My first carpet repair.

[joey895]

My first repair.

Doggy tried to dig his way out of this room. The carpet is about 1.5-2 years old and she had some extra carpet. I pulled it up and cut from the back with a hot knife. Measured and did the same thing on the donor. Had to cut the donor twice because I didn't check the direction of the nap before hand and couldn't just turn it around because I didn't cut a square.I used a kool glide to put it together. Sorry I didn't take pics through out the process just before and afters.

This first pic is obviously before. The second pic is after the patch but before cleaning. The third pic is after cleaning.

 

[D Rice]

Looks Great but I'm a beginner too.

 

[Mark Imbesi]

Great Job!

(better have wiped down that wet hardwood, though )

 

[Harry Myers]

Looks good Joey.

 

[Jack May]

Good stuff Joey.

Do you mind me asking how much you got for the repair?

Did you get the cleaning because you could also do the repair? Or did you have the cleaning and upsold the repair?

Approx time frame to do (including extra time of re doing)? Don't be concerned you took too long, we all did in the early days.

This is what this room needs now, a few of you guys that are picking it up to show some of your work to re inforce to others that most can do this with a little training, tools and patience.

Thanks for sharing.

John

 

[joey895]

Good stuff Joey.

Do you mind me asking how much you got for the repair?

Did you get the cleaning because you could also do the repair? Or did you have the cleaning and upsold the repair?

Approx time frame to do (including extra time of re doing)? Don't be concerned you took too long, we all did in the early days.

This is what this room needs now, a few of you guys that are picking it up to show some of your work to re inforce to others that most can do this with a little training, tools and patience.

Thanks for sharing.

John

This is a lady that I have cleaned for several times before. She only has the one bedroom that has carpet in it. When she needed the repair she actually called the carpet retailer where she bought the carpet from and they told her to ask her cleaner for a referral. She asked me if I knew anyone that could handle that and I said sure me. :wink: I generally clean her carpet about every 6 months. It's only been 3 months since the last cleaning so had she not needed the repair she would have been a few more months before getting it cleaned.

I'm a bit of a lowballer on price. I always charge her my minimum $60 for cleaning that one room. I charged $75 for the repair, so $135 total.

It took me a total of an hour and fifteen minutes for the repair.

 

[Jack May]

That's ok Joey.

So your repair netted you $60/hour . At the end of the day, what was your cost? Apart from time, all your others costs were already covered by being there cleaning. Great little add on you did.

So, your wages, plus maybe $5 in materials, if that. and next time around, it'll be even quicker because you won't make the same mistake. So the thing you have to guard against is your own mentality of wanting to drop your prices as you get quicker.

I used to charge a min $80 for repairs. and in my mind, that was up to an hours work, give or take little. Then I kept getting comments time and again, especially after they saw what I could achieve, they'd keep saying, IS THAT ALL?!?

So progressively I've lifted it and find most now are $135 min for the first hour, materials included. I now often net $100/hour excluding materials and find little resistance to my pricing.

John

John

 

[Stevea]

Hi Joey,

Wonderful example of a repair and sharing the good and bad, this helps all of us to learn. Glad to see you doing this work so well.

One other thing you may keep in mind, that looks like it may have been a good candidate for stretching it out far enough to trim it off and not even have to put in a donor piece of carpet? Can't see the size of the room but if may be something to keep in mind for future reference.

Your repair is a good example of a common problem that can be repaired well. This is a repair that can be looked for in homes and also used to market to property management companies. Take you photos, blow them up to 8 x 10 and share them with anyone who manages property, it may open a door or two.

Thanks for sharing, this should encourage others to try this work.

SA

 

[alazo1]

Looks great dude.

Off topic, your invoices, do you print them in your pc or are they double sided?.

Albert

 

[Charlie Lyman]

looks good.

 

[joey895]

Looks great dude.

Off topic, your invoices, do you print them in your pc or are they double sided?.

Albert

I print one copy off my pc and take it to officemax and have them print 2 part carbonless paper.

I find it cheaper to have them print them in duplicate than to print them myself, plus I got sick of filling out every invoice twice.

 

[Mikey P]

$60 an hour is going to encourage me to try that?

