“The results speak for themselves, and the owner is ecstatic.”

Kevin describes this particular job: “This is a sports bar at an active golf course we clean annually. We have futilely advised them to clean quarterly, at a minimum. After many cleaning experiments, we settled on Prochem Power Burst and Judson 02. We applied it with a Cimex and pads from Excellent Supply. The results speak for themselves, and the owner is ecstatic.”

For an opportunity to win a chemical prize package from Solutions by Steam Pros (worth $250), send your images and a brief 100-word description on how you obtained your results to Jeff Cross, executive editor, at JeffCross@������ý.com or 193 Purple Finch Loop, Pataskala, OH 43062. Contest rules available by request.

[infobox title=’Did you know’][/infobox]

Approximately 30 percent of cleaning companies do not accept credit cards for payment.

Despite a noticeable trend of start-up company failures in the cleaning industry, 60 percent of those in business now have been in business more than 20 years.*

*Cleanfax Carpet Cleaning Benchmarking Survey Report

The post Photo Contest: Sports Bar Cleaning appeared first on Cleanfax.

Nothing is more stressful than trying to bring “order out of chaos” after arriving at an emergency water damage loss. Property owners surprised by an unexpected water damage in their home or business get weird fast.

Unless you stage manage those first few critical minutes, the job will go from already bad (since no one enjoys being flooded out) to worse very quickly.

Your challenges

All cleaning and restoration clients base much of their “value perception” on how they feel about the employees actually doing the work. Customers are subconsciously asking:

• “Are they competent?”
• “Has this company done this before?”
• “Will this tech be careful with my possessions?”

Most importantly, customers are wondering, “Can I trust these people?”

As a motivated business owner, I (and likely you) could instinctively answer these “unspoken questions” of a traumatized insured. However, as my company grew, my best use as the leader was not as the “first responder” on a water loss. (And I also didn’t enjoy rolling out of my warm bed at 3:00 a.m. either!) So, my sometimes-half-awake techs needed help when getting started on a loss.

We also needed to get all the contact information for the loss including the all-important responsible party authorizing the work. Why? Because once a property was restored, many times “responsibility amnesia” would hit all concerned.

All these details were tough to remember even under ideal circumstances, but disaster lurked at 3:00 a.m. while standing in ankle-deep water with a sobbing insured, who was screaming, “Just get moving!” (My insureds wanted immediate action but often got nitpicky later with the details.)

When my employees created a bad first impression, it would dog us throughout the entire loss. Even worse, my adjusters and agents hated dealing with ticked-off, screaming insureds. I realized I had to change things quickly.

Steve’s solution: The Water Damage Customer Interview

I developed a “Water Damage Customer Interview” (WDCI) form that helped my techs tactfully take control of the situation immediately upon arrival. They first calmly and confidently introduced themselves (and their crew) to the insured and explained what they had arrived to do.

“I understand things may be a little ‘moist’ here,” they would say to wry chuckles all around.

Write me at requests@homefrontsuccess.com, include your zip code, and I’ll email you the Water Damage Customer Interview form I used at no charge. Then let me know about any improvements you make. And feel free to include any questions or comments.

My lead tech would then pull out a pen and clipboard, look down at his WDCI, and explain he needed to ask the owner a few questions during a quick “tour” of the damage. This tech would also ask permission for the rest of our crew to start “staging” our tools and equipment just outside the front door.

The first questions listed on the WDCI ask:

• “Have you identified where the water came from?”
• “Are there any unsafe conditions that you know of?”

Remember the insured is stressed and most certainly not a water damage expert, so the WDCI helped our tech “prime the pump” with additional questions:

• “Are any electrical items or plugs wet?”
• “Are any ceilings sagging due to water?”

As the client replied to each question, the tech would write it down on the WDCI form. (Carefully noting the insured’s responses is very important!) Filling out this form structured those first few chaotic minutes on the loss, made sure our office got the information it needed, and gained our company respect.

The WDCI form listed other important questions for the tech such as:

• “Can you show me the source of the water?”
• “Has the in-flow been stopped?” (I learned this one the hard way!)
• “Does anyone in the family have any unusual health issues?” (We wanted to know this up front.)
• “Do you have any special concerns and/or items of unusual value or sentimental appeal?” (All replies should be noted by the tech.)
• “Can you give me a tour, and as we go, please share any questions that you have? With your permission, I’ll also be checking for any areas that may not appear to be wet for any hidden water intrusion.”

