I scared....Momma!

[Oldman]

Gents I have in the past week Demo three carpet  restorations In each building carpet replacement was the thought line. These rugs now look like they are all but new. Just got lucky that it was only a maintenence issue and not fiber damage. Plus these are the in the very upper end of commerical goods which helped a lot.

One building is 35,000 square feet.
One building is 46,500 square feet.
One building is 195,000 square feet.

Good night Ms. Moses I hope I don't have to work Christmas. There are not enough days in December to get this done with our regular work load. Plus the largest one is a lead into 4 more buildings of about the same size! Plus next week I have to price out 5 more buildings for maintenence cleaning, and that company has already committed to us as we are the only service provider for their goods in this area.

Gee guys I think my semi-retirement just took a left turn.  Man I need to be 20 years younger! BTW Susan is just laughing her butt off at me as other than Demos I have not clean a rug, myself, in a few years. Momma!

Laughing at myself now, I told a mill rep today not to include me in any more leads for awhile. My heart cannot handle it! (Annually we are currently cleaning something just short of 4.5 million square feet, and that has maxed the guys out already. So I'm scared! Plus I'm just too cotton picken old to be running a cleaning crew again!)

Olds

[BigSmoker]

Olds,
A guy I know use to make carpet cleaning machines in Fla.  His were the type that were mounted inside a van.  He sold out to some folks eventually but told me when contractors would clean hotels and apartments etc.  They would actually run a configuration of PVC pipe and hoses with conectors for each floor up the sides of the balconies or windows and it cut down tremendously on the labor.  If they had a contract the pipes were usually permanately attached to the buildings.  Maybe this will help?  It also looks like you need to start a long hard search for someone that can be trusted to do the physical part of the cleaning and you concentrate on the rest.  I would hate to see you miss any gaming time.  LOL.  Good luck[:)]

Jeff
www.bbqshopping.com
Some say BBQ is in your blood, if thats true my blood must be BBQ sauce.

[Oldman]

Jeff,
Thanks for the info, I've done that. The buildings we do are are in the 250,000 to 750,000 square foot range, with the exception of the credit unions we clean. Since 9/11 there is no facility or enviormental manage will allow any open access to their builds that we work for. Frankly we have a truck-mounted unit that we have not used in over 4 years. Generally our work is done with a Low Moisture Cleaning System.

As far a good people go Bob and Steve are the best crew chiefs I've seen todate. That is why they get the kind of monies, bonus, etc. from me that is unheard of in my industry. They have a lot to do with the fact that since I went back out on my own we have never lost an account.

My square footage I listed is for my annual contracted work only. It does not include the one-time-cleans, or the restoration work for the mills I work for, which are several. A good guessament would be closer to 5.5 million sqare feet per year.

That is why I'm yelling Momma because we cannot do anymore unless I start up a new crew myself. If you have ever been self-employed then you know this is a good problem; however, it is a problem nevertheless. [;)]

[Fuzzybear]

Olds!  Pushing machines around 1/2 to 4 acre sized buildings!  Yikes, that's like having a pushmower instead of a rider - I think you need to kickstart that inventive mind of yours and get a riding mower and strap on a cleaner!  LOL!
Fuzz

"A mans got to know his limitations"
Chattaroy, WA - USA!

[BigSmoker]

Olds,
As my own boss I agree this is a good problem.
I don't really know anything about carpet cleaners other than they clean the carpet but the custodian at our church uses a vac that actually straps to his back.  Since you use low moisture I wouldn't think this would be out of the question to have a cleaner with a self contained tank?  Good luck and hopefully one of the people on your new crew can quickly evolve into a leader.  Sounds like you have good incentives for people to stay with you.

Jeff
www.bbqshopping.com
Some say BBQ is in your blood, if thats true my blood must be BBQ sauce.