Carpet Cleaning Prices, Stirling And Surrounding Areas

Carpet Cleaning Prices, Stirling And Surrounding Areas

This not a rant, but a, I believe, a fair appraisal of the current state of carpet cleaning prices, and the carpet cleaners who believe they are making a business out of pandering to the lower end of the market.

We all like a bargain, right. Who doesn't?  As a professional carpet cleaner in Stirling, I have over the past few years see many new entrants to our carpet cleaning business, both local and national. Now, I get many enquiries to clean carpets by potential customers to provide a price over the telephone; and being a fair-minded guy I'll give an appropriate estimate based on a few relevant questions: How big is the area? What type of fibre is the carpet, synthetic or natural,? How dirty is the carpet? Having produced an estimate, the response is usually "I'll get back to you"- they never do...

Cleaning Carpets in Stirling

Now my prices are not overly expensive, e.g. £50.00 for your average 5m x 4 m (20m2) living room. And, in addition, I have a minimum service charge of £70.00. Now as a business I need this minimum in order to service my business costs of labour, travel and fixed costs (insurances etc).

So the " I'll get back to you" (and they never do) statement means that they have found a cheaper quote elsewhere. So I reason that I'm too expensive or they (other carpet cleaners) are too cheap!

As stated, I run a professional business, have completed the appropriate courses, bought the best of equipment and payout for advertisements and all the associated costs- hence my minimum charge of £70.00. 

From a local point of view, the other professional companies in my area compete on a similar pricing structure dependent on the season etc. I do not advertise my prices, or as far as I can see so do the other surrounding companies. This is due to the many variables; the size of the area, the type of fibre etc.

There are other, local 'players' who advertise on the like of 'Facebook 'Marketplace' and Gumtree. These 'players' are the ones who will turn up with, at best a 'Rug Doctor', or at worst a 'Karcher' (the one where you put detergent type tables in the cleaning water!) cleaning machine. Honestly, folks, these 'players' do not have the first idea on how to clean your carpet (s)!  Their price is invariably (£25-£70), right and that will get you a full four bedroomed house cleaned...Notwithstanding, there is a market for such type; but is there?  Firstly, they don't carry insurance, have no overheads; probably claim benefits and if a problem occurs they vanish like 'scots mist' on a sunny day.

Stair Carpet Cleaning, Stirling

On the national side, there are a few franchise companies that do service the Stirling area. These franchises ( I did at one time think about taking on one..) but my research provided that they do similar prices to the local 'players' - perhaps slightly higher in price. However, in any case, they have similar costs to we independents but have to pay a franchise fee to the franchisor.  Now,  by my calculations, and even though they, the franchisee are guaranteed a certain volume of work I have come to the conclusion that they are, as the saying goes, 'busy fools'.

In my travels around Stirling, and beyond cleaning carpets I have had many an interesting conversation with customers about both the local 'players' and franchises. In addition, I am a member of a couple of carpet cleaners forums. On both accounts, I hear many horror stories suffered by unsuspecting customers by both types: I suppose there is a juxtaposition at play here; the customer does not want to pay that much (placing no value in the work), and the provider need to make a wage but has neither the time, nor  wish, nor (in most cases) the equipment to do a professional job. In the local 'players' position, they are only after is a 'quick buck' to supplement there other (benefits?) income. On the franchise position, they need to complete 2-3 jobs a day in order to make a living -'busy fools'-and meet their franchise obligations.

I hazard a guess that some of their customers are happy with the work carried out by either type, but anecdotally, in most cases, there is a deficit between the customers' expectations and that provided by the so-called carpet cleaner- well what should you expect for such a low price...

My customer usually says things like  "the last guy has never done that",  "he was only here for a half-hour"...Really, I'll say and then solicit the story about their last visit by a 'slap-and dash' outfit. On more than one occasion, I have been out to rectify problems: usually for over-wetting and the carpets still being wet after two days (yes two days!).

Alternatively, there is always the cheapest way and that is DIY, hire a rug doctor from your local supermarket. The last time I looked, it was about, on average £30.00 for a day's hire of the machine; £10.00 for a bottle of detergent. So for £40.00, you could do, possible your whole carpeted house for that.  The downside is that you haven't taken into consideration the transportation and labour (your time) costs. Moreover, I have experienced that most people fail to read the instruction properly and end up over-wetting and putting too much detergent into their carpets (a bad thing).

That said, why would you even bother hiring a 'Rug Doctor' machine; we are now seeing prices getting so low, that it is possibly cheaper to have a local 'player' or a franchisee to come and do it for as low as £19.00 for one room, or 89.00 for  a 4-5 bedroom house - Oh, just a warning, be ready for the 'up-selling' and or 'switch-and-bait' techniques of some franchisees - well, how else are they to make a living!

I hope this blog doesn't come across as a rant against my 'lower costing' competitors: supply and demand, right! My main concerns are with the person (newbie) requiring their carpets cleaned, and having no experience in what a visit by a carpet cleaner' is all about!  And of course, the cost will always be at the forefront of their considerations. 

Confused with what You'll get?

Now, if you have never experienced a proper, professional carpet cleaner visit your home, you will be none the wiser to the shoddy work that can be delivered for such a low price- after all what is the incentive to do a proper job if you are getting paid peanuts for it. If you have experienced a visit by a local 'player' or franchisee, then you may quickly realize the false economy of it... On the other hand, if you have experienced a visit by a professional carpet cleaner, you will have already agreed with my blog and probably not reached this far in.

Here at Acleanerplace Cleaning Services, in Stirling, we like to think we provide a quality service ('a proper job')at an affordable price. For that affordable price, you can have a pre-visit to survey the job and an explanation of how the work would progress ( our 12 point cleaning plan), and moreover, knowing that you will engage a local, independent company who will be there to provide advice and assistance if (a big if) should things be not too your satisfaction. Not convinced? Check out our many Google reviews: https://goo.gl/b86L74 and read what my many satisfied customers say.

Kind Regards

Tom

Acleanerplace Cleaning Services

Deep Cleaning Of Dirty Terracotta Floor Tiles, Stirlingshire

Deep Cleaning Of Dirty Terracotta Floor Tiles, Stirlingshire

Acleanerplace Cleaning Services were called to survey theses terracotta tiles in a Stirlingshire country house kitchen. The tiles were very dirty, having only been cleaned with a  'shop bought' alkaline cleaner.  The house was quite old and so I suspect the floor may have been down since the house was built.

I established that the terracotta tiles had not been professionally cleaned and the floor had lost the lustre, especially where the sealant had worn away and dirt and grime had become severely ingrained in the tile.  Moreover, the grout lines had also darkened. In the first instance, I carried out a test clean of a 1m2 patch so I could provide the owner with an accurate quote for renovating the floor and show the customer what was achievable.

After some discussion with the customer, my quote was accepted, and a date to do the work which was agreed would take place over a  three day period -one day to clean the tiles, one day for it to dry and one day to seal the floor.

Dirty Terracotta Floor Tiles

Day One &Two -Cleaning And Drying  Of Terracotta Tiles

On the appointed day, I started by applying a strong solution for professional tile cleaner/stripping of the floor. The solution is a strong, multi-purpose alkaline cleaner, stripper and degreaser. It is ideal for this type of heavily soiled floors. The solution is left to dwell for about 10 minutes then a  heavy rotary machine fitted with a Silicon Carbide  Brush is used to scrub the floor and loosen the ingrained dirt from the tiles.

Silicon Carbide Brush

The dirty residue water and solution is then collected by using a wet pick up vacuum. The floor is then thoroughly rinsed by mopping to remove any trace of the alkaline cleaning product and in order to inspect the tiles to see if any additional cleaning work was required. In this case, I assessed that no further cleaning was necessary, therefore we could move on. With the floor now clean, I now turned my attention to the grout and for which, I again used the professional tile cleaner/stripper and a bespoke, specialized narrow grout brush to meticulously scrub each grout line. The floor was again doused and rinsed with clean water.

Terracotta Tiled Cleaned

The clean floor was now dried with the assistance of some small air movers, but due to the porosity of terracotta, it required at least 24h hrs to fully dry out before a seal could be applied. 

Day Three - Sealing Of A Terracotta Tiled Floor

After 24 hours we returned and tested the floor with a moisture meter to assess whether the floor was dry enough to seal. During the survey, and in discussion with the customer, I had established that the customer's preference was for a satin finish to the floor tiles. As it was now thoroughly dry we start applying the sealant: As terracotta is made of clay it may require up to 6-10 terracotta due to porosity and which can be very time-intensive due to having to wait for each coat to dry before applying the next. In this particular case, the terracotta required seven coats of sealant before I was satisfied the tiles were fully sealed. The sealer used to protect the floor was an appropriate terracotta sealant that provided the 'satin sheen' that the customer desired.  On completion of the final coat and having dried, the customer was very pleased with the outcome; commenting on the difference that a new seal made to the floor tiles:

Terracotta Tiles with Satin Sheen sealant applied

If you think that Acleanerplace Cleaning Services can assist you with a dirty tile and grout floor then we would be happy to visit and carry out a survey and small demonstration clean. There is no obligation on your part and all surveys/demonstrations are free. So why wait, call Tom on 01786 817401. We provide our Tile and Grout Cleaning service throughout the Forth Valley and not just in the Stirling area.

Kind regards
Tom
Acleanerplace Cleaning Services