[andrew stone]

just wondering other peoples take on cleaning in flats.
i wont go above second floor without a lift or above first floor if only one room to clean.
i use an ashbys ninja which is not that easy getting up stairs.
do you charge more for flats that are not ground floor?

[Jim_77]

Ninjas are a doddle to get upstairs, try getting an alltec machine up there!!

I have done 3rd floor flats with my ninja in the past, done it both ways round - took the machine up and used 25ft and also left it downstairs and used 75ft.  The clear winner by a country mile is lugging the machine upstairs... once you've got your breath back, you have decent suction and hot solution at full pressure which more than makes up in time what you lose in sweat.  Plus having the machine at the bottom means up-down-up-down-up-down  pfffff sod that!

I think it is part of the job to deal with these sorts of situations when they arise.  There are ways of shaving a little bit of time off the job to account for the extra steps.  Plus how dirty are 3rd floor carpets going to be?  I have quoted a bit more in some cases but customers really don't want to feel penalised do they?

Depends how badly you want the work, there will be a lot of other cleaners who wouldn't charge more so you'd lose out to them if you're in the price-beating section of the market.

[Tony Rowley]

There are so many house conversions around where I am I have to take my machine up stairs on a regular basis, some are really tight but thats just life I guess. I wouldnt lug all the kit up more than one flight of stairs unless its multiple rooms though. I prefer to know what I am walking into so always qualify with the customer over the phone, nothing worse than turning up to the third job of the day and then finding out its on the third floor!!

Tony

[Paul Redden Countryfresh]

Now I'm getting on a bit, 1st floors my limit  :

[Carpet2Clean]

Hi Andrew....My charge is the same if its a house or flat..But their is me & the wife doing the job....I have a Prochem Steempro its ok going up stairs because of the big rear wheels....When i was looking for a new machine i look at the Ninji as i live near to (Ashbys) and found the Prochem better to pickup if needed.....And Jims right it all depends if you need the work...Yes the Alltec machine is a beast if its got 3 vacs..

   (Richard)

[JandS]

Up the stairs every time, wouldn't want to leave
it unattended downstairs. Where the flats are
round here so are the tea leafs and they'd steal
their mothers knickers.
I stick a fiver on for 1st floor and a tenner a floor
above that.
No higher than 3rd floor w/o a lift.

John

[Neil Williams]

3rd floor and above used to be a rotary only job, but now I've got a rugdoctor prochem 5star that might just come into play.
We have a growing number of high rise flats around here which all have an inbuilt anti vehicle system, which previously I have just said "can't do" when people ring up from these places.

[David MK Cleaning]

same price no matter how many stairs there are to climb.
Trying to lift an extracta CX up to the 6th floor 4 days in a row is starting to test me now though

[Deep Cleaning Solutions]

If there are no lifts, i just ask someone to help me lift it up ...simples!
I have always found somebody wandering about who i can grab hold of.
Sod lifting it upstairs, that's a one way ticket to an hernia or dodgy back!

[Mike Halliday]

If I can park under the window I will pull the hoses up to the 3rd floor up the outside of the building, any higher or no front window access it gets passed onto a mate with a portable.

This has happened once in my career, just not a lot of high flats around here.

[mark joyce]

did a 3rd floor flat on thursday rotary and 5star all the way 5 flights of stairs to get to the job felt like I had earnt my money when I was on my after noon job 

[steve cardy]

If i cant reach with the t/m and theres no lift , let me tell you were im at
IM OUT.

[Carpet Dawg]

Flat?! 3rd and 4th floor tenements?

Welcome to my world! 

I do tons of these a week.

Tip: Build your lats and deltoid muscles. 

[john martin]

Ninjas are a doddle to get upstairs, try getting an alltec machine up there!!

Had some of the heavy Alltecs ...no way
For the high stuff i use the aqua 40 plus , i can carry it upstairs in my arms , just about ...  the newer plastic ones ( rebadged sandia snipers ) look to be more upright with center of gravity further back , so dragable up , i'd say ...
I would never refuse though :/

[Mr Dvae]

Why don't ground floor flats get dirty? all calls for cleaning flat carpets are 1st 2nd or 3rd floo,r real heart attack jobs.

Dave

[PaulKing]

fifth floor outside and tenth floor if there's a fire exit, after that portable but only at a push and if we like them 

[jim mca]

 

    Just spotted a airflex mini twin vac on ebay great for flats dont even bother to put the steampro in the van since I got one


  Jim

[Luc]

i once had to do a top floor pent house flat in london, had to run the TM from 11 floors down. i had to drop the hose all the way down the stairwell, and make sure it was secure at every other floor. it took about 30 mins to get setup and make sure the hose's was not a hazard. the job was priced at 750quid so it was worth the hassle.
The guy was so pleased we ended up going back and cleaning all the communal carpets on all 11 floors.
the most i have done recently was 5 floors, but normanly the ninja gets called out of retirement on these jobs.