I did a 7000 sq. ft. job Saturday with my 19" Cimex. There were two rather open areas comprising perhaps 25% of the footage. The rest was made up of 30 offices and cubicles with loads of chairs etc. It took me two hours to prevac and three and a half hours to clean. I did a wet pass and at least one dry scrub pass. Somewhere between 15 and 18 gallons of mixed encap juice. I wish I'd have kept better track of the amount. In any event, three and a half hours of steady work later , I finished. That figures out to about 1270 square feet per hour total cleaning or 2000 square feet per hour just scrubbing with the Cimex. Considering the above information and the fact that it was low loop glue-down commercial carpet, I would like to know if I am in the ball park as far as averages go. Release-it DS was the juice I used and Red Vanish the spotter used for coffee stains. Both products were a pleasure to work with and produced very satisfactory results. Since this was my first encap job of any size, I would appreceate responses from some of you more experienced operators.

Jack,

For a first time encap job you're doing GREAT! Scrubbing a building containing "30 offices and cubicles with loads of chairs etc" at a rate of 2K sq ft per hour is doing well. And you beat the typical average of 300 sq ft per gallon of rtu solution too. At 300 sq ft per gallon you would have used 23 gallons, but you used just 15-18 gallons of rtu. So all in all, I'd have to say you're in the encap zone already. Easy isn't it? I've actually had guys call me to ask if they're doing something wrong because they think it's too easy and they must be missing something. LOL

Welcome to the ReleasiMex club!

Your membership plaque is in the mail.




Rick Gelinas
encapman

Thanks Rick, I had to learn a lot in short period of time. First lesson: I could not "horse" that machine. I kept trying 'cause I'm a little stubborn. Once I allowed it to go back and forth I expended a whole lot less energy. (grin) I'm still not too confident that I used the solution properly. Sometimes I could see it cleaning but not leaving a soap residue. Or at least not much. A couple of other times It began to sling soap around indicating too much soap. I did manage to go through a set of the fiber-plus pads but that was partly because I ran it up on an unusual piece of carpet that chewed them up and bogged the machine down. I got right off that stuff. Anyway my confidence is building.

I don't even do that fast in most cases. Maybe I'm just slow overall, but it probbly woulda taken me longer.

Trying to 'horse' a Cimex?....I believe you'll only try that once!

Depending on the soil load and type of nap, you don't always need a heavy or perfectly uniform 'foam trail'. It cleans well even if it's only slightly white, in most cases. I make sure I see plenty in areas that are very soiled.

hiyas Jack

good job and i agree, thats pretty good speed. i've done the same size job, and while i am guessing it was in worse shape, it took me 4 hours to pre-vac and 5 hours to Encap. i went through 2 sets of pads.

so your doing good for a 1st timer. and when you see the foam slinging, know that you are putting to much Encap down.

thanx --- Derek.

I have found out thru Paul Brown that when doing cubicles, put the handle in the upright position, try it it is much faster.

Perhaps I should have mentioned that the building had just been vacuumed by a janitorial service before I got there. Still, my Dyson snatched up a tank full of Glaciel Silt that they left. The carpet was in excellent shape except for coffee stains. No food spills or mud. These folks are very fussy and went over the job this morning with a fine-tooth comb. They were thrilled and confirmed our next appointment in six months. If I had a good memory I would have tried the trick about raising the handle but I forgot until I read the above post. Thanks for reminding me. I guess I errored on the skinny side concerning chemical use. I Won't be quite so timid in its application next time. Still the carpet looked great today and the customer was happy so I walked away with a check in my old calused paw and a contract (verbal aggreement) to do it twice a year. I sure prefer this to HWE cleaning.

i will have to try the upright poistion in cubicles...tho i don't see the benefit, when i am in a cubicle i am mostly concerned with getting as far under the desk as i can....this means the Mex is in as low a position as i can get her.

that makes sense Jack, someone did not pre-vac for the job i related, and it was trashed! nothing wrong with the amount of solution you used, if the carpets came clean then you did good. too much is NOT better.

thanx --- Derek.