What should I ask a carpet cleaning company before booking?
Ask five things: what temperature the solution reaches at the wand, whether they neutralise the alkaline cleaner with an acid rinse, what their extraction CFM is and whether it is truck-mounted, whether the soil leaves the property during the appointment, and how much solution actually reaches the pad on a urine job.
The five questions
What temperature does the solution reach at the wand? Heat is one of four variables governing soil suspension. A company should know its own number without checking. Truck-mounted systems commonly run 200-250 degrees F.
Do you neutralise the alkaline cleaner with an acid rinse? Alkalinity is what releases the oil. Left in the pile it is residue. This is the step most often skipped, because it costs time and product and the customer cannot see it on the day of service.
What is your extraction CFM, and is it truck-mounted? Extraction is a separate stage from cleaning. It determines what physically leaves the building.
When you leave, is the soil out of my house or still in my carpet? Some methods are designed to leave crystallised soil in the pile for the homeowner to vacuum afterwards. That is a legitimate design choice for commercial maintenance. You should know which one you are buying.
For urine that has soaked into the pad, how much solution actually reaches the pad? Methods that use a couple of gallons for an entire house are not reaching it, and that is by design rather than by failure.
Two more worth adding
Do you blacklight before quoting pet odour work? Quoting urine treatment without finding the deposits first is quoting a guess.
Are you promising removal, or an attempt? Anyone who tells you the smell will be gone for certain, without pulling the carpet and replacing the pad, is promising something the physical situation does not support.
The commercial questions, separately
What is your definition of a room, in feet? That is the most common place a quote quietly grows — a hallway becomes a room, a walk-in closet becomes a room. With us it is up to 15×15, and a staircase is priced as one room.
Is pre-treatment included, and how long does it dwell? Do you move furniture, or do I clear the rooms? What is the complete number for my specific house with my specific pets, before anybody starts?
What the answers tell you
You are not testing trivia. You are finding out whether the company has a defined process or a script.
A company that has thought about its own method answers all seven without pausing. One that cannot is not necessarily dishonest — but it does mean nobody there has decided what the process is, and that decision then gets made differently on every job.
The follow-up
questions.
Get the complete number before anybody starts, in writing, including every add-on for your specific house with your specific pets. A company that intends to price honestly can do that on the phone in two minutes.
The IICRC sets the reference standards for this trade, and S100 covers professional carpet cleaning. Being trained to the standard is a different thing from being an IICRC Certified Firm, which is a separate organisational certification. Spiker is trained to and operating by the S100 standard and is not a Certified Firm.
With us, up to 15×15 feet, and a staircase is priced as one room. That definition varies by company and it is worth asking for the specific dimension rather than the word.
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GALT (916) 919-7642 · LODI (209) 663-0823 · MON–SAT · 9AM–5PM
$200 MINIMUM SERVICE CHARGE · WE DO NOT MOVE FURNITURE · PRE-VACUUM REQUIRED