Yet another "Newb's New Equipment" thread

[FloorPizza]

I'm sure you Mikey's Board Ole Timers are darn tired of newb's posting, "what equipment should I get?" threads, so I'm gonna try a different spin. I've been researching, lurking, etc. for quite a while now, and think I have zero'd in on my initial major equipment purchases. So I'm just looking for critique, alternatives, suggestions to the list.

First, a question to Mytee: what is the GPM rating on the M5? Also, you web page for the M5 doesn't have links to the users manual and parts lists .pdf files like most of your other extractors do. It would be nice to have pics/insructions on the AF and APO functions for us newbs that haven't seen it before. Particularly how the APO is setup for doing residential work. Just stick the hose in the nearest toilet? Yuck...

OK, so here's the stuff...

1. Mytee M5

2. RotoVac 360 with all the attachments

3. Greenhorn wand, with jets and glide appropriate for the M5. Speaking of which, what do you guys think *would* be appropriate jets and glide for an M5? The new carbon fiber wand from Mytee looks pretty good, too. If you had to decide between a Greenhorn and the carbon fiber, which would you chose?

4. Mytee Hot Turbo inline water heater

5. Mytee's 230V to 115V converter kit

6. Generator powerful enough to run the RotoVac and the Hot Turbo. Suggestions on a gen would be great. There's so much out there to chose from, it's a bit overwhelming. Still haven't completely decided on this purchase being necessary or not yet.

7. Cimex for encap jobs, or to agitate the pre-spray on jobs that need it. Possibly redundant with the 360, or would it give even better results to agitate the prespray with the Cimex, then extract with the 360? I wonder which would be more time efficient: agitate with the Cimex, then extract with the Greenhorn, or skip pre-agitation, and go straight from pre-spray to extraction with the 360?

8. Prochem chemicals. Prochem is the only brand I've used so far, and seem to be pretty darn good. John from Superior Cleaning Solutions (John and his wife Lora are great people, btw. Treated me like family even though I was only there to buy maybe fifty bucks in chems and test drive a RotoVac.) put me onto a great combo: Prochem Ultrapac Trafficlean as a prespray, then Prochem All Fiber Deep Clean to extract. That combo made quick work of some really nasty rental house carpet (my parents own the house, I did it for free. I'm still waaaay too new at this to clean "for hire".) Any other chem lines I should try? Also looking for a good encap chem. I'm considering Releaseit (spelling?)

9. Detailing tool. I haven't researched this one enough yet to make a decision.

That's it for the major stuff, I think. Opinions, etc are most welcome...

 

[Dolly Llama]

half the stuff you're considering I wouldn't buy


here's why...you don't know if you'll like this biz or have what it takes to thrive.
That's "IF" you can survive the first 5 years.

lemmie ask first before i offer any suggestions

do you plan to be a full time owner/op?
or is this a pt time gig to make a little extra income?

how much do you have budgeted for equipment?
Financing/leasing or cash?
(BTW, borrowing from family, home equity loans or spanking your credit cards are financing)


..L.T.A.

 

[juniorc82]

I would have to say forget about the rotosoaker(rotovac) you can spend your money better than that buy a couple airmovers or somthin

you will also need a 175 rpm floor scrubber maybe like a 17 inch and 5 or 6 bonnet pads plus a nylon brush. this will get you all the agitation you need on a variety of floors and on commercial glue down you can run a dry bonnet pad over the carpet after you have extracted it for a realy nice finishing effect.

I have a mytee turbo heater thats a good one to have.

you need a edger. it is totaly worth it it will allow you to clean right up to the edge looks great.

I have a cimex and consider it to be my pride and joy. it will make you some money . however I woulod get the floor scrubber instead because it is much less the cost and you can do alot of the same things as the cimex. with all the above benefits I mentioned above the 175 floor scrubber can also do encapsulation . you can buy encap pads ffrom excellant supply. plus it would suck trying to lug the cimex into a house to scrub. you will definatly like somthing more portable. once you have been in the game for a minute and your sure this is what you want then get the cimex. at $2700.00 you could put that money to better uses in the begining

MOST IMPORTANTLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GO AND TAKE AS MANY IICRC CLASSES AS POSSIBLE !!! LEARN THE PROPER WAY TO DO THIS! THE KNOWLEDGE YOU LEARN AT THOSE CLASSES WILL OUT LIVE ANY PICE OF EQUIPMENT YOU WILL EVER BUY!

 

[FloorPizza]

Thanks, Jon, that's just the kinda stuff I'm looking for.

 

[renegade_cowboy]

Meat had some good questions.

What are you all about? You clean carpets before? Whats your game plan?

 

[FloorPizza]

Meat had some good questions.

What are you all about? You clean carpets before? Whats your game plan?

I probably shouldn't have started two threads, to avoid double-posting the same stuff, but anyway...

I'm 42, and a full time airline pilot. I have previous business owner experience (wife and I owned a bagel bakery). This will be part time for me, full time for the wife, and eventually some work for at least one nephew. Yeah, we are painfully aware of the potential pitfalls of employing relatives; we got our noses bloodied during the bagel era. All equipment will be purchased in cash, so no financing. I'll be buying the pieces bit by bit as we can until we have what we need. I'm planning on buying the porty to start, so we can learn and get experience doing freebies until we actually open the biz. We will be attending classes as we can, and we won't start the biz until everyone has attended the classes, and has experience doing freebie jobs. I'm also hoping to work for free for an established (and good) CC'er that is far enough away to not be a future competitor. I'd like to plan on opening in two years, but if it takes longer than that, that's fine with me. We researched/learned/worked at the bagel thing for three years before we opened our store. Hmm... can't think of anything else to add...oh, forgot to answer a question... No, I haven't ever cleaned carpets before, like on a professional basis. Just a few freebie jobs for relatives, and to try out different pieces of equipment.

 

[Dolly Llama]

Thanks Brandt, that helps a lot

skip the rotovac, generator and Cimex

Buy a 17" rotary instead.
if you land a large commercial account, then buy a Cimex.
Other wise, they're just too heavy and cumbersome .
A rotary will do the same and is more versatile

One thing you didn't mention, or I missed...you need a full size cargo van

I really like your idea of working with an established carpet cleaner.
Classes are great, but there is no substitute for real world experience.

Buy the basics to start.

a clean van
a quality porty..there's a bunch to choose for under $3000.
Don't spend $3-4-5000 on a porty will all the bells and whistles.
Cause if you stay in this biz and do residential, you'll want a TM sooner rather than latter.


a 17" rotary.
It will allow you to bonnet clean or encRap com, pre-scrub ratties, and do VCT tile

Prochem juice is top of the line stuff.
You can hardly go wrong using it.


for a detail/upl tool, start with the PMF internal jet tool.
It's an excellent tool.
as you demo others, you can add them to your tool box if desired

as you get your feet wet (pun intended) you'll also get a feel for what other tools you'd like to add.


..L.T.A.

 

[FloorPizza]

Excellent.. thanks! It looks like I'd save a bunch of money by getting the 17" rotary over the Cimex and Rotovac, too. Sooooo much to learn. I'm thinking of ordering some Releasit encap solution this week, then renting a 17" rotary just to practice on my carpets. Trying to figure out what commercial vacuum cleaner(s) to get looks like it's going to be a lot of research, too.

I really appreciate the help, gents. This board is an invaluable resource.

 

[floorguy]

Airline pilot????


and you want to do this??? :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

WHY!!!!!!!!!!!!!????

 

[ACE]

Yes, why carpet cleaning? You can make money if your good, but it's a hard business to break into in a good economy. It also very physically demanding, especially with a portable. If you have a strong background in sales / marketing you might do well and be able to hire employees after a couple years. This is a great bussness for guys that love sales if that's not you, I would think twice unless you want to push a wand tell your 65.

My advice is to buy used. The market for used equipment is great and if it doesn’t work out, you can sell it for close to what you paid. Keep an eye on craigslist and ask nearby companies and suppliers about used equipment for sale. I would not rule out a used truck mount. I see TMs for sale all the time with lots of life in them for 5-10K. You might be able to find a good used porty and 175 for under a grand. We can tell you if it’s a good deal or not.

 

[FloorPizza]

Airline pilot????


and you want to do this??? :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

WHY!!!!!!!!!!!!!????

Yes, why carpet cleaning? You can make money if your good, but it's a hard business to break into in a good economy. It also very physically demanding, especially with a portable. If you have a strong background in sales / marketing you might do well and be able to hire employees after a couple years. This is a great bussness for guys that love sales if that's not you, I would think twice unless you want to push a wand tell your 65.

My advice is to buy used. The market for used equipment is great and if it doesn’t work out, you can sell it for close to what you paid. Keep an eye on craigslist and ask nearby companies and suppliers about used equipment for sale. I would not rule out a used truck mount. I see TMs for sale all the time with lots of life in them for 5-10K. You might be able to find a good used porty and 175 for under a grand. We can tell you if it’s a good deal or not.

Why CC? I guess for the same reason I detail cars (and I really hate to admit this)... I enjoy it. I'm not planning on making any really serious coin in the CC business, right now I'm planning on doing it like my car detailing "business" (if you could call it that). Just a part time thing for me, and if it grows big enough to give my wife something to keep her busy, too, then that's fine, but if it doesn't, that's fine as well.

I only detail cars by referrals. It generates enough income to have paid for all my detailing tools plus supplies and put a jingle in my pocket. I did a bit over $3k during last year's detailing season (April through September) which was just right. My expenses were about $500. A bit on the high side as I had to buy a new rotary buffer to replace a worn out one.

Right now the plan is to start out the same way as the detailing. Just keep it small, go by word of mouth and see what happens.

I'm gonna be out of commission for the next few months, though; I gotta have a disc taken out and a couple of vertebrae fused. Surgery is a week from tomorrow. Oh well, it'll give me a chance to do a lot of reading, research, and maybe attend a class or two.

 

[ACE]

Bad Back? Carpet cleaning is not for you find something else.

 

[Dolly Llama]

I'm gonna be out of commission for the next few months, though; I gotta have a disc taken out and a couple of vertebrae fused. Surgery is a week from tomorrow.

:shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

I guess your wife and nephew will be doing the work?
'cause if not, (and I'll put this as tactfully as i know how) you're NUTZ!


..L.T.A.

 

[Mikey P]

Most airline pilots I have met are handsome white guys who carry and express themselves real well..





If you're breath dont stink you'll make a ton even as a part timer.


Listen to meAt and enjoy your free supportive membership.


and dont believe a word you read on those other boards.

 

[The Magician]

Just do a couple of extra flights and send the wife and nephew to the country club, You ever try CC?

 

[John LaBarbera]

I'm sure you Mikey's Board Ole Timers are darn tired of newb's posting, "what equipment should I get?" threads, so I'm gonna try a different spin. I've been researching, lurking, etc. for quite a while now, and think I have zero'd in on my initial major equipment purchases. So I'm just looking for critique, alternatives, suggestions to the list.

First, a question to Mytee: what is the GPM rating on the M5? Also, you web page for the M5 doesn't have links to the users manual and parts lists .pdf files like most of your other extractors do. It would be nice to have pics/insructions on the AF and APO functions for us newbs that haven't seen it before. Particularly how the APO is setup for doing residential work. Just stick the hose in the nearest toilet? Yuck...

OK, so here's the stuff...

1. Mytee M5

2. RotoVac 360 with all the attachments

3. Greenhorn wand, with jets and glide appropriate for the M5. Speaking of which, what do you guys think *would* be appropriate jets and glide for an M5? The new carbon fiber wand from Mytee looks pretty good, too. If you had to decide between a Greenhorn and the carbon fiber, which would you chose?

4. Mytee Hot Turbo inline water heater

5. Mytee's 230V to 115V converter kit

6. Generator powerful enough to run the RotoVac and the Hot Turbo. Suggestions on a gen would be great. There's so much out there to chose from, it's a bit overwhelming. Still haven't completely decided on this purchase being necessary or not yet.

7. Cimex for encap jobs, or to agitate the pre-spray on jobs that need it. Possibly redundant with the 360, or would it give even better results to agitate the prespray with the Cimex, then extract with the 360? I wonder which would be more time efficient: agitate with the Cimex, then extract with the Greenhorn, or skip pre-agitation, and go straight from pre-spray to extraction with the 360?

8. Prochem chemicals. Prochem is the only brand I've used so far, and seem to be pretty darn good. John from Superior Cleaning Solutions (John and his wife Lora are great people, btw. Treated me like family even though I was only there to buy maybe fifty bucks in chems and test drive a RotoVac.) put me onto a great combo: Prochem Ultrapac Trafficlean as a prespray, then Prochem All Fiber Deep Clean to extract. That combo made quick work of some really nasty rental house carpet (my parents own the house, I did it for free. I'm still waaaay too new at this to clean "for hire".) Any other chem lines I should try? Also looking for a good encap chem. I'm considering Releaseit (spelling?)

9. Detailing tool. I haven't researched this one enough yet to make a decision.

That's it for the major stuff, I think. Opinions, etc are most welcome...

Hi Pizza Man,

Just saw this post, so to answer your question on the M5 , 500 psi Pumptec 1.6 gpm, the same pump is on the Speedster 1005. The website is a work in process, but those question are good. I'll work on getting that added to the site. Thanks.

John

 

[CleanEvo]

Cause if you stay in this biz and do residential, you'll want a TM sooner rather than latter.




as you get your feet wet (pun intended) you'll also get a feel for what other tools you'd like to add.


.

That's very true, nothing beats a TM in residential. Just buy a basic portable to get your feet wet and go from there. Once you start getting some business expand from there, you'll always need a good portable as a back up anyways. The kind of money you are talking of spending can get you a substantial down payemt on a TM that will position you as a professional and allow you to do some serious cleaning.

That being said, if I started again from scratch... I would go straight to the TM... it would have allowed me to build my business faster and better. It's a $$ commitment, but it depends on your commitment to the business.

 

[FloorPizza]

Bad Back? Carpet cleaning is not for you find something else.

Yeah, I've had the bad back thing since college. Hard to believe that's been 20 years ago... Anyway, I've always thought that the more I used the damn thing, the better it would get. Kinda like physical therapy. So in spite of how much it hurt, I never let it slow me down, or influence what I could (or couldn't) do. So now the Doc tells me I either gotta have this done, or I'll lose the use of my left tricep and the feeling in my left thumb and first two fingers. It should also get rid of any physical limitations; no restrictions on any activities.

I'm gonna be out of commission for the next few months, though; I gotta have a disc taken out and a couple of vertebrae fused. Surgery is a week from tomorrow.

:shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

I guess your wife and nephew will be doing the work?
'cause if not, (and I'll put this as tactfully as i know how) you're NUTZ!


..L.T.A.

Certifiable! *Anyone* that likes carpet cleaning is nutz! :mrgreen: They won't be doing anything until they've attended the classes and gotten some experience on some freebie/charity jobs.

Most airline pilots I have met are handsome white guys who carry and express themselves real well..
Well... there was a time when I was young and good lookin'... now I'm just good lookin'.

If you're breath dont stink you'll make a ton even as a part timer.
You ever notice that whenever you see a pilot out in public he's chewing gum? That's to cover up the nasty peanut breath.

Listen to meAt and enjoy your free supportive membership.


and dont believe a word you read on those other boards. I gotta admit, just by reading one of those 'other' boards, I was about convinced I was goona buy a 'resoil', but Mikey's Board rescued me

Just do a couple of extra flights and send the wife and nephew to the country club, You ever try CC?

Up until recently, it's true that being an airline pilot was a very lucrative career. Huge $300,000 salary with great benefits and lots of time off were not unusual. Not so any more. We still do ok, but not even *close* to what it used to be. It's possible to still make over six figures a year, but it either requires a huge amount of time away from home, or 20+ years with an airline. There's still enough pilots on furlough that you could staff an airline the size of most any major airline by just using the guys on furlough; about 8,500 of them. It's not quite the cushy job most people think it is. I guess it's like any other profession; you can't truly understand what it's like unless you've actually done it. Speaking of which, no, I've never worked as a pro CC'er before. My experience is limited to just a few houses I have done for free. And these were jobs where the people could not afford to pay, so I wasn't taking work away from a pro. I try to be very aware of stuff like that...I don't want to be stealing a pro CC'ers living by doing freebies. The only ones I'll do are for people that couldn't afford to have it professionally done. When I get to the point of being competent enough to charge, I'm not going to go around low-balling other CC'ers, either. Lowering the price bar, IMO, would do nothing but hurt the local pro CC'ers. But that's just my opinion, and I don't have the experience to back it up. I'm not trying to start an argument about pricing.

Anyway... thanks for putting up with me, and huge thanks for all the help/wisdom/etc.