June 2008

I am on the board for a local condo plan.  What should I know about carpet care?

Looking after the common interests of a number of condo owners and possibly tennants is a serious responsibility.  Carpet care and maintenance is an issue that is often overlooked, or even ignored completely. 

The best time to start addressing premature wear of floor coverings is when they are brand new.  Waiting till carpets look dirty and need attention only ensures that wear and texture loss will happen prematurely.

There are steps that can be taken to maximize the service life of carpets. 

1- Have adequate walk off mats and gravel traps in place. Trapping soil at a building’s entrance costs pennies when compared with the cost of removing soil throughout a building. 

2 - Vacuum.
Vacuum -vacuum - vacuum.  Money invested in a quality vacuum system that is used regularly and properly, is crucial to carpet maintenance.  Vacuuming common areas in a project with dozens of condos once a month is not enough.  If traffic warrants, daily care may be required. 

3 - Care for spills and accidents ASAP.  Check with your carpet cleaner of choice and get advice on how to address common types of spills for your building. 

4 - Schedule regular cleaning of common area carpets by “trained & qualified professionals”.

Ideally your carpet cleaning firm will be an IICRC Certified Firm. This ensures that protection such as; General Liability Insurance, WCB, licensing issues and so on are all in place.  As well, a Certified Firm is committed to providing ethical services using properly trained and supervised technicians.  Certified Firms tend to be leaders in their field.

If you would like more information, please feel welcome to call ...

Les Graham
Graham’s Carpet Cleaning
952-0318
An IICRC Certified Firm (2008)