Today I went to talk to the General Manager of a condo complex with 2-40 story buildings. The buildings are only 1 1/2 years old. The GM has only been there for two months. There is no carpet maintenance right now, besides vacuuming. He is very interested in getting a quote.

The thing is, he also wants me to provide daily vacuuming for the two buildings (in addition to quarterly carpet cleaning). This would be for the hallways on every floor, which I guess are around 1,000 sf each.

How much would be about right for vacuuming, per square ft? Or should I just go per floor. I will be measuring the building tomorrow, so I could have either.

I'm pretty sure everyday would be 5 days a week.

Thanks.

P.S. I might try to encourage him to just hire in house for that, but I wouldn't want it to reduce my chances of landing the account. I just don't think they could pay what I would be willing to do the vacuuming for. It is a higher end condo, but still, money is money.

hire somebody and pay them $9.00/hour

So you are estimating he needs 80,000 sf of carpet vacuumed a Day? Even with My Kent Champion I would estimate that that would take 8 hours. 5 minutes per floor x 80 floors = 400 minutes/6.6 hours 1 minute wait for elevator x 80 floors = 80 minutes. 6.6 hours + 1.3 hours - 7.9 hours.

$27 - $30 a man hour x 40 $1080- $1200 a week and then pay one or two people $9-10 an hour.

That would just be a guess for me. As I have never been in that position before.

Yikes and if you can get the carpet job for the floors Imagine how many carpet jobs that could turn into from the residents.

Just my daydreaming / Barnstorming but if you can get them to only allow residents to use youre services for floor care then maybe cut the Vacuuming to $18 an hour. Those two buildings alone could support A carpet cleaning crew.

Good luck Thomas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That would be a Phenomonal Sale!!!!!!!

Those numbers are dead on. .....but where it is just vacuuming and not janitorial service i'd drop to maybe $15 to $18 and hire out at 9 or $10/hour. Also depends what the wages are in your area. San Diego wages would be different than Wyoming wages. go for it. ALso quote for the month not per hour. Some floors might be faster/easier than others.

Wow! Talk about thorough replies. I think I will use that breakdown for sure. Thank you very much. All of these big numbers can be a bit overwhelming.

One thing that I didn't mention is that when I first spoke to the the GM, he thought I ran a full service janitorial company. He actually did ask me initially if I wanted to bid on of all the janitorial. I said that I only do carpet maintenance. However, I am going to see him again tomorrow, so maybe I might at least inquire about it.

I was thinking that for a residential high rise, there isn't much interior maintenance other than the carpet. If he had to hire another company just to do those remaining areas, he might just want an all or nothing deal instead.

I am in Hawaii, and the cost of living here is probably the highest in the nation. So what do you think a man hour should cost for basic janitorial here?

Also, that wide area vacuum (Kent Champion) costs around $2,000? Is that about right for those? Which models do you recommend besides that one?

Thanks!

Rick Sells the 28" hoover conqueror for a little over $1k. I have heard that it is a very good vacuum.

That would be a first someone vacuuming on a daily frequencey.
Good chance they will never go for it, give them other options daily, 2x's a week, once a week

You may also want to consider a back pack vac for the halls I have always found them quicker then an up rite even a wide area vac.

I would agree that 2 or three days a week maybe more realistic.
If it was me I would definitely inquire about the full janitorial work. Usually in a condo type setting the work is easy and many times money is not a huge issue, making the place look great is.

We do a few condo complexes great money maker

Back pack vac is only better when you are in tight offices. Otherwise you are covering less path then a Wide area Vac and you are loosing the benefit of the beater bar. A good wide area vac only needs a forward pass. Dosnt need the back and forth like a wand.

I don't know how close you are to the buildings but if your close I'd bid the entrances, lobbies, elevators, and each floor elevator area dailey and the rest of the areas weekly or biweekly. Sell the fact that this will help to prevent the majority of the dry material from being tracked down the halls. Set up a spot cleaning charge, so you can keep up on that dailey (and make a little extra money)and when you come to clean you can really move.

This way all the tenets will see that it is always clean and your there every day to get there personal business.

Just some thoughts.


Thanks

Brad Lewis
Surface Solutions Inc

Thank you once again for the replies. I really appreciate the real world ideas you are giving me.

I agree that daily vacuuming sounds excessive. I like the idea of doing certain areas more often, though. I will see what he thinks. Kind of more realistic.

It does sound like the maintenance would be fairly simple overall. Just this whole concept is new to me. I have run an almost strictly residential cleaning service for over 10 years. It's harder work, in a smaller area. This is the opposite.

Well, I'm going to visit the GM in an hour or so. I'll just collect the info and probably need your help again.

What I would do without this forum is beyond me. Thanks.

So I went to measure the carpet today. The total came out lower than I initially thought, but still a good size. It's 56,000 sq ft.

The hallways are only about 5 feet wide. They are a little tricky because they aren't completely straight. It is a straight hallway, but the doors are indented a foot or so, probably for noise. Because of this, I was thinking that using a 28" wide vac might not work out too well, since you would have to cut in at the doorways. Still worth it you think?

The GM also told me when I asked him, that whether I do the janitorial or not, it won't affect my chances of landing the job. He really is primarily concerned with the carpet maintenance, and wants that done right. He really appreciates the fact that I specialize in commercial carpet care.

I will be submitting 2 proposals: 1) Carpet cleaned quarterly and vacuumed daily and 2)Carpet cleaned quarterly and vacuumed 3 times a week. I will be using the CMS proposal form.

This is my first bid on a big job like this. Right now here's what I'm thinking:

Carpet first time (not cleaned in 1.5 years): I can't use the Steamin Demon, no water on each floor. Will need to Hwe with portable. Was thinking of scrubbing with Cimex and DS, then following with hwe with punch. Sounds right? Price per square foot: I have no idea. Thinking around 15 cents.

Carpet cleaning quarterly : Cimex, and hwe when needed. Price per square foot: 10 cents.

Vacuuming per day (I will bid per month of course). 82 floors with 673 sq ft, and 8 floors with 148 sq ft. I figured this would be one man, 8 hours. $250 per day.

How are these numbers?

Hmmmmm. Since there is no water on each floor I think I would just Cimex it unless you have some serious soil. You could also OP. Just do some VERY thorough VAcuuming before and after you cimex and I'm sure you'll have great results.

I would really like to avoid using my portable for 56,000 sq ft of carpet. Would Cimexing, then OP'ing be considered extraction? Much better thought in my mind. And my back.

Of course, I don't have an OP machine yet, but if I land this job, I might get one. ORBOT?

Hi T.O.,

How did the inspection & demo go Bro.? If you found that it is cgd loop and the carpet backing wasn't impacted, I would suggest considering cimex/fp max pads only no HWE. I would pump up the just a little. Pre scrub with punch 10-12oz./gallon and Mex/DS 6oz. where there is more soiled areas just slap on the bonnets.

If you are gonna be vacuuming daily extracting soil i would think it should turn out pretty good. That releaseit is some powerful stuff bro. Also I have to say that the conquest is an awesome machine I look at it as my mini-pile-lifter. I would say it would be worth using. The standard door size here is 36" with the conquest being 28" it'll fit nicely in that 1 foot deep doorway. I've never pushed a 28" conquest so i don't know how it will fair on your body.But i plan to very soon.

The approach above worked for me and as i mentioned before that carpet is clean to this day.

I hope you get the contract!



Thanks
Your Servant Alex

Cultivate the "OCCD" you had at first for the industry!

Hey Alex (you are Alex, right? Done away with the Mask?),

That sounds like a good plan. Do you prescrub with fiber plus pads too, or use the brushes on the Cimex?

I haven't done a demo on this building yet. The manager seems like he likes what I've told him thus far, but the board of directors needs to make the decision. That's when the demo might happen.

The hardest part is helping these managers get over the idea that hwe is not the cure all. They so badly want to have a fresh start with the carpet, I think they envision a restorative cleaning with tons on water rinsing away all of there carpet issues. If they had water on every floor I could give them that with the steamin demon, but that's not the case.

Squirting 1.1 gallons per minute with a portable doesn't quite flush a carpet like they would like to believe.

But if they feel better after, then maybe that's all that matters.

No matter what board this post was/is on and without a doubt,in every carpets life there will be a need for a restorative cleaning.The only other thing I will say that this GM is looking to you as the professional and as that professional you bid(s) should include,as part of the on going carpet maintenance,regularly scheduled restorative and maintenance cleanings. Good luck!


" I love waking up to the smell of releas-it in the morning"


Patrick

With 5' halls I'd suggest a ProTeam Sierra vacuum with a power nozzle. I believe that Sandia Super Ravens can also be adapted to run a power nozzle. I'd run a 1.25" hoze/wand to accomodate a Lindhaus Powr Nozzle I think it is a PB 14, I would imagine Rick can get it since he sells Lindhaus. then you have the speed, manuverability, and flexibility of a back pack (pretty decent cfm's too) and the advantages of the Lindhaus powerhead/brush roll. Also, don't mean to be a skeptic, but on that many floors I don't think on e would vac every square inch of carpet, why not get what would get you through the footage faster.
With regard to HWE, I think I'd look at the CFR line of extractors, they are a pain to maintain(keeping filters clean,etc.) but by "recycling" the water it should reduce the trips to the available water sources. I've had some good experiences with CFR 500 psi units in the past, also wasn't a problem in most cases with loaded circuits.

That sounds like a plan Dave.(power nozzle) Whats the cleaning path on it? With the hallways 5'0 in width it seems to me that the conquest 28" would be more productive. One cleaning pass up one side of the hall and one cleaning pass down the other side. Conquest is a tractor and can really dig down. Its also high air flow.

Thanks
Your Servant Alex

Cultivate the "OCCD" you had at first for the industry!

Thanks for the great suggestions.

The one thing I am considering in the vacuuming is the endurance of the operator. Sure vacuuming a few thousand square feet of carpet with a backpack can be quick, but it is tiring. Having the weight on your shoulders and the heat that the motor produces will get to the operator.

Even though I will hire someone to do that job, I don't want them hating life everyday they come to work.

Those wide path vacuums sound good because they don't require a back and forth motion. You simply can walk forward behind them. Supposedly, they also say that the brush roll makes the unit self-propelled as well. Are these easy enough to turn though? I never did use one of them. Just going by what I read.

How often have you found it necessary to hwe, if you were encapping a place quarterly? Also, was it noticeable that you needed to hwe, or was it done just because that was the schedule?

I can tell you that the thought of using a backpack vac for more then a small area makes me grumpy. I have the 28" Champion. The brush roll does make it super easy to push. It is basically self propelled. Does an excellent single pass vacuuming. It would take 2 to three times as long to do that vacuuming with a backpack vac with no beater bar. Much better faster results with a wide vac. The Champion also has a hose and tools to hit the odd corners and edges.

I'm going to have to get one of those 28" vacuums. Probably will pay for itself in no time with the labor savings.

Now I just have to put a bid together.

Thanks everyone.