitor!

 

[Dolly Llama]

All the down time when we split up with different machines to dump and refill, spray, scrub, and the rest just seems painfully slow.

it's also conducive to maintaining quality the whole way as a team

Not sure how to speed this process up really.

it all about maximizing efficiency and economy of motion
You're already thinking that way by determining two man crew together, was better than separate
Lots of little things can add up to a half hour or hour and more on large jobs

I figure you've already know to let the fill bucket fill at a slow/low fill rate so it's full when you need it, and not standing there with thumb up their butt waiting to fill.

little chit like that adds up

..L.T.A.

 

[Dolly Llama]

I think I'll get a second 10" crb soon so I can link them together on commercial jobs.

don't buy a second one.
Use your budget more wisely

rotary w/fiber pad
it's far more effective at shearing soil and faster for scrubbing com.
You'll see when you come get mine.

save your lil' peeder brush for res and plank tile.
You don't need two of them

..L.T.A.

 

[Cleanworks]

An orbital machine would still take out deeply impacted grease tracked in from the factory through the office area? The folks who hired us said the previous carpet cleaners weren't effectively cleaning that aspect, I guessed they were using orbital machines. Maybe they were just goofballs I don't know..

You would need to use the right chemistry and pads but yes it can. You can't just gloss over it no matter what method you use. The orbital machines provide excellent scrubbing. I would use something like Vacaway's Commercial Magic, which is a high pH encap. Start with fibre pad for agitation and finish with a microfiber pad for absorption. Will probably look better than cleaning with a portable.

 

[sassyotto]

Although I prefer a CRB with the right brushes, (stiff for commercial) Id have to agree with a Rotary with brush or pad on this if your budget minded.

 

[Bryce C]

You would need to use the right chemistry and pads but yes it can. You can't just gloss over it no matter what method you use. The orbital machines provide excellent scrubbing. I would use something like Vacaway's Commercial Magic, which is a high pH encap. Start with fibre pad for agitation and finish with a microfiber pad for absorption. Will probably look better than cleaning with a portable.

We just pulled about 50 to 60 gallons of straight black mud water out of that place. I don't understand how pads could absord that. 1 gallon of that waste water would completely saturate and blacken a couple absorbent pads, maybe more. Do you sometimes go through 100 absorbent pads on 3700² of commercial carpet?

Unless they are pushing a lot of soils down to the base of the fibers and buffing the top clean... I don't doubt that it would look good, and better than what I was able to do. I can imagine how saweeet that place would look if I quickly went over the areas we hot water extracted with an absorbent pad on a Trinity while it was still moist.

 

[Bryce C]

Although I prefer a CRB with the right brushes, (stiff for commercial) Id have to agree with a Rotary with brush or pad on this if your budget minded.

You'd use black/stiff crb brushes on commercial carpet?

 

[Bryce C]

it's also conducive to maintaining quality the whole way as a team




it all about maximizing efficiency and economy of motion
You're already thinking that way by determining two man crew together, was better than separate
Lots of little things can add up to a half hour or hour and more on large jobs

I figure you've already know to let the fill bucket fill at a slow/low fill rate so it's full when you need it, and not standing there with thumb up their butt waiting to fill.

little chit like that adds up

..L.T.A.

Great points man. Yea efficiency is our central focus these days. Seems like marketing and not destroying anything is going well, but the time just cruises by.

Just took us a little over 9 hours to complete that place. And I burned through almost $100 of chems. Need to up my commercial prices asap. Need better equipment too. Also need a day off sometime But happy to get paid to learn for now ya know.

Whatcha mean about letting a bucket slowly fill up? I mean I get it I think, but I can already see myself getting carried away cleaning and just have a bucket flow over for a bit

 

[Kenny Hayes]

Yes, you would.

 

[Bryce C]

Yes, you would.

Did it once already in a guys kitchen sink. Walked away and said to myself "don't forget the thing, don't forget the thing.., oh look a spot" 10 minutes later, bucket!!!

 

[Living The Dream]

I think a job like that would take me 7-9 hours depending on soil and obstacles.

When cleaning commercial carpet I often do a hybrid cleaning. Prevac, pretreat, agitate, hwe, and post encapsulation cleaning with bonnet (you could do this with a CRB, but I like the idea of the bonnet absorbing. ) post encap will also help prevent wicking.