 

[Jack May]

Read the whole thing Mike!

Next time, it'll be $75/hour, then in a month or two's time with a little work on it, he'll be pulling $100/hour easy.

And this was on top of his original invoice.

John

 

[joey895]

Truth is it should have been about 30 minutes tops but I was pretty nervous and over thinking it probably. Plus the homeowner standing over me watching didn't help things.

I will say it does feel pretty good for a rookie like me to be able to do something that an industry legend in your own mind can't do.

 

[Stevea]

John and Joey put this in a good perspective. $100 per hour (60 on top of the original invoice) is worth a lot more to the bottom line in repair work than $100 per hour (or the 60 many may make) with the use of a truck mount and truck. This is simple math when you consider what expenses each carry.

Also, the added value of performing a service that not everyone does changes the viewpoint of the consumer as to the worth of the service person. These types of services tend to get a good referral.

Repair is like anything else, if we were to remember the first few times we cleaned carpet; cleaned upholstery or draperies or what ever service we try, it takes a little while to get comfortable with it, to get proficient with it. There is no doubt in my mind Joey will perform this type of repair in 15-30 minutes when he gets all the nervousness and uncertainty out of his way. Now the 75 dollars for 1 1/4 hours will be, instead of 60 per hour, it will be 150 - 200 per hour, now that is worth the effort. Add to this the fact one does not have to low ball a repair because the competition is just not there.

Joey is not only learning a valuable service but he is also learning to sell himself and ask for work that many walk away from. Just the fact he opened himself up to scrutiny here says a lot about his ability to add on sales. Joey is sharing Gold with everyone, if they will just pick it up.

Great example Joey, keep it going and do not worry about the customer, they have no idea what is going on, just keep on impressing them.

SA

 

[Larry B]

Good job Joey.

The pricing stuff they talk about in here is great. I raised my prices on repair work after talking with guys in here a couple months ago and have had NO complaints.

 

[harryhides]

I'd like to add to the above comments about pricing on this kind of work.

1/ There is no tm or expensive and depreciating equipment required for this ie Revenue - zero expense except your own time.
2/ Instant credibility.
3/ Referrals to places and people that you may not get into any other way.
4/ Little or no competition and no pricing pressures from lowballers.
5/ When you are 50 or older will you still be pushing a wand ?
6/ So lets say you wipe on your mountain bike and injure yourself, can you still run a truck ? You can still do repair work.

 

[Stevea]

Very well said by Tony, great points on a service that is not really that difficult yet provides a great return.

SA

 

[Heathrow]

Tony I'm just trying to picture you in a neck brace, lying on the floor doing a repair :roll:

 

[Captain Morgan]

Is this stuff you learn at an IICRC Carpet Repair & Reinstallation Training class or not? I've been asked 5-6 times since I bought my business about restretching a corner, simple reglue of a seam, etc.. Guys I've talked to say to stay out of it.. I'm biting off more than I can chew..

Not that I'm thinking this is going to be a goldmine niche for me but I certainly don't want to leave money on the table... not to mention, I feel kind of stupid saying I don't know how to do stuff that should be in my area of know-how or expertise.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[joey895]

I havn't had the opportunity to take a class yet but I plan to. The only training I've had are this room and Steve Andrews Dvd. I'm like you I was just tired of telling people I didn't do things that it seemed to me I should be able to do. At first I tried to find a good carpet installer/repairer to refer these types of things to but had no luck at all. I couldn't even find one that would show up.

 

[Captain Morgan]

At first I tried to find a good carpet installer/repairer to refer these types of things to but had no luck at all. I couldn't even find one that would show up.

Ain't that the truth!

I forgot to mention earlier, that was some good work.. especially from watching a DVD and teaching yourself the rest.

Thanks for explaining you started with Steve's DVD.

 

[Jim Morrison]

Bill,

I attended a repair & re installation course in Nov. and all of this stuff was covered. Mark Violand was the instructor. A fair bit of hands on, well worth it imo.

 

[KevinL]

I just finished rrt class at Jondon with Barry Costa. I have done some hack repairs in the past but now I know what I'm doing.
If you can't find someone in your area to do the work then that should tell you to get the training and be that person. There are always repairs and restretches to be done.