I kind of read through the board and really didn't see this discussed, I hate asking q's that are talked to death, so I'll try to ask and hopefuly get a good reply

I amagine alot of you after encapsulation leave it up to the maintenance staff to handle the vacuuming after the 24+ hours as going back would seem a waste of time to many.

Do any of you do the follow up vacuuming?

If there vacuum or operator is poor what kind of results are you left with?

Hi Chris,

Never a problem to ask questions. And that is a good question. This is a common question. In fact there are a number of common questions that are often asked about this process. I have a page on our website that answer these common questions (including what you have asked about post-vacuuming). Here's the link...

How Encapsulation Works




Rick Gelinas

Thanks Rick,

It's been awhile since I read that and most have overlooked the post vacuum part.

Do you figure your price then wether or not you have to go the next day and do the post vacuuming? What's a good-average price to charge for this ?

Regards
Chris

Chris,

As you saw posted on that webpage above... even with less than stellar post-vacuuming the process will work - it may just take a few vacuumings to accomplish the removal of encapsulated soil. This really is NOT a problem at all since the carpet is going to look great, regardless of how soon they manage to extract the soil through post-vacuuming.

I'm really only concerned that radically good PRE-Vacuuming is performed. This affects the degree of cleaning that we can perform. So here's how I normally handle the vacuuming conversation with our clients...



Me: It's very important that GOOD vacuuming is performed BEFORE and AFTER the carpet is cleaned. I understand that you have a vacuuming program in your building, right?

Client: Yes we do

Me: How many nights a week is your carpet vacuumed?

Client: They give an answer

Me: Good. Now as you can see we have given you a very good price for your carpet cleaning. With that price I haven't factored in having our staff perform the vacuuming since you already have a vacuuming program in your building. So I would like to have you ask Joe the janitor to vacuum real well for us. Or if you'd like to have us provide the vacuuming for you, we can do that for you at a rate of 1.5 cents per sq ft.

Client: Oh no, I think we'll just have Joe vacuum real well instead.

Me: That makes sense! Now I believe you said that Joe will be vacuuming the carpet on Friday night. Could you ask him to vacuum extra well. Have him really give extra attention to slowly vacuum the high traffic areas. [I suggest vacuuming north-south/east-west] That way when we clean the carpet on Saturday it will be in good shape and all ready for us to clean it.

Client: Will do.

Me: And please also ask Joe to vacuum real well for the next few days following the cleaning too. This helps to further improve the appearance.

Client: OK

[During this conversation I can also comment on areas where they can improve their vacuuming and make practical suggestions for good vacuuming]



This dialog expresses the importance of good vacuuming. It attaches a value to vacuum cleaning. I've discussed their vacuuming regiment and have offered suggestions for making possible improvements. And I've offered to provide the vacuuming service for them (of course at a fair rate).

Now when we arrive to clean if the carpet still needs some additional vacuuming we will perform this pre-vacuuming. And we won't charge them for this. I suppose if it was in absolutely terrible shape I would mention it to the management and remind them that they're saving the 1.5 cents per sq ft by vacuuming their own carpet. But I have never felt a need to do that. In fact we like to do some pre-vacuum following their pre-vacuuming in the traffic lanes to pull up more dry soil before we perform the cleaning. The Hoover Conquest is fantastic for this.

So that's the entire LONG story about vacuuming.





Rick Gelinas

Excellent dialogue Rick. I am collecting this stuff and putting it all together in an operations manual. Someday when I am in a hypermanic mood I will put it all together and send you an operations manual made largely from your own web page. I already have quite a bit done.

I especially like the part where I describe how to break the wheels and knobs off the cimex. Geez. If this keeps up I might have to replace my partner with a monkey.

I was thinking you might put a checklist on your work order of the prices for the things you charge for and the things the estimator is supposed to check for. I have done the latter on mine already.