The WDCI form also reminded our techs to always ask permission before opening any closed doors, cabinets, or furniture. This politeness shown to a traumatized insured cemented a professional relationship.

While the WDCI form guided our tech through the pre-inspection, it also helped them review the loss and explain to our customer what we would be doing in the first, “damage containment” phase. And the form fed our tech the correct terminology (and a reminder) to get the authorization signed!

The result

My employees liked having the “crutch” of a written form on their clipboard to remind them about each question to ask. My overwhelmed and stressed-out customers were delighted to be asked for their opinions while watching the tech carefully write down their answers. They would say to themselves, “Finally, a company that actually listens to me!”

Thanks in part to our WDCI form, our insurance adjusters and agents came to realize that when our company took over a loss it would be a seamless process with a delighted insured at the end. So almost always their reply to a flooded insured was, “Just call Steve!”

And me? I loved that my Water Damage Customer Interview form helped my techs create a cheerleader out of a traumatized property owner (at 3:00 a.m.). After all, when our insured was delighted, the loss ran smoother, our profits skyrocketed, and we became the “go-to” restoration contractor in our area.

Steve Toburen started and ran a world-class cleaning and restoration firm for over 20 years. He is now the director of training for Jon-Don’s Strategies for Success program. Steve also founded , a resource portal with training programs for contractors working in customers’ homes. Reach Steve at stoburen@homefrontsuccess.com.

The post The Water Damage Customer Interview Form appeared first on Cleanfax.

The development of luxury vinyl tile (LVT) over the last decade has increased the sales of these products significantly. Floor Covering Weekly estimates 1.87 billion square feet of luxury vinyl tile worth 1.50 billion dollars was sold in 2016. This represents a substantial percentage of resilient flooring sales.

Since LVT began making inroads in the United States flooring market, it has been touted as a game changer, especially in the resilient category. Every year seems to bring more and more attention to this product and rightfully so. Sales in 2016 represented 50.83 percent by value and 34.99 percent by volume of the resilient category (see below graphic).

The term “luxury vinyl tile” is not recognized as an ASTM classification in the flooring industry; however, the name and acronym are recognized as accepted terminology and used extensively. Technically, LVT is defined by ASTM F1700 – 13a: Standard Specification for Solid Vinyl Floor Tile as Class III, Printed Film, Type A (smooth surface) or Type B (embossed surface). Because it is really a sub classification of solid vinyl tile (SVT), and due to its physical properties, it was named LVT, which is much easier to remember and say.

Luxury vinyl tile construction

Commercial LVT is a high-quality flooring material that is manufactured as a layered product (see graphic below). The construction consists of a base layer (LVT back) and core (solid rigid core) of poly vinyl chloride, which is flexible yet stable.

The next layer is a printed film (decorative layer) with a high-resolution digital image that resembles stone or wood or has an abstract design. The printed film is protected by a heavy-duty, clear vinyl, wear layer (urethane wear layer) that can be up to 30 mils thick — 1 mil is equal to 1/1,000 of an inch — and is applied over the surface. LVT manufacturers often provide an application of urethane or polyurethane coating as additional protection, which may contain aluminum oxide or silica for reinforcement.

Maintenance of luxury vinyl tile

LVT is manufactured predominately in tile and plank form, which may vary in dimensions and design. The properties and characteristics of the flooring make it an aesthetically pleasing alternative to natural wood and stone, and it can be used in many environments. The durability of the wear layer and polyurethane coatings give LVT a surface that can endure for years if maintained correctly.

The maintenance for LVT is the real game changer. Floor maintenance technicians traditionally have maintained vinyl flooring products using sacrificial polishes with various levels of buffing/ burnishing, agitation, abrasion, and reapplication of polishes. Because of the durable wear layer and polyurethane coatings, most traditional service procedures are not warranted. That does not mean that floor maintenance is eliminated altogether; it just changes the dynamics of the service procedures and the frequency in which they are performed.

The daily/ routine and periodic maintenance procedures are the key factors to keeping LVT flooring looking its best. Performing the dry soil removal and proper mopping procedures frequently is essential for the longevity of the floor. Machine scrubbing, with soft or medium scrubbing brushes or pads, and general-purpose cleaner will still be required periodically.

