January 2008
Q: What is the real story behind carpet appearance management programs for my business?
Carpet appearance management is similiar in nature to any other scheduled maintenance for things like vehicles, computers or even a good program of dental hygeine.
What, you may ask do any of those things have to do with carpet care? Simple - if you never brush your teeth, go for check ups or deal with cavities, what do you suppose will eventually happen? You end up eating steak through a straw! Your teeth, meant to last a life time - don’t.
Carpets often come with service lives of 15 - 25 years. If they are neglected they won’t last very long. In fact for most folks, that translates into premature replacement about every 5 years.
That can cost your business a lot of money! Think about it. How much did you pay for your current floor coverings? If you were to replace it, how much would closing your business down for a week cost? How much would you pay to remove the old carpet, prepare the sub-floor for a new carpet, and then move all the furniture back? Even for a relatively modest office, this process could cost tens of thousands of dollars.
Now picture another scenario where a qualified professional visits your office every 2 or 3 months, attending to traffic areas and spills. Your flooring is kept at an optimum appearance level as soil is not allowed to accumulate to the point where it becomes unsightly and causes premature wear. Your annual cost of such a process is only a tiny percentage of the investment you have already made in your flooring. And - it will likely be in the neighborhood of what you already spent on unscheduled, “restorative” cleaning. Your carpets now last 20 years. You have just saved yourself the expence of replacing your flooring four times!
Please, don’t mislead yourself by thinking that if you have a janitorial service, your carpets do not require the attention of a qualified professional. This is a highly specialized field, and even many carpet cleaning companies do not understand the practical or technical aspects of protecting your flooring investment. Be sure to check on the carpet cleaner you are considering by phoning the IICRC at 1-800-835-4624 and ask if they are a certified firm. Then ask if they have training in the field of commercial carpet care. The IICRC is the certification body recognized by carpet mills in North America for verifying credentials in this industry.
Les Graham - Graham’s Carpet Cleaning (403) 952-0318
An IICRC Certified Firm
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