Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: BVC on February 25, 2012, 10:45:58 am
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Hello guys,
Im a wc with 3 little boys and mucky carpets. I want to be able to clean my own carpets on a regular basis and need a setup. No intention of setting up a cc business. Would really appreciate your advice I need something that will last and dont want to be fixing or buying another anytime soon. budget is 500 would go to a grand if there was a bargain to be had.
Any opinions on this?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Stimvak-Carpet-Cleaning-Machine-and-Power-Brush-/270917691117?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item3f13f3e6ed#ht_1683wt_1185
Would appreciate key areas to look for. i.e psi, chemicals or accessories. As I said, personal use once a month.
Thanks for your input
BVC.
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Definetly not....This is an overpriced old under-powered antique.
This would be better and you need a wand
http://www.ebay.com/itm/290673790826?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649#ht_500wt_1156
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http://www.facebook.com/groups/colinphillips/
My mate runs this it will tell you all you need ,get some commercial carpet cleaning powder follow instructions at the bottom of page
use spm if you can get fantastic results and it is clean water rinse and you dont need heat
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That Stimvac and powerbrush and wand was
my first set up and was pretty good.
Certainly good enough for someone just for
cleaning their own carpets.
Bit pricey though just for home use, probably
cheaper to get a pro in.
John
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150sq m an hour is way out though.
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ive got a scorpion triple vac 300psi with hoses i was gonna setup with it but decided against it £950.
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Paul, Neil JandS
Thanks for your replies, The Ninja looks good, What would be a fair price for this? Already pushing 500 without chems or wand.
Any advice is really appreciated. Anyone got a minimum spec I should be looking for to get a decent result.
3 home schooled boys and cream carpet through the whole house, so cant afford to pay a cc every month, need to do it myself.
Neil, will check out the facebook link when I get a chance. Thanks for your input.
BVC.
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Don't forget a reasonable wand will cost you..
Get a pro in and lock the kids in the shed ;D
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http://www.facebook.com/groups/colinphillips/
My mate runs this it will tell you all you need ,get some commercial carpet cleaning powder follow instructions at the bottom of page
use spm if you can get fantastic results and it is clean water rinse and you dont need heat
For gawds sake, dont get this 'brush' - its a yard broom. The bristles are too long causing more 'flick' of product being splattered on walls, it may be too stiff too causing damage to delicate fibres. Get a purpose made carpet brush - they are shorter in bristle length (and more compact as oposed to spaced out) and do what they are supposed to. The cost wouldnt be much more either.
Mark
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if you got all the time in the world how about a rug doctor or a escort machine, and get a pro in once a year, if you were local to me I'd swap you window cleans for carpet cleans?
I've got kids and the most powerful truck mount in the country supposedly, but still get the KArcher puzzi 100 out when it a stain spill or the cats dragged something in.
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If you think you need to clean your carpets once a month there's something seriously wrong! Maybe...
- You're a clean freak and have to clean the whole house when someone sneezes ;D
- Your previous carpet cleaning experiences have all been a bodge... re-soiling detergent residues left behind make carpets dirty again very quickly, and it gets to be a vicious circle... more re-soiling, more cleaning, problem accelerates exponentially
- You have the filthiest, most accident prone family in the country, in which case get yourself on one of those weird telly programs and get laminate instead :D
Proper, quality carpet cleaning carried out by a pro should only need doing at the most once a year... many customers will only get a CC in every 2-3 years. I have the occasional customer I go to every 6 months but only the 1 or 2 rooms that get the hammer.
I have a few clean freaks on my books too... I often just go round spot cleaning tiny marks for them!
Anyway, my point is that if you buy a cheap machine and crap solutions you'll get in the re-soiling trap and knacker your carpets anyway. If you invest in a set-up that's good enough to get a pro result you're talking about a lot of money tied up sitting in the garage for 363 days of the year. It's not just the machine and one product... you need oodles of other kit and spotters etc to go with it, to get the results.