When HWE'ing I would carry 2 spotters. TOPS Spot for any greasy stubborn spots and a peroxide based spotter for coffee or other organic.

 

[Mikey P]

We just pulled about 50 to 60 gallons of straight black mud water out of that place. I don't understand how pads could absord that. 1 gallon of that waste water would completely saturate and blacken a couple absorbent pads, maybe more. Do you sometimes go through 100 absorbent pads on 3700² of commercial carpet?

Unless they are pushing a lot of soils down to the base of the fibers and buffing the top clean... I don't doubt that it would look good, and better than what I was able to do. I can imagine how saweeet that place would look if I quickly went over the areas we hot water extracted with an absorbent pad on a Trinity while it was still moist.

Guess what, if you went back and did it all over again tomorrow the water would be just as funky..


Don't get into the mental trap of thinking your pit washing glue down carpet by running a wand over it..

 

[Bryce C]

Guess what, if you went back and did it all over again tomorrow the water would be just as funky..


Don't get into the mental trap of thinking your pit washing glue down carpet by running a wand over it..

I understand that. I buffed areas with a clean terrycloth after we extracted as much as we could and the cloth was still pulling soil. I think some kind of post bonneting would have really helped.

Is it still best to extract as much of it as we can? Or since one can never get it all then aesthetics are more important?

 

[Dolly Llama]

I mean I get it I think, but I can already see myself getting carried away cleaning and just have a bucket flow over for a bi

so?
who cares as long as the drain isn't closed.
I'd rather grab a full bucket than wait for one to fill

..L.T.A

 

[Kenny Hayes]

So, do you have renovator trays on that crb?

 

[Mikey P]

I understand that. I buffed areas with a clean terrycloth after we extracted as much as we could and the cloth was still pulling soil. I think some kind of post bonneting would have really helped.

Is it still best to extract as much of it as we can? Or since one can never get it all then aesthetics are more important?

Commercial just wants it to look better and be put back into Service as quickly as possible if you can keep spots and spills from reappearing all the better.


It's a very common mistake that all newbies make that if they give it all they got and go over and over and over something that somebody somewhere is going to notice the difference and call them back and spread the word because of their extra effort.


When in reality you'd be far off taking a less is more approach.

Had you run an OP over that with sSagers oxy encap they would be coming in on Tuesday morning and needing sunglasses and never once considering how much soil you removed or where did it go...


In other words leave your cape and utility belt in the closet where it belongs

 

[Kenny Hayes]

That’s a fact no matter what you know who says. I like to use a pre spray, pre clean, Encap Punch with the crb. If there’s a little embedded soil after vacuuming, the crb picks it up. Then I give it a go with whatever I feel like. Cimex or Op. If the customer watches, they’re always impressed. Always.

 

[Living The Dream]

Commercial just wants it to look better and be put back into Service as quickly as possible if you can keep spots and spills from reappearing all the better.


It's a very common mistake that all newbies make that if they give it all they got and go over and over and over something that somebody somewhere is going to notice the difference and call them back and spread the word because of their extra effort.


When in reality you'd be far off taking a less is more approach.

Had you run an OP over that with sSagers oxy encap they would be coming in on Tuesday morning and needing sunglasses and never once considering how much soil you removed or where did it go...


In other words leave your cape and utility belt in the closet where it belongs

I personally think that when taking on a new commercial carpet, it should be HWE'd first. Otherwise you're just swirling your Saiger Sauce with whatever cocktail of residue is in that carpet.

 

[Cleanworks]

We just pulled about 50 to 60 gallons of straight black mud water out of that place. I don't understand how pads could absord that. 1 gallon of that waste water would completely saturate and blacken a couple absorbent pads, maybe more. Do you sometimes go through 100 absorbent pads on 3700² of commercial carpet?

Unless they are pushing a lot of soils down to the base of the fibers and buffing the top clean... I don't doubt that it would look good, and better than what I was able to do. I can imagine how saweeet that place would look if I quickly went over the areas we hot water extracted with an absorbent pad on a Trinity while it was still moist.

When I wash my pads I can generate the same amount of black muddy water. It doesn't take much dirt to turn water black.