The use of acrylic polishes is not necessary but is sometimes allowed by manufacturers. When maintaining LVT products, it is always best to follow the manufacturer’s recommended maintenance procedures for optimum results.

Stan Hulin has over four decades of hard floor maintenance, services, training, education, sales and marketing, and management experience with companies such as ABM, DuPont, and milliCare. He is president and CEO of Future Floor Technology Inc. and the League of Hard Flooring Professionals. He can be reached at
sqhulin@futurefloortech.com.

The post The Dirt on LVT appeared first on Cleanfax.

If it’s worth catching, it’s probably worth chasing.

That’s how most restoration contractors feel about storms — especially hurricanes — and the opportunities they bring ashore (pun intended) for companies engaged in disaster cleanup work.

The common catchphrase “storm chasing” has many implications for restorers. It can mean opportunity for a huge increase in revenue in a short period of time. It can also spell disaster for those who are unprepared for the unique challenges inherent with mobilizing in response to a climate disaster.

There were many lessons learned from the 2017 hurricane season. Thousands of restoration companies responded to the needs of those affected. Many of them profited and enjoyed a financial gain for their efforts. Others weren’t as fortunate, despite the best of intentions, perhaps only breaking even. Some were destroyed, financially speaking.

What happened in 2017

Click the infographic to view larger 2017 storm details and costs.

The National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) released information indicating that combining all of 2017’s climate disasters — including hurricanes, widespread flooding, fires, and more — resulted in a calendar year that was the costliest on record since the organization began assessing data in 1980.

According to the NCEI, the overall cost for 2017 climate disasters was tagged at $306.2 billion, while 2005, the year Katrina hit, held the previous record at $214 billion in losses. That’s a huge monetary disparity in damage to homes, businesses, properties, and — never to be forgotten or minimized — people’s lives.

When you add up all the years since data tracking began in 1980, losses hit an estimated $1.5 trillion. And 2017 accounts for more than 20 percent of that total.

Yes, 2017 landed into the record books with a solid thud and no doubt will stay at the top of the list of costliest years for storm damages — until the next one, of course. It is anyone’s guess as to when that will happen. But happen it will. That’s virtually a guarantee.

Are you ready for it?

What can happen in 2018

While an often-repeated joke includes the punchline of how meteorologists are often wrong regarding their forecasts and yet remain employed, we still give them our full attention, because we want to know.

If you research what several national meteorological services and scientific agencies are predicting for 2018, you will find their claims range from “above normal” to “active” to “busy” — among others. The bottom line is the consensus is this year could be a bad one for hurricanes, not to mention other climate disasters that can pop up across the country.

This means, if you are planning to be part of the brave crowd that chases storms, or if you live and work in what can become a hurricane-ravaged area, preparing now is key. Waiting until the storm is on the horizon and resources are quickly gobbled up by those who are ready is not going to bode well for you.

What you can do now

Cleanfax interviewed and gathered information from several sources in the restoration industry — experts and companies key to helping contractors succeed when engaged in large-scale disaster restoration efforts.

The following will get you started. Read on and see if jumping into storm chasing is for you.

Marketing your services

If you are traveling or a local company, you need to market to areas that are storm prone.

“You need to build relationships, and marketing is the best way to do this,” says Rick Daniel, a More Floods member and the owner of Roadrunner Restoration in Houston. “It costs time and money but will pay off in the end when a catastrophe strikes.”

As far as the type of marketing that works in these situations, according to Jathan Brensing, a 20-year restoration veteran and the member support director at More Floods, get ready to work. “Make phone calls and send out mass emails to your market area to adjusters, business owners, schools, engineers, property managers, hospitals, hotels, and others, letting them know you are available and ready to serve the community.” They will need you, and if they know about you, you will get work from your efforts.

Yet there will be challenges, as noted by Derek Niederquell, regional manager and brand manager for 1-800 WATER DAMAGE. “Although potential customers are in need, do not under-estimate their suspicions of out-of-town companies that are only there for a couple of weeks.”

Advanced storm chasing preparation

Storm chasing doesn’t mean you load up your equipment and get your crew ready when an event occurs. It means prepping in advance — most likely, several months in advance — like right now.

“We have created written load lists prior to the storms, so we don’t have to trust mental lists,” says Craig Kersemeier, president and general manager of K-tech Kleening Systems Inc. with headquarters in Weston, WI, and two additional offices in Rhinelander and Sturgeon Bay. His company has everything it needs well in advance including team members who are willing to travel and who are qualified to handle the challenges inherent to storm work.

Kersemeir also recommends making contact and connections in advance with other restoration companies in the target area so the mobilizing company has a destination upon arrival. “And commit early if you are going to do storm work,” he adds. “You can land some nice commercial work by being there first.”

Part of the preparation is realizing not everyone is going on the road. You still have a restoration company “back home” to run, after all.

That’s something Niederquell emphasizes. “Can you take care of business back home? What if the phone starts to ring once you cross over the state line?” he says. “Keeping personnel behind will ensure you don’t fail your clients that you have been marketing to all year long.”

And before committing to mobilizing for restoration work, Niederquell says, one of the most important tasks you need to do is look in the mirror and ask yourself if you are “in” or “all-in.” The answer should be a clear indication if this mobilization will be a success for you, for your company, and for those on your team who are committing to your company leaving their families behind.

“It takes a strong leader with a key sense of calling the right shots in these situations,” Niederquell explains. “Now that you are mobilized, who’s taking care of your business back home?”

And you don’t have to take on every job that comes your way, nor hit the road every time a storm hits outside your immediate demographic. “Know when to say ‘no’ to traveling for storm work,” Kersemeier advises. “It can put a strain on your regular customers and staff as well as your traveling crew.”

Clint Junell, co-creator of Job-Dox, a restoration project management software company, echoed those sentiments. “Chasing storms requires preparation up front and involves clearly defined expectations,” he says. “If you can’t afford the risk, then don’t chase the storm. There will be plenty of companies that close their doors” after engaging in storm chasing.

Heading out

This is where the rubber hits the road. Your company must be adept at mobilizing, staging, and delivery of restoration services, as well as being ready for sudden changes and unexpected twists and turns that accompany these restoration projects.

“Items such as gas can prove to be a hot commodity once you get into the thick of things,” Niederquell warns. “It’s hard to pivot or get to an appointment across town when you’re running on empty. And don’t forget to have lodging for everyone locked down before leaving your home office.”

Still, with a proper plan, a company can make it work. “Traveling can be profitable, if you do it correctly,” says Daniel. “You have to be ambitious and expect to spend a lot of money. Traveling, labor costs, food, hotels, and more will add up.”

And as for mobilizing, “Make sure your supplies are stocked. Order extra equipment ahead of time and find labor personnel, the manpower, before the storm hits,” advises Brensing. “Stock fuel, water, ready-to-eat meals, and coordinate sleeping arrangements with hotels, motels, and local churches. Be prepared to sleep in trucks, tents, campers, anywhere… and work extra-long hours. Stock trailers and trucks with a lot of dehumidifiers, air movers, desiccants, generators, and any other equipment you may need in bulk.”

Equipment can be the make-or-break issue in situations like this. “Have a contract or affiliate with a large loss company or rental company so you can get rental equipment. Be the one with the equipment. You don’t want to be looking for it once you get there,” Brensing adds.

Financial matters

At the end of the day, those involved in storm chasing must generate revenue and realize a profit. This means having a system in place to get paid in a timely and fair manner.

“If you are going to provide assistance to other companies,” Kersemeier says, “have your agreement up front on how each is going to get paid.”

In addition, remember that common practices involving money may not apply. “Cash is king in some storm areas that don’t have electricity. No ATMs. No credit cards,” Kersemeier warns. “And have a good relationship with your bank, as it can sometimes take a while to get completely paid.”

That’s something Junell sees frequently. “Billing is always an issue, and there will be outstanding invoices,” he says. For jobs in 2017, “We are still providing additional documentation and breakdown of information to adjusters and consultants. The carriers and consultants are still trying to figure out all the data they have in front of them.”

The learning curve

No matter how many storms you chase or how many jobs you land, you will find surprises along the way, and you will face unique challenges.

Be cautious while storm chasing. Be smart. “It’s not a ‘sexy’ job,” warns Daniel. “It takes a lot of hard work, there are a ton of illnesses circulating, and there are huge labor shortage issues. Plan to spend a lot of money if you want to make money, and the money from the large CAT jobs may not come in for months after you complete the job.”

You may have years of experience in the restoration industry, but that doesn’t mean you have the type of experience needed to chase storms. Have a willing-to-learn attitude. “The biggest thing is we continue to learn on every one of these events,” Kersemeier recalls.

And learn you will if you jump into storm chasing. If you do it, do your homework, make valuable contacts, prepare well in advance, and commit. The payoff may be worth it.

Jeff Cross is the executive editor of Cleanfax. He can be reached via email at JeffCross@������ý.com.

The post Storm Chasing appeared first on Cleanfax.

In a recent conversation with my colleagues, we discussed the idea that growth in business isn’t always represented by total sales. Clearly, there are cases where reducing our top-line revenue actually increases net profit. Let’s look at an example.

Incredibly Good Restoration (IGR) was purchased seven years ago by Ian Martin Boss (I M Boss). Mr. Boss transformed this mom-and-pop, mitigation-only company with revenues of $300,000 per year to a $700,000 mitigation-only powerhouse within two years. IGR was so efficient that customers and adjusters alike absolutely loved them.

In fact, these same customers and adjusters thought IGR was so good that they pushed and pushed Mr. Boss to move into reconstruction. After all, they were stellar performers in mitigation, so shouldn’t reconstruction be just as profitable? The money seemed promising, and it appeared to Mr. Boss that he could bring in twice as much in reconstruction income as he was in mitigation. There was just one small problem: Mr. Boss had never run a construction company.

The expansion

Recognizing his apparent weakness, Mr. Boss hired Steve. Steve was well versed in running construction projects as he had been a foreman for a reputable builder in the area. Steve knew construction, but he was unfamiliar with mitigation and had no experience in restoration-style reconstruction. Steve also had never used restoration estimating software. But how hard could this stuff be to learn? After all, he was a construction expert.

IGR’s construction sales quickly surpassed mitigation by a factor of two, making combined sales a whopping $2.1 million dollars. But something was wrong. What had been a $175,000 yearly net profit when IGR was a mitigation-only company had turned into an $81,000 loss. What happened?

Steve quickly became overwhelmed — with work and having to estimate and negotiate restoration losses. So, he found a short cut. The insurance adjusters Steve worked with always wrote their own estimates, and these guys seemed to know what they were doing, so why not use theirs? Not having to write estimates himself took a huge burden off Steve, allowing him to spend more time managing jobs.

Steve had no idea what his reconstruction profit margins should be. He had always thought that whatever was left after you subtracted labor and materials from the price of the job was pure profit.  Steve was unaware of a small term called “overhead.”

Finally, Steve only had one carpenter working for him, so he subcontracted almost all reconstruction work. His thinking was, as long as the subcontractors’ invoices equaled what the insurance adjuster had estimated for each trade, he would still make a tidy 20 percent profit, commonly referred to as “10 & 10” or “O & P” (overhead and profit).

What happened to the overhead?

Let’s do the math and see where Steve went wrong. He started with $1.4 million in reconstruction sales. Primarily utilizing subcontractors to perform the work, Steve assumed his profit on reconstruction would be $280,000 because it is equal to 20 percent profit of $1.4 million. But, his theory was flawed. The overhead and profit were already included in the $1.4 million.

Here’s how we got to that profit number: Actual reconstruction sales equals $1,166,667 multiplied by 20 percent overhead and profit for a total of $233,333. This gives us our $1.4 million. This also results in profits that are almost $50,000 lower than Steve had anticipated.

But, wait, there’s more.

It takes money to pay Steve and to pay for his vehicle, computer, phone, rent, utilities, etc. That’s the overhead part that Steve missed. Cost Of Goods Sold (COGS) is all he accounted for. COGS, in its simplest form, consists of direct labor, subcontract labor, and materials and supplies. An item Steve didn’t account for was overhead. And with the introduction of the reconstruction division at IGR, overhead had crept up to 35 percent of total reconstruction sales.

Doing the math on every reconstruction dollar that came into IGR, COGS accounted for 83 cents. (Remember our 10 & 10 only yielded 16.67 percent profit.) With IGR’s overhead amounting to 35 cents of every dollar, we are left with a net loss of approximately 18.33 percent or $256,620.

Add the net loss to the $175,000 profit earned on the mitigation side of the company and Mr. Boss is still left with a net loss for all operations of $81,620.

So, you tell me, is bigger always better? Or, in this case, would Mr. Boss have been better off concentrating on what he knew, mitigation?

You may think this is a wild exaggeration. But, while I have changed the names of the company and the people, this is a true story… or as close as I could make it without revealing the identity of the company — I used some “alternative facts.”

The lesson here is to focus on what you’re good at. If you choose to grow into a new area, either educate yourself thoroughly before beginning your new endeavor or hire people who can competently and skillfully fill that void for you. Don’t give away bottom-line profits for the lure of top-line sales.

Bill Prosch, CR, is a Business Development Adviser for (VMA), a highly-respected consulting company in the restoration and cleaning industries. Prosch is a leading expert in operations and a Certified Restorer. He has a deep understanding of entrepreneurial challenges having owned and operated a successful restoration company for more than 30 years. Through Violand, he works with companies to develop their people and their profits. To reach him, visit violand.com or call (800)360-3513.

The post The Incredible Shrinking Bottom Line appeared first on Cleanfax.

Can your vacuum damage carpet in your customers’ homes? It may be a scary thought, but the vacuum you use prior to cleaning carpet in homes and in commercial buildings may be destroying carpet.

With carpet sales continuing to decline in favor of hard surface flooring options, taking special care with client carpet — especially considering the advancement of carpet manufacturing and “soft” fibers — is increasingly important.

Proper care and maintenance of all products will ensure they last longer. Unfortunately, with the new innovations in vacuums over the years, many do not work well with the fibers on the market today.

The carpet-vacuum partnership

The first vacuums used a beater bar that the Hoover Company advertised by explaining, “It beats as it sweeps as it cleans.” These vacuums evolved into better ones that were easier to maneuver and worked well for the wall-to-wall carpet that became popular in the 1960s. Over time, HEPA filters and brush bars improved on the design, making them more efficient at removing dust and allergens from the environment.

Fibers and yarns

Wall-to-wall carpeting was first made from acrylic yarns. While these replicated the appearance of wool, and dyed easily, they did not have sufficient resiliency and were soon replaced by nylon.

Nylon, at one time, was the most common synthetic fiber and is still popular as a fiber choice today, more so in the commercial market because of its resiliency. Other synthetic fiber types, polyester and triexta, are lower in cost and eventually edged out nylon as fiber leader in the residential market.

Meanwhile, consumer demand for soft-feel carpet has caused manufacturers to produce smaller denier (thickness) fibers and yarns to produce a very soft carpet. The most prevalent soft-style carpet brands are Shaw Caress (nylon) and Mohawk SmartStrand Ultra (triexta).

The problem

Many of the modern vacuums are advertised with statements such as “no suction lost” or “extreme clean.” While these offer appealing ideas, they don’t always work with the new carpet that’s available.

The new, soft-style carpet has so many fibers packed into a small space that there is not much air movement from the backing. When this is the case, a vacuum that has “no suction lost” will suction the vacuum to the face of the carpet, making it extremely difficult to push or pull, resulting in a more difficult job for the technician.

Some of the new vacuums available have a very aggressive brush bar, sometimes advertised as “extreme clean,” and will hurt customer carpet over time. If you think about the soft-style fibers as hair, the aggressive brush bars are like a wire brush. These vacuums will cause severe texture loss by literally combing the twist out of the yarn and will void the warranty on the carpet.

Safer, better choices

The Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI) created a Seal of Approval program to help guide buyers to vacuums that will work with these new carpet types. To earn the CRI Seal of Approval certification, vacuums must pass the following independent laboratory tests:

Soil removal: The CRI approves only vacuums with soil removal of either 30 ounces per square yard of cut pile or loop pile, using x-ray fluorescence technology advanced by NASA, rather than traditional gravimetrix testing.

Dust containment: The CRI approves vacuums that offer the pinnacle of dust confinement, preventing the escape of dust back into the air. Only those that release less than 100 micrograms of dust per cubic meter of air are approvable.

Surface appearance change: For CRI approval, a vacuum must not cause more than a one-step change over a year of normal use — for the texture of commercial cut pile carpet, 900 passes.

The bottom