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Jim can you never give a straight forward answer with out telling people that they need to spend £20,000 for equipment and need to take training courses...
the guys looking a machine to clean his OWN carpets.
iam sure a half decent secound hand machine will do the job.... What have all the carpet cleaners been doing for the last 30 years... must have been leaving carpets in a right mess and doing a poope job...because the machines they used must have been poop...
Ive 2 kids and i could do with cleaning my carpet every month
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Yeah I could give a "straightforward" answer and pat the guy on the back, tell him he's doing the right thing.
But you've missed the point completely. Carpet cleaning is something that needs to be done properly or not at all. I never advocated spending £20k or even mentioned training courses. All I simply wanted to point out is that you don't get a Rolls Royce for the price of a Skoda.
If you want to clean your own carpets and like to think you're being canny with your money, go hire a rug doctor :)
Nobody needs their carpets cleaning every month, unless they go down the resoiling road. You just need a decent spotter ;)
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i have a one jet wand £50 to you ;D
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Basically my advice don't buy a second hand machine for want, little commercial machine like marcher or rug doctor will you fine and last several years a second hand twin vac machine may well be a bag of bolts
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If you think you need to clean your carpets once a month there's something seriously wrong! Maybe...
- You're a clean freak and have to clean the whole house when someone sneezes ;D
- Your previous carpet cleaning experiences have all been a bodge... re-soiling detergent residues left behind make carpets dirty again very quickly, and it gets to be a vicious circle... more re-soiling, more cleaning, problem accelerates exponentially
- You have the filthiest, most accident prone family in the country, in which case get yourself on one of those weird telly programs and get laminate instead :D
Proper, quality carpet cleaning carried out by a pro should only need doing at the most once a year... many customers will only get a CC in every 2-3 years. I have the occasional customer I go to every 6 months but only the 1 or 2 rooms that get the hammer.
I have a few clean freaks on my books too... I often just go round spot cleaning tiny marks for them!
Anyway, my point is that if you buy a cheap machine and crap solutions you'll get in the re-soiling trap and knacker your carpets anyway. If you invest in a set-up that's good enough to get a pro result you're talking about a lot of money tied up sitting in the garage for 363 days of the year. It's not just the machine and one product... you need oodles of other kit and spotters etc to go with it, to get the results.
Two out of three aint bad. ::)
If youve got kids then you know where im coming from.
Will take your advice onboard, thanks for all your comments, If there is a bargain to be had I am over on the wc bit. Give us a shout.
I figure getting a cc in 2 or 3 times a year will cost a grand, times the next few years, makes buying my own gear a no brainer. Not trying to be "canny" Just want my carpets reasonably clean and cant Justify 300quid a pop for the privilege.
By that I dont mean you guys arent worth that, but multiplied by the amount of cleans I will need done over the next few years I need to do it myself.
How about a simple vote? To help me out.
New Rug Doctor, or 2nd hand pro set up?
Just for my personal use dont forget.
Cheers BVC.
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v'e got a scorpion 300 psi 3 vacs with 2" vac hose and solution hose and a spare single jet wand not the best but will do the job.
£950.
all parts readilly available from Nick at Solutions if ever needed i was gonna setup myself as another option to my dry fusion but i'm just gonna stick with what i know ask here for advice and your more than welcome to come view i'm near Blackpool.
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As Paul King says....................to meet your requirements a Puzzi 100 will be adequate and well within your budget.
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BVC
why dont you get some quotes £300 to have a complete house of carpets cleaned is a hell of a lot of money. I have regular customers that I would only charge £100 for a 3 bed house (if done 4 times a year). The customers are happy to pay that because they understand that they would never be able to buy equipment that is going to do anywhere near the job that my equipmenty does without spending £1000, s and £1000's.
If you got a small machine it would take you the best part of a day to do the job anyway. If you are any kind of a window cleaner surely it is going to cost you more than your time is worth to do a far inferior job anyway?
I am sure that there are well equipped operators in your are that will give you a good price for a regular job.
Jim is quite correct in his points about resoiling etc, somebody mentions spm but that come in 15 kg tubs that cost £85 + v.a.t.
