Last Job of the day, commercial at 3pm on Friday

[The Cleaning Artist]

So I'm on the truck because we have a building 2hrs away that we have never done b4. 3200 ft of commercial carpet, 400 ft ceramic tile, 300ft of vinyl flooring(when arrived this turned out to be vct completely covered in printer ink) new tennant in building 3 yrs, no cleaning during this time and prob not much b4. Chairs running on carpets with no pads. I test carpet for sand. We are good that they were not full of sand! Got lucky here. This building doesn't have the normal greasy soils found in most buildings, it is full of the fine dry soils that came from a very dry service area of concrete(large building with front offices). 1st prespray mixture for commercial carpets and no results, barely made any change. Get out my six gal electric sprayer and mix my favorite hot sauce, BAM we see clean carpet. Proceed on and cleaning tiled areas as we get to them. 5.5 hours of 2 man crew, 800 gallons of water, 25 gallons of concentrate, 12 gallons of concentrated prespray, 1/2 gallon of deodorizer and the building is now clean and smells great. OH, and blowers running to get carpets dry so we can check for any areas that may brown. We don't want to have to return here. No browning occured (carpets dried in less than 2hrs with blowers) Back to shop at 9:50pm, left shop at 7:40am to do 4 houses then 2 hrs south to do comm job, long day I tell ya. Almost forgot, going back anyways to sand the vct to remove dried ink and build it back up with wax. Tried to talk them into replacement. Test showed vct floors will look like new when done.

 

[OxiFreshGuy]

And for all that work you made a whopping 5 dollars and 50 cents profit.

Just kidding. It's like Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome...keep up the endurance!

 

[The Cleaning Artist]

If you don't think your chemical costs matter, just shy of $100 of chemicals was used in this building and that's buying in bulk.

 

[brian3180]

Wow that's a lot of chemical to use. Do you normally run with all that chemical in your van? If that's only $100 worth and you get in bulk then I would imagine you have a separate warehouse just for chemicals. To get chems that cheap you must buy by the drum.

 

[Todd the Cleaner]

If you don't think your chemical costs matter, just shy of $100 of chemicals was used in this building and that's buying in bulk.

I just spent $1700 on chemicals yesterday. That will last me a year and make me over 100k. Year after year our chemical cost is right around 2%.

 

[SMCommerical]

That is a lot of chemicals for a small sqft of flooring. But hey if the customer is willing to pay for it why not. What type of products do you use?

 

[Mama Fen]

If you don't think your chemical costs matter, just shy of $100 of chemicals was used in this building and that's buying in bulk.

A great example of the cost to buy chemicals versus the cost to use them... and of how using a better quality of chemical despite the higher price tag can net better results with fewer man-hours (and thus a lower overall job cost).

Carpet cleaners have minimal control over cost of chemical - heck, even manufacturers are at the mercy of their raw material suppliers. Buying in bulk may help to save overall cost, but buying less expensive chemical may turn out to be a poor choice because you may wind up using more and spending more time on the job as a result.

And they have minimal control over the cost of repairs or wear and tear on their equipment - a unit kept in good shape will typically have a good long service life, but even the very best unit will eventually suffer failure as will the very best vehicle (though proper housekeeping and maintenance goes a long way toward preserving equipment until catastrophic breakdown occurs).

Thus, the best way to control cost is to manage labor hours effectively. And anything that helps get the job done properly in less time is usually a net positive in the books.

 

[The Cleaning Artist]

We carry a lot of stock on the trucks everyday. Every morning they are restocked for that day. We don't purchase cheap chemicals and burn through $700 to $1000 per month. I have tried many or most chems that are touted and they don't cut it with us. Not putting any paticular brand down, they either deliver the results better than what we use or they are jus average in our world. Then again the YouTube videos that I have watched, (many) that work would not pass on my jobs. All talk patting one's self on the back how good of job they did. Maybe tryn to convince themselves and viewers they did a good job but probably wick badly. The true story is told once the job is dry and in the coming weeks to see if resoiling happens or old stains return. Was on the truck again today and we got $80 in tips and a card. We must be doing something right

 

[DakotaG]

We carry a lot of stock on the trucks everyday. Every morning they are restocked for that day. We don't purchase cheap chemicals and burn through $700 to $1000 per month. I have tried many or most chems that are touted and they don't cut it with us. Not putting any paticular brand down, they either deliver the results better than what we use or they are jus average in our world. Then again the YouTube videos that I have watched, (many) that work would not pass on my jobs. All talk patting one's self on the back how good of job they did. Maybe tryn to convince themselves and viewers they did a good job but probably wick badly. The true story is told once the job is dry and in the coming weeks to see if resoiling happens or old stains return. Was on the truck again today and we got $80 in tips and a card. We must be doing something right

Would love to see pics or your trucks/shop! Sounds like you have a pretty sweet setup

 

[The Cleaning Artist]

Pics of our trucks have been posted in the past. 2008 Ford with a Steamaction in the side and electric reels out the back. 2015 Ford Transit same. Shop is 40x40 steel building with 2 bays and 14ft walls. I built it in 2006. Just purchased 34 acres and fixing to start construction of new shop and home. Not large by any means but serves us well.