One of the first questions I often hear from many first time callers looking for a suitable carpet cleaning company, is “How much do you charge?” I must hasten to say that I don’t get this question so much from people who call after visiting my carpet cleaning website. Not just because they can get a rough estimate from my Quote page, but because they have already browsed the site and gleaned information about what carpet cleaning entails, and probably have determined that we know what we are doing and are competent enough, and fair enough to merit their trust. These people usually just ask for a carpet cleaning appointment.

According to the best industry sources, the average price being charged for carpet cleaning nationally, is 30 cents per square foot. The average home has about 1000 square feet of carpeting, so on an average, the typical householder will be paying $300 for a whole house cleaning. This cost varies widely of course, and differs from state to state, and area to area. There will also be obvious differences in what carpet cleaning companies will charge, and in my experience, for residential carpet, this could range from 7 or 8 cents per square foot, to 75 or 80 cents per square foot. So the average 1000 square foot whole house carpet cleaning cost could range from $70 to as much as $800 dollars.

How come?

Well, always remember that you get what you pay for, and the buyer should beware.

Let’s examine the low price cleaning scenario first. All of us must have seen those mailers and fliers trumpeting carpet cleaning for $6.99 per room, or whole house for $69.95. I don’t believe it is possible to clean carpet properly for those prices. Some of these offers are “bait and switch” where the company entices the householder to get a foot in the door, and then begins to explain that there is an extra charge for just about every thing else. Others just don’t know how to clean carpet and either don’t use any chemicals or use cheap solvents, and cheap equipment, and just leave a big problem, and dirtier carpet for the householder.

Now let’s examine the higher pricing. It is necessary to use the best reagents and equipment in order to do a good job cleaning carpets. A typical top of the line truck mounted set-up will cost $50,000 to $70,000. Competent, reliable, efficient technicians must be paid $12 – $20 per hour in Utah, for example. Add to that Federal and State taxes, insurance, uniforms, and overheads like advertising and marketing, maintenance and training, and other administrative cost, and you can see how a job that might take 2 to 3 hours to do, could not be profitable at $70.

A fair pricing should also include essentials like vacuuming, pre-spotting, grooming, moving light furniture, and ordinary stain removal. Different companies will charge different amounts for this, but you can be assured that a certified professional cleaning company that wants to stay in business and build up a clientele through referrals, will take all these factors into consideration, before arriving at a price for you.

One more thing.

There are usually two main methods of pricing. One is per room. The other is per square foot. I believe the per square foot pricing method is the fairest for both parties concerned. We all know that rooms come in different sizes. I once cleaned a home where the master bedroom was 1200 square foot!

Finally, always ask for a discount, and check for coupons and special offers if you feel like it. Your carpet cleaning company will always try to accommodate you, especially if the cleaning job is for more than 1000 square feet of carpet.

Author Bio: Victor is currently Owner and President of AJS Carpet Cleaning, Inc. in Utah. For more cleaning tips call 801 368-0705. Or visit AJS Carpet Cleaning, Inc. Or Carpet Cleaning Draper Or Carpet Cleaning Murray

Category: Home Management
Keywords: carpet cleaning salt lake, carpet cleaning draper, carpet cleaning murray