Are you afraid your carpet can’t be cleaned?
Sometimes people think nothing can possibly work. This is usually because you’ve tried everything and …nothing worked! You can probably imagine that the most serious cases involve the sale of a home and that in 30 plus years I’ve been involved in this, a LOT. No one thinking their carpet needs to be replaced has ever regretted having me clean their carpet, neither have I ever inspected carpet and concluded I can’t get it clean. If you’re wondering what I do differently, keep reading. It isn’t magic, just good old fashioned hard work and common sense.
Modern technology also has it’s place. Some carpet can get scratched and dulled so that it looks dirty even when it’s clean. I can treat that too! That’s not part of regular cleaning, rarely needed, and doesn’t apply to some carpet types. Just know that I can handle the most extreme cases.
COMPANY HISTORY
Of course I worked for everyone doing this before going into business for myself, and discovered not only what works but (usually) what does NOT work. As a young married man buying my first home with my first child on the way I learned those lessons the hard way, with my employer going bankrupt at the worst possible time. They could only pay me in equipment, so I started by trying to keep four crews running. I quickly discovered I spent all my time fixing other people’s mistakes and trying to explain why it wasn’t done right the first time so, I’ve done everything myself ever since.
Company Policy
The way I see it, if your check is good, the dirt should be gone - period. No excuses, no passing the buck, no hype, no nonsense. I run my business from the customer's point of view, constantly asking myself "if I were paying for this, what would I want?" And of all my sources of training, the best is listening to you, my customers! So thank you for your honesty.
To me, undoubtedly the biggest advantage of doing all the work myself is that common sense can always prevail, and I'm never stuck to some policy that violates it. I make sure things get done right, and I take the necessary time to do that. I also "put my best foot forward" when it comes to both price and quality. I do my best to make the best possible care for your carpet, without compromise, affordable; and I present that first. Some people get irritated with me because they expect me to pad my price with unnecessary things like mark-up and overhead, so I could reduce my price at any time. The first price I give you is my best price. If it's too much, we can look at reducing what's being done to make it fit your budget.
I know very well how much companies that offer the quality I do charge, and I have no intention of ever charging that much! 40 cents per square foot to clean, and 20 cents (or more) per square foot to protect in 2005 was simply cost-prohibitive for most people. I'm very proud of my rates, AND the fact that I don't pass any overhead on to my customers. I charge for what you need to have done, and temper that with your best judgement; and there is never any pressure to add cost to your bill.
People often ask about availability, and how far ahead they need to schedule. My policy is first-come, first served, so schedule as soon as you know what time frame works best for you. Leaving your name, number and the desired appointment date and time, along with an alternate on my voicemail guarantees you your request if it's available at the time you make it. If you have a deadline to meet, let me know. I'll call you back to confirm ASAP, but I normally only make phone calls between the hours of 10 AM and 9 PM, unless I see you’ve called me at 7 AM or given specific permission to call earlier or later. Even 10 is too early for some, and too late for others. There are times I work both earlier and later than this, so please be patient with me for a response and realize I'm doing the best I can. I don't pay someone to answer my phone, (that's part of not charging you for overhead!) neither do I try to schedule other people's jobs while you expect me to be working in your home. So please talk to my voice mail just like it was me, and you'll get great service!
Hours are flexible. I'd prefer meeting you before you leave for work to agree on work to be done, price, etc. and get paperwork signed rather than you just leaving a key under the mat and a blank check on the counter like so many people ask me to do. Cleaning can also be done after you get home from work, which works much better than most people give it credit for. Family members are aware of the cleaning process, and careful without having to be reminded. Then there's no traffic while you sleep. In the morning there's usually a brief burst of traffic, but then it has all day to dry and then you're back to normal, and the only one time period with any interruption is while the work is actually being done. That's hard to beat! I do work weekends but Saturdays usually fill up first, so if this is what works best for you, try to plan in advance.
Standard Service Area
My intention is to service the area within 45 minutes driving time from my location in every direction, at all times. I start on the north side of Pewaukee Lake, near the middle.
NOTE: All driving times are based on traveling safely in my van. Highway cruising is fine, but windy country back-roads do slow me down. I bring everything I need, so my van is quite heavy. Slowing down and turning takes longer for me than it does for you!
Going north Richfield takes about 40 minutes. Going South of Highway 18 I can actually get to more area along 83 than I can straight down 67, because the Kettle Moraine slows me down so much. Travelling West I can get to Ixonia, Rome, etc. Heading east, Grafton and Cedarburg are right at 45 minutes not because of distance but because no road goes in that direction.