Peter
www.carpetcleanercardiff.com (http://www.carpetcleanercardiff.com)
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Thanks for your advice guys, based on your suggestions and a little research have decided to get a pro job done. Decent guy with a truckmount quoted 180 whole house plus rugs. If done 6 monthly. Will get a puzzi for my own use. Suppose some things just cost.
Appreciate your points about wc versus time spent doing and inferior job. Fair point well made.
Once again thanks for the info and Sorry to those that offered gear and didnt get a sale. :)
BVC.
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8)
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For the record. Just had my house done, I do my best to be a good guy but just cant stand people at the moment.
I am not a perfectionist, far from it, and I have always struggled with the middle ground. Today I had a choice to make... Pay the man, or, tear his face off. As I have a wife to care for and kids to be an example to, I paid the man. >:(
Due at 9am, Rocked up at 10.15 Gone by 12.00pm £160.00 (4 bed house) If the job was done well wouldnt mind but it wasnt.
Will be buying my own gear and doing it myself. It "was" and I now know "still is" a no brainer!!!!
Good to see many of you have pride in your work and by your comments you show its not all about the money. For the few of you cowboys out there that think your clever, Well in a way I suppose you are, but remember you could lose your teeth at any moment so be careful out there.
BVC.
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Was it the TM guy you mentioned before? Did you see how he worked? Whether he vacuume/pre-sprayed/agitated etc or did he just fire the machine up and start running the wand over the carpets?
I couldn't do a 4 bed house in 105 minutes if it was completely empty, let alone furnished :-\
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My mate struggles to do one carpet in that time , honest
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My mate struggles to do one carpet in that time , honest
Colin?
:P
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For the record. Just had my house done, I do my best to be a good guy but just cant stand people at the moment.
I am not a perfectionist, far from it, and I have always struggled with the middle ground. Today I had a choice to make... Pay the man, or, tear his face off. As I have a wife to care for and kids to be an example to, I paid the man. >:(
Due at 9am, Rocked up at 10.15 Gone by 12.00pm £160.00 (4 bed house) If the job was done well wouldnt mind but it wasnt.
Will be buying my own gear and doing it myself. It "was" and I now know "still is" a no brainer!!!!
Good to see many of you have pride in your work and by your comments you show its not all about the money. For the few of you cowboys out there that think your clever, Well in a way I suppose you are, but remember you could lose your teeth at any moment so be careful out there.
BVC.
What exactly did he do that you are not happy with? some stains still there? carpets wet for a long time? How did he clean the carpets?
he cant have done a good job in that short amount of time.
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BVC, I thought you said he quoted you £180.including rugs.
Was he allowing £20 for the rugs so he just did the carpets
For £160 ??? ::) :-\
Lewis Doubtfire
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Hi guys.
Firstly sorry for the aggressive tone. I am not really like that. I dont normally drink and I had a sherbert with the wife last night and thought I was Don Corleoni.
He didnt have a truck mount as it turns out. Machine at the door and hose through the house. Just a pre spray and one pass cleaning with lance over carpet. Marks everywhere, big black square line where the rug was (rug has only been down 6months) No edges cleaned, black dust/grit all round. Just generally shoddy.
£160 for the house, the rug was free. Although it took about 3 minutes. (spray and wand.)
Had a very nice close.... packed away very quietly and sprung an "all done chief" with the van running. Very inoffensive, butter wouldnt melt, kinda guy.
No paperwork, offer of reciept, aftercare advice, Just thank you and gone.
Stupid thing is for a pucker job I would have happily had a few cleans every year and reccomended him to family and friends who also want work done.
No offence to you guys that have commented but I genuinely believe I could get the same results myself.
Attention all cowboys.... Yes you can walk away with £80 an hour and think you are bill gates, but karma will always bite you in the bum. :P
BVC
ps the carpet is still wet and reeks after 20 hours.
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:( :(
I disagree, you wouldn't have got the same results yourself. Yours would have been better because you care about your carpets.
However this guy sounds like a right bodger. If I had done that job and worked my backside ragged with the TM, not moving much furniture around, I would have been a little longer than this guy. No way on earth with a portable can you do that much in that little time and call it a proper job.
