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Occasionally when I’m cleaning I run into a situation where there is blackness around the baseboards. Good thing is that I don’t come across it very often. I’ve heard that this could be mold; I’ve heard that it could be a problem caused by exterminators. Whatever it is what do you guys do about it? I schedule just enough time to do the job plus about 20-30 minutes just in case I need it. I’m not sure how to go about taking care of the situation.
If I tell the customer that it will cost $X to clean it, then I feel as though the customer may get angry. I feel that if I take the time to clean that problem that I’ll possibly be running late to my next job or not be compensated for it.
Ron, is the carpet by the baseboards black, or the wood baseboards themselves? If it’s the carpet, I’m guessing your talking about filtration soil. If it’s the actual baseboards that are black, I have never seen this, and quite frankly, I wouldn’t think it is something that is our problem to fix per se unless it is an easy fix or something we are causing.
No it’s not a filtration line. It’s blackness around the baseboards.
I’m stumped. If you spray it with your pro spotter and wipe it with a towel, does any of the black come off? If it’s mold, I’m guessing it probably won’t. Not sure what an exterminator would be putting down that could cause this. You might try calling a local exterminator and see if they’ve ever heard of their products doing that to baseboards.
Simply wiping it off will not take care of it. First off, there is a good bit of it. Usually all around the baseboards and second it would take a good while to pipe it all down.
I’ve seen this on occasion, usually it is isolated to 1 room or 1 small area. I did come across a condo that had this around every baseboard in every room, some rooms worse than others. Pro spotter helped (this was before HB had the Filtration Cleaner) but it did’nt remove the black. I wish now what I had done then is pull the carpet back and look at the backing and the tack strip…it has been in the back of my mind ever since that it had to do with the tack strip.
sounds like heavy filtration to me.combo of dust,dirt and sut,etc.i see this and it is a royal pain to clean.usaually it never is perfect when done.i charge 1.50 per ft.and if you still say it is not filtratioin ron,could it be stain.i have seen this so svere that it is very black.if they never vacuumed around thge edges,or another clean co.left a lot of water around edges,wich also conained soapy residue that could cause this in time.dirt and dust will cling like a magnet to it in time.most people dont ever vacuum close to wall.
I have seen this situation many times in homes which have used steam cleaning in the past. In fact, when I see it now I always ask if the carpets have ever been steam cleaned. It appears especially in newer construction homes which are very air-tight. I personally believe it is a mixture of very heavy filtration and dirt attracted to residue left around the edges left by steam cleaning. I usually warn customers that this may not fully be removed without extra treatment – line filtration cleaner + pro-spotter and hand scrubbing – which will definitely add to the cost of the job. In every case, the owner has always admitted past steam cleaning.
yes ,i agree.they leave water and there detergent left behind when they push up close to wall,it will sit in the pad and tac strip undetected for quite a while,this will atract dirt ,and dust .i have seen it very black quite often
What do you do about it? Do you take the time to clean it without charging?
Ron:
We use a strong batch of the 101 and pre-spray, if normal scrubbing and extracting with the upholstery tool does not work, we use the heat/ninja and extract w/wand. Our customers are always impressed as other carpet cleaning normally don’t bother going the extra mile. We normally charge more per sqft for a job like this.
What if you are charging per room?
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