Many water/fire/odor damage restoration companies and carpet-cleaning companies share the same customers. Periodically a property owner may need general maintenance cleaning to remove common soils from everyday living and therefore enhance the appearance of the carpet along with extending the life of the carpet.
The industry standards for maintenance cleaning include:
- pre-inspection of the carpet
- vacuuming to remove loose dry soils
- treatment of spots
- pre-spraying to release/suspend soils
- flushing/rinsing/extracting the soil
- grooming the carpet and drying the carpet.
This is the specialty of a good carpet-cleaning firm. Most cleaners use the hot water extraction method, but many others use shampooing or bonnet cleaning methods. During a water/fire/odor damage situation, however, some additional services are needed. The level of soiling/contamination is usually greatly increased. There is often heavy extraction needed. The entire structure may have been affected and many other emergency services, cleaning services, and repair services may be required. The type of soil to be removed may be the result of a clean water situation, gray water situation, or black water situation – each presenting a different range of soils to remove. Fire damages generate special soils and odors that are often extremely difficult to remove without special training, equipment, tools and solutions. Sometimes the presence of mold, sewage, bloodborne pathogens, etc., may initiate special protocols not normally used in maintenance cleaning. These protocols may require special equipment, restricted cleaning/decontamination solutions, research/training certification possessed by professional restoration companies. Also, this type of carpet cleaning must be coordinated with the entire restoration effort to save valuable time. While many carpet cleaning companies have added some equipment, tools, and training for limited restorative projects, most choose not to drift too far from their specialty of general cleaning and maintenance cleaning of carpets.
Professional water/fire/odor damage restoration companies such as AFTERDISASTER® salute the general carpet cleaning firms and their contribution to the cleaning industry. Very often we network together to assist general maintenance customers when a disaster strikes. Other times, a general carpet cleaning company may find its own resources too limited to successfully complete a simple extraction/cleaning/drying task and may need the support of a larger company to save the job and meet the customer’s needs.
Call your local AFTERDISASTER® Business Center today to
find out more about this WIN-WIN networking and support.