AngiesList (www.angieslist.com), for those who don't already know, is an online consumer services rating service. The cost to be a member is $50 a year, so people who subscribe are very likely to want to get their money's worth by using it every time they need to hire a service provider. My floor services company, Drysdale's Carpet & FloorCare, has been positively written up by several of my customers who are members, while one caught me on a not-at-my-best days and posted a review not nearly as flattering.

My customer yesterday afternoon was an AngiesList member (when people call, I always ask how they heard of Drysdale's, then I make a note in my appointment book to that effect.) While trying to be helpful,in advance of my arrival, she and her husband had moved all of the very heavy bedroom furniture out into the middle of the room, which I hate. I do just the opposite, clearing the largest open area possible in any room to start the job. I tried not to let my exasperation show, and we moved the furniture back to WHERE I LIKE IT. I always have several of the small plastic furniture sliding discs with me, which makes this work fairly easy.

In addition to the furniture moving shuffle, two rooms were where their now-grown & moved-out sons had lived, and were really badly soiled. I sprayed somewhat more heavily than usual(Vacaway Encap-Green), scrubbed with the Challenger Encap Brush, then padded slowly, then worked on a lot of spots/stains by hand. As a result I missed my target of $100 per hour worked by maybe $20, but as I was leaving, my customer said "I've never seen anybody work so hard to clean my carpets". Her husband chimed in "They really look awesome." I suggested that other AngieList members might want to know where they could get effort and results like this, and she said she would definitely post a strong review on my behalf.

Moral: do great work to try and get onto AngiesList; then really, REALLY go out of your way when you know you're doing a job for someone who found you this way.

Mark,
Congratulations !

A couple of questions: I don't have the Challenger Encap Brush, but, when do you use this tool? and What do you mean by "padded slowly"

Thanks !

I, too, wanna know more about what you did. Using the brush first serves what purpose?

Thanks.

I haven't often used the Challenger encap brush. For encapping I normally use the Fiber-Plus or Fiber-Max pads from Excellent-Supply, or a green-striped scrubber pad. Bus since there so many spots/stains in these carpets I thought I might do better using something with actual bristles. Also, my Fiber pads are kind of thin now, and if used too thin, start to break into pieces when you try to remove them from the pad driver. I thought the brush worked at least as well as the Fiber pads, but as I mentioned, there was still some work to with a spot cleaner and a scrub brush. (hands & knees work)

By padding slowly, I meant making many passes in some areas, and they were slow passes.

Funny i was just researching angieslist a few minutes ago before i clicked on this topic. I haven't become a member yet, but i will.

Mark,

Are you also a member of Service Magic? I would assume that the members/clients of Angie's List are more of the non-cheap types that sometimes you'd get from Service Magic.

Also, I've found some wood floor refinishers in the area, one of them called Mr. Sandless - they apparently have over 65 locations? Have you heard of them? They seem to be a franchise. I would like to add that service to our company and using someone i can sub-out the work like you do now, but i'd assume using a non franchise company would be much easier for me to approach them in regards to do doing something like that.

Thx

Bill

Found out they are a franchise.

Owner quotes me $1300.

Included a 3 bedroom, 2 hallways, set of stairs, w/ living/dining room.

I thought the price was a bit low? He wouldnt go into a detailed bid, just said that's the whole house package price.

I'm not sure if it makes too much difference whether the refinisher you pick is a franchise or not. What matters a lot more is whether they can give you a price that will still allow you to make something on top of what they want for their services, AND, do they perform excellent work ON A CONSISTENT BASIS.
Consistency is very important. What you DON'T want on your team is someone comparable to the NBA power forward who plays a super game one night, then practically disappears the next night. In presidential politics language, you need to VETT your possible affiliated companies very closely before making a decision.

Also, Mr. Sandless sounds like they only do recoating, and don't do full sanding & refinishing. If this is the case, you will be passing up jobs where the existing finish is too far gone to be a good candidate for recoating. Recoating is something you can do yourself, once you get the feel for applying a water-based finish. Although you can also recoat with oil-based polyurethane, which is much easier to apply than water-based, which you have to get right the first time, or it can dry with waves, streaks, and lap-marks.

From what i can tell they vac the place up, use a mop to apply their chems, than use a rotary to do the process. Maybe that's why it seems cheaper than refinishing/sanding?

From the video they have on their side www.mrsandless.com it seems that it's a very simple process.

The price they gave me was for a consumer price, not a discounted price. Wanted to get an idea of what they would charge the consumer.