[Richy L]

Hi guys,
Im from the contract cleaning section...
I have been asked to carry out some flood clean ups, nothing major, just the occasional little one, I was just wondering if you guys (the carpets cleaning guys) did this?

If so, would this be any good?
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-CLARKE-PRO-VAC-KING-WET-DRY-VACUUM-CLEANER-CVAC20SS_W0QQitemZ180387115148QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Vacuum_Cleaners?hash=item29ffe8f08c&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12%7C66%3A2%7C39%3A1%7C72%3A2136%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

[Neil Williams]

For hard floors with not too much water, then yes.
For carpets, it's a non starter. Not enough suction not enough capacity in the tank.

[derek west]

be all right for the odd glass of water knocked over.
derek

[Pristine Clean]

Hi Richy,

OK so its a wet VAC. For a start you can get it cheaper at www.machinemart.co.uk. Its about £40.00.

What do you want it to do? Pick up waterif then yes it will work. It will also work as a vacuum cleaner. A poor one at that! But apart from that, thats it.

Did you have a specific task in mind?

Dave

[Richy L]

I do some subby work for a larger company, all preesure washing and graffiti removal, but he had a call for cleaning up a flood. I dont know any more about it. I turned the job down, but i would like to find out how much the basic kit would be in case I get any more work, could be another add on.
What would you reccommend for cleaning up floods on carpet then? any links?

Cheers guys

[Jim_77]

Sucking up water off a floor is one thing.

Drying buildings properly and then certifying them dry is a completely different ball game.  there's a lot more goes into it than you think

If I had a tenner for every call I've had asking for a carpet clean to rectify a flood, I wouldn't need to work much.  It's like asking for a sticking plaster to rectify a severed leg.

Water soaks into things, water goes through things.  Water f***s things up without you realising it, sometimes the symptoms only show up months later.

Unless you're prepared to put yourself through a course by the British Damage Management Association or National Flood School, then invest in thousands of pounds worth of kit (or hire it lowering your margins) then I'd suggest you steer clear of offering restoration services because you won't know what the hell you're doing.  With all due respect of course

[Richy L]

... think Ill be leaving that well alone then.
Cheers guys

[John Kelly]

Find yourself a local restoration contractor and pass them on for a slice. He'll be glad of the work, the customer will get the right service and you'll get something out of it. He may even be able to pass pressure washing work your way. Sometimes when there pulled out with work they would be glad of extra help washing down the exteriors.

[Andrew Briscoe]

It holds 20 litres, if you have a 10m x 10m room, and water is 1cm deep, you will have to stop and start the machine and empty it to a drain about 50 times, if my maths is correct.

Andrew

[Mike_Roper]

I;m with Jim and John on this one-ignorance is bliss ! The more I learnt on courses with regards to fire and flood restoration the more I realised as a one man band it wasnt for me .
Mike

[murky]

I used to do it with Jims outfit, did it for years had the good times out of it as well.

Glad I'm out of it now though.

BUT.   I did a flood tidy up for a Property Management Co I work for, sucked up the water removed the underlay, found my trusty dehum and a fan, dried the place out all OK. Replaced the underlay cleaned carpets etc etc all OK.

Loss Adjuster looked at it and all OK, did I want any more work?

The  cheque came through for £400.00 and I thought naaaaaaaaaaaaa.

 As above you have to be able to carry out the work properly, YOU know you can dry and clean the property up but the customer wont let you, thats when the cr@p hits the fan and YOU get it in the neck.

Leave it to those that do ie Chemdry, Servicemaster, Munters, Rainbow etc etc.
There is still a living to be made out of it but only just. The Ins Co's are constantly cutting the rates down to the minimum because they know the companies out there will take it.

If the franchise goes pop there is allways someone else there to take it up or the guy in the next area will happily do the work until the area is sold, its just more work for him.


Murky

[Jim_77]

The insurance co's are farming out the majority of flood work to builders now, they just mop up the water and sometimes even stretch to sticking in a tiny dehum for a few days :

Quality has taken just as big a nosedive as the prices.  Sad but true

Glad I have nothing to do with that side of things tbh...

[Richy L]

well i was asked by the management company to just use a wet vaccum and mop it up after me. No mention of a dehumidifier or replacing anything ...  theres a Chemdry van down the road from me, I think i will get in contact with him if anything like this comes in again.

[Seers]

Hi Richy,

Email me Rich and i'll pass you the details of the guy we use in Cardiff for all our work.

Cheers,

Huw

[jasonl]

Water damage restoration work is a specialist area , and requires an investment in equipment and training, like anything else, I know that carpet cleaners traditionally got involved  in this becuse they have tranferrable equipment   meaning that the set up costs are lower than starting from scratch, eg extraction machines ,, blowers ,, sprayers etc.

This is exactly how Chem-dry got in to waterdamage restoration , I know I was with them from 1993 when they started to get serious.


I now do 95% damage restoration work by £ turnover.  In my area  is Sheffield shaun ,, who with his TM  and van probably has the same amont invested as me in equipment ,, and we probably earn about the same too ,, so its horses for courses really .

To be serious about making a living from water damage  you really need about 30-40 good new dehums and about the same in fans,, about 3k in training  ( national flood school) ancilliary kit .... meters, foggers,, sprayers chemical stocks about 3-4k . i t is not a small investment , however it can be lucrative.

[Shaun_Ashmore]

I'm poor does that mean you are aswell?

Shaun

[jasonl]

I wish I was a pound behind you Shaun

[Shaun_Ashmore]

Have a couple of cream cakes my missus swears by them it puts pounds in her back pocket (bum)

Shaun

[Griffus]

Have a couple of cream cakes my missus swears by them it puts pounds in her back pocket (bum)

Shaun

Shaun, if she reads that you're gonna be in the bad books for sure!  :

[pro-clean]

As well as dehums and  fans we have a heate dryer dose the work off 8or9 dehums. Dry a house in days . If you need to hire dehums or fans we are just up the road
                                                                              
Richie