Off-peak times and big jobs do warrant an expanded service area. If you're fairly far and not sure if it's worth it for me to come to your location, there are a few other possibilities:
look over my price list and have me do everything you need in one trip
line up other locations and/or customers for me in the same trip
Of course you should contact me to discuss your needs in detail.
PRICING:
Minimum charge just means by the time I hook everything up it’s taken enough time and work it has to be at least $100. Some people get confused, thinking this is something that gets added to the bill; it is not. Understand that if you only have $5.00 worth of work for me, it still takes me just as long to set the appointment, set up the equipment before I can clean, and re-load everything into my van before I can go to the next job as if I had done $500.00 worth of work.
Small jobs can be done, just plan on doing everything at once.
Because your carpet doesn’t get dirty evenly, most of the time you will probably prefer me to clean only the parts that look dirty, rather than going wall to wall corner to corner. For this reason I charge by the square foot for what I actually clean, which often reduces the price of many rooms (such as upstairs bedrooms and hall, for example) to less than one large living room. It’s possible for you to pay twice what I charge, for other companies that still aren’t as thorough as what I do. If you find someone charging less you’ll get very noticeably worse quality. Many of my competitors charge about what my price comes out to be, with their results being necessarily worse for the reasons explained throughout this website.
My rate has increased less than 10% since 2016 and is currently 25 cents per square foot to clean; I urge you to take advantage of this before I discover that’s just not enough.
STAIRS are $3.00 each and a lengthy 7 step process.
PROTECTIVE COATING:
Not all carpet is made with this. Replenishing the original on just your high traffic lanes does extend the useful life of all of it. I do this for 10 cents per square foot.
UPHOLSTERY:
While there are lots of technical details affecting what I need to do, most furniture is synthetic fabric and I can work wonders on the dirtiest of it for $10 per linear foot at most, with microfiber always being $10 per foot. Natural fiber is $10 per linear foot and up, and rarely do I need to charge as much as $14. A standard sofa is 7 feet long so $70 is a reasonable guess, but might come down to $56 for synthetic that isn’t that difficult to clean, or go up to $98 for very dirty and/or difficult natural fiber.
Protective coating on upholstery also depends on the fabric I’m working with, $3 per foot for synthetic, $5 for natural.
ORIENTAL RUGS:
Yes I can clean them, in your home, just fine. 40 cents per square foot. You’ll be paying well over twice as much any other way.
PET ODORS AND STAINS:
Very often just my regular cleaning makes people happy, but there’s always something left behind even when you don’t see or smell a trace. I can treat this along with the process of cleaning for an additional $20, minimum. I can also do this safely on oriental rugs and other wool carpets! Larger areas that are severely affected will cost more, but remain very cost effective. This will safely remove everything I can contact. Problems below the surface can be treated with more invasive procedures. If those get to the point of needing to re-install your carpet, I can do that too. Replacing pad, treating the sub-flooring underneath and the backside of your carpet isn’t convenient but it’s a lot cheaper than new carpet.
OTHER STAINS:
This is rarely an issue but things like wax, ink, paint that’s not only dried but cured, and fingernail polish may defy cleaning and need specialized treatment. $20 minimum. Rust can be less. Dye like kool aid is more.
DIY
I do have Do It Yourself specialty products you might want if you frequently have the same type of problem spots nothing works on, ask me about it over the phone and we’ll see what makes sense. Do read my spotting guide first though, under good household cleaners.
Other types of fabric and hard floors:
These vary so much and are so rare I won’t attempt to list and label these details here, but do ask me your questions, I’ve probably done it and have exactly what you need.
CLEANING FOR HEALTH:
If you suffer horribly from allergies or have other health issues possibly related to carpet or IAQ (indoor air quality) there are many things I can do to help. Again, this is too rare and too specific for me to try to address here, but do ask me about this as we set your appointment over the phone.
Maintenance Plan
The answer to the third most important aspect of maintaining your carpet is my maintenance plan. The most important part of carpet maintenance is vacuuming, then immediate pick-up of spots and spills.
The biggest problem with regular cleaning is your carpet gets dirty at such a slow and steady rate that you probably don't notice it! Carpet is designed to hold and hide dirt, and it does a very good job of it. By the time it's become visibly dirty, it's actually full of dirt, and the part you see is what the carpet is unable to hold. Waiting after that point is guaranteed to shorten your carpet's useful life.
So immediately after cleaning when we see how your carpet can look, set your next appointment! I'll call you a month in advance to schedule an exact date and time. We'll both look over your carpet, and address what really needs to be done. Follow my maintenance plan, and carpet cleaning becomes one detail you just don't have to worry about anymore!!