I would say call him back but what is gonna happen? He'll probably want to "go over it again" as a way of paying lip service to your complaint. I wouldn't let him anywhere near the carpets again.
Carpets still wet after that time is seriously wrong - if you can, lift a corner and have a look to see if the backing or underlay looks damp. There could be a problem over the next week or two with mildew/mouldy smell if so.
There should be no foul smell after cleaning - only if there is wool in the carpets should they smell a bit strange, just the smell of wet wool, which should die down over the following day or two.
I hope nobody comes and sticks the boot in to you over this because you don't need it at this precise moment. But (as nicely as I can :) ) this guy's price was on the cheap side.... doesn't mean everyone cheap is going to do it that badly, some guys genuinely try to do it the best they can but simply don't value themselves high enough. Most experienced cleaners, truckmount or portable makes no difference, would probably be charging in the £220 - £270 bracket for around 800ft² plus a flight of stairs.
I think (this is not really aimed at you but just a general statement) there is a lot more chance of finding a good cleaner charging higher prices than lower ones.
Probably 7 out of 10 charging £250 would have done a good job
Probably 3 out of 10 charging £160 would have done a good job
Just my opinion.
Do you reckon you could get your money back off him?
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Hi guys.
Firstly sorry for the aggressive tone. I am not really like that. I dont normally drink and I had a sherbert with the wife last night and thought I was Don Corleoni.
Don't apologise anyone would be hacked off and have a few drinks after this!
See below for plan of action.....
He didnt have a truck mount as it turns out. Machine at the door and hose through the house. Just a pre spray and one pass cleaning with lance over carpet. Marks everywhere, big black square line where the rug was (rug has only been down 6months) No edges cleaned, black dust/grit all round. Just generally shoddy.
£160 for the house, the rug was free. Although it took about 3 minutes. (spray and wand.)
Had a very nice close.... packed away very quietly and sprung an "all done chief" with the van running. Very inoffensive, butter wouldnt melt, kinda guy.
No paperwork, offer of reciept, aftercare advice, Just thank you and gone.
Stupid thing is for a pucker job I would have happily had a few cleans every year and reccomended him to family and friends who also want work done.
No offence to you guys that have commented but I genuinely believe I could get the same results myself.
Attention all cowboys.... Yes you can walk away with £80 an hour and think you are bill gates, but karma will always bite you in the bum. :P
BVC
ps the carpet is still wet and reeks after 20 hours.
Phone him and ask him to return at your convenience as you are not happy with the results.Tell him that you want him to put it right, or you want your money back and if he refuses say you will report him to Trading standards. Foremost try to get your money back and not let him at the carpets again!
Not having a go but I take it the orginal quote was over the phone..... how many times as a wc do you quote over the phone.
He is advertising he has a truckmount and turns up with a portable.....I would have wanted to know why....saying this though, good carpet cleaners will get good results with a portable as well.
As there was no paperwork, did you pay cash?
Where do you live?
You can e-mail me through the website below and let me have more details :)
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Yeah I could give a "straightforward" answer and pat the guy on the back, tell him he's doing the right thing.
But you've missed the point completely. Carpet cleaning is something that needs to be done properly or not at all. I never advocated spending £20k or even mentioned training courses. All I simply wanted to point out is that you don't get a Rolls Royce for the price of a Skoda.
If you want to clean your own carpets and like to think you're being canny with your money, go hire a rug doctor :)
Nobody needs their carpets cleaning every month, unless they go down the resoiling road. You just need a decent spotter ;)
I clean a carpet for one of my customers every month, he has two great Danes and every time i clean it the carpet is filthy but comes up like new, recently he called me back after three weeks :o
It takes me about thirty minutes to unload and load the van that would leave 45 minutes to vacuum, prespray, agitate and extract plus moving furniture and its suggested that he may not be a bodger well either he is or he's superman.
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Thanks for your comments guys.
I am just gonna draw a line under it. In the grand scheme of things its not a big deal.
Cheers
BVC.
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BVC
It is a big thing.
You asked for advice and did not take it!
Do not blame us for your stupidity.
If I was struggling to make a living at carpet cleaning I could look at going into window cleaning. There are a lot of idiots in every type of business. Surely from the posts that you had originally you could have had the sense to ask who in your area could be recommended to give a good job. You made a decision based on the fact that it would be cheaper (from sensible advice) to get a professional.
A professional would do a spectacular job and you would not be unhappy!
I do not know where you got the man that did your job, but he is probably the same type of idiot that thinks that if he buys his own crap machine he will be doing the same job as us.
the Henry Kissinger of The Carpet Cleaning Industry
Peter B.S.C.
www.carpetcleanercardiff.com (http://www.carpetcleanercardiff.com)
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BVC
It is a big thing.
You asked for advice and did not take it!
Do not blame us for your stupidity.
If I was struggling to make a living at carpet cleaning I could look at going into window cleaning. There are a lot of idiots in every type of business. Surely from the posts that you had originally you could have had the sense to ask who in your area could be recommended to give a good job. You made a decision based on the fact that it would be cheaper (from sensible advice) to get a professional.
A professional would do a spectacular job and you would not be unhappy!
I do not know where you got the man that did your job, but he is probably the same type of idiot that thinks that if he buys his own crap machine he will be doing the same job as us.
the Henry Kissinger of The Carpet Cleaning Industry
Peter B.S.C.
www.carpetcleanercardiff.com (http://www.carpetcleanercardiff.com)
That time of the month Pete??
;D ;D ;D
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He is just giving his mouth a rest
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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BVC
It is a big thing.
You asked for advice and did not take it!
Do not blame us for your stupidity.
If I was struggling to make a living at carpet cleaning I could look at going into window cleaning. There are a lot of idiots in every type of business. Surely from the posts that you had originally you could have had the sense to ask who in your area could be recommended to give a good job. You made a decision based on the fact that it would be cheaper (from sensible advice) to get a professional.
A professional would do a spectacular job and you would not be unhappy!
I do not know where you got the man that did your job, but he is probably the same type of idiot that thinks that if he buys his own crap machine he will be doing the same job as us.
the Henry Kissinger of The Carpet Cleaning Industry
Peter B.S.C.
www.carpetcleanercardiff.com (http://www.carpetcleanercardiff.com)
Ouch......
BVC it's your decision, but it is a big thing to professional carpet cleaners to hear stories like this and to hear that the custie will just accept what has happened. :)
Just the same as when rogue window cleaners get slammed for bad services and the general public believe all are the same......you know the score, doleys, pikeys, beer money, thieves etc etc.
We all strive to educate Joe public that our services are good, honest and reputable and we work hard at educating the public, that is why when we hear of something like this and you are just going to draw a line under it, it frustrates us, that you are allowing a "rogue" to carry on and rip people off. As another business man, which you are, is that really the way to go?
If you did a rotten job, wouldn't you expect to get a recall?
I expect there may be more to this than meets the eye, but as I said it is your decision afterall :)
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BVC
It is a big thing.
You asked for advice and did not take it!
Do not blame us for your stupidity.
If I was struggling to make a living at carpet cleaning I could look at going into window cleaning. There are a lot of idiots in every type of business. Surely from the posts that you had originally you could have had the sense to ask who in your area could be recommended to give a good job. You made a decision based on the fact that it would be cheaper (from sensible advice) to get a professional.
A professional would do a spectacular job and you would not be unhappy!
I do not know where you got the man that did your job, but he is probably the same type of idiot that thinks that if he buys his own crap machine he will be doing the same job as us.
the Henry Kissinger of The Carpet Cleaning Industry
Peter B.S.C.
www.carpetcleanercardiff.com (http://www.carpetcleanercardiff.com)
Wow!! You are so right. How could I have been so stupid? :'(
Please forgive me....Just tell me what I can do to make you love me?
BVC.
ps. Nice website, must have cost you a fortune. ::)
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nice one bvc.. ;D He should have got a professional to do his web site....