These are the questions people ask us on the phone, and the worries we hear from folks who had a bad experience with someone else. Here's how we handle each one, so you know what to expect before we ever pull up. Our process follows the industry standard for professional carpet cleaning (ANSI/IICRC S100).
Is the price you quote the price I pay?
Yes. We price up front, by the room, and check it against the square footage on the walk-through. We don't run teaser specials that turn into a bigger bill once the truck is in your driveway. Stain removal and pretreatment are part of the cleaning, not extras. The only add-ons are odor treatment, carpet protector and grout sealing, and you hear about those, and say yes or no, before we start. You can see our starting prices on the pricing page.
When do I pay?
After the job is done and you've seen it. We never ask for payment before we clean unless you'd rather pay ahead.
How long until my carpet is dry?
After steam cleaning, carpet is usually dry to the touch in 1 to 3 hours, and fully dry all the way down in about 8 to 12 hours. Low-moisture cleaning dries faster, usually in 30 minutes to 2 hours. If your carpet is still soaking wet the next day, something went wrong.
Here's why ours dries the way it should. We go over every area twice: once to clean, then again with a dry pass that only pulls water back out. It's double the work, but it leaves far less water behind. We also run a full 2-inch vacuum hose all the way to a 2-inch wand. A 2-inch hose has about 78% more opening than a 1.5-inch hose (3.14 square inches against 1.77), so air moves through it with less friction and more of the truck's suction reaches your carpet. It's heavier to work with, but more air pulling through the carpet means drier carpet. See steam vs low-moisture cleaning for which one fits your home.
Can I walk on it right away?
You can walk on it in about 1 to 3 hours. Socks are fine. We also leave you an extra set of shoe covers if you'd rather use those.
Will the pet urine smell come back after it dries?
Sometimes it can, and anyone who tells you otherwise without looking first isn't being straight with you. Most cases are fixed with a surface treatment. Urine that has soaked into the pad needs a subsurface flush, and the worst spots sometimes need the pad pulled and the subfloor sealed. We tell you which one your carpet needs on the walk-through. If it can't be saved, or replacing it would cost you less, we'll tell you to rip it out. We'd rather lose the job than have you waste money. More on our pet urine and odor page.
Will every stain come out?
Most do. Rust can often be removed with the right chemical. Bleach spots are different: the color is gone, so there's nothing to clean out. We'll tell you up front which spots are likely to come out and which may not.
If a spot shows back up after the carpet dries, call us and we'll come back and touch it up. That's called wicking: soil deep in the carpet or pad rises back up as the carpet dries, usually because too much water was left in it or there's a sticky residue that needs a different treatment.
What are the dark lines along my walls and under my doors?
Those are filtration soil lines. When your heat or air runs, air gets pulled through the gap between the carpet and the baseboard and under closed doors. The carpet acts like a filter, and fine dust and soot get caught along those edges and cling to the fibers. They build up when the edges don't get vacuumed often enough, because a regular vacuum doesn't reach that last inch.
They're real soil, not a shadow, and they take a separate treatment from the rest of the carpet. We'll look at them on the walk-through and tell you how much they're likely to lighten. To slow them down, run a crevice tool along the baseboards and under doors every week or two.
How do you protect my home while you work?
- Shoe covers on the whole time we're inside.
- Corner guards where our hoses come around walls and door frames, so nothing gets scraped.
- Tabs and blocks under furniture legs so nothing stains the damp carpet.
- The dirty water stays in our truck. We empty it into the sanitary sewer at our shop, never in your yard, driveway or street drain.
Do you move the furniture, and do you put it back?
We move furniture to clean under it. Very heavy pieces like loaded dressers usually stay put, and we clean around them. When we're done, we'll ask if you're okay with some pieces staying up on tabs and blocks until the carpet dries. If you'd rather have everything back in place, we put it back with tabs and blocks under the legs.
What if you're running late or need to reschedule?
You hear from us directly. If we're running behind, we call or text you, and on the day of your visit you get a text with a live link that shows where we are on the way. If equipment trouble ever means we have to move your appointment, we tell you as soon as we know, and we make it up to you, usually with a little off the price or something added free, like carpet protector.
How long do area rugs take when you pick them up?
We give you a timeline when we pick the rug up, and we stick to it. Most come back in under a week. If something changes, you hear from us before the date, not after. See area rug cleaning.
Can't I just rent a carpet cleaner?
You can, but rental machines don't have the rinse or the suction to pull the dirt and soap back out. They tend to leave carpet wetter and leave soap behind, and that sticky residue grabs new dirt, so spots come back. Many carpet warranties also call for professional hot water extraction. Read more about our carpet cleaning.