Morning All,

Another Newbie question for you all.
As I'm trying to build my "arsenal" of equipment to prepare myself to go full time, I'm wondering what should be my next purchase.
I want to focus primarily on OPE Cleaning of Carpets, but also want to be prepared NOT to walk by the opportunity to do a T&G job,
laminate floors, and upholstery.
I Know, education and training in each area is a must.
My question is this:
At this point I own a 3/4 hp. Challenger
and also a Commercial Grade, Steam Vapor Cleaner with Continuous fill,
40 or so pads
and a small stair machine.


What would you invest in next?
CRB Machine? Portie? Cyclo? Or what?
(and if a portie,how big do I need)

Also, what Products do you have in your collection that you wouldn't do without?

I really want to focus on OPE so, NO
I don't want and cant afford a TM.

Thanks in advance for the advice.


Lance

I would recommend a small spotting machine, Multi Sprayer, small water claw for spotting, Good UV light for urine, and Makita tool for upholstery and stairs nice versatile tool

I would definitely get a portable that will do both Carpet and T&G. I had a TM, Porty and Cimex plus Challenger on the Truck and BY FAR the biggest money makers were the CIMEX AND PORTY. Some will say that you can do T&G with just a bucket brushes and shop vac. Maybe some residential you can do that but not most commercials. You need the pressure. I sold my TM and Challenger and kept the Porty and Cimex as that was what was making the most money plus your advertising costs are a Website, brochures, biz cards and shoe leather.
This machine will do it all and in my opinion a must have for commercial T&G.

http://www.excellent-supply.com/store/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=217&idcategory=19

I recommend a Cimex as a must have. A Penguin Sprayer!! A kleen-rite sphere spotter with heat exchanger.

Cimex is veratile in so many ways. I had a hardwood floor job that needed to be restored. My Cimex, with its triple planetary rotatating head was the man. SAFELY & EFFECTIVELY removing the coat of finish.

Tile & grout was also tackled with the cimex. Removed the driver pads slapped on the brushes and went to work.

But its the Pengin Sprayer that I really like. 5 gallon Bucket heater friendly. I have whats called the PENGUIN-PUNCH COMBO. Park the penguin and spray up to 50 feet without ever moving it! It also has spray tips for stairs & upholtery

These three Items are found at the same link above.

Rick sells portable extractors on his site, but if you might be interested in a portable that could also be used as a truckmount with a lot of vacuum, then send me an e-mail. The machine I am talking about is somewhere around $3,199 plus s&h.

carpetclean2000@yahoo.com

Residential cleaning you need Basic Encap from this website which is about $64 for 4 gal & it works great. People love the smell and you don't need to add anything to it.

a vacuum cleaner.

Definitely a vacuum cleaner. You cannot trust that your customers vacuum well enough. Almost never happens. It will make a big difference in low moisture cleaning.

You have some very useful tools already! The above posts are great responses, I would agree with all of them! The idea to get a portable that does both Carpet and T&G would be a great next step. You already have a great machine for cleaning carpet so why not get a machine that does something you can't do with the equipment you have! The Mytee M12 is a great machine for exactly that!
http://www.excellent-supply.com/store/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=217&idcategory=22

Also a spinner tool would make thing go quite a bit faster!
http://www.excellent-supply.com/store/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=251&idcategory=22

On top of that if you get the hand held tool you could even clean tile walls and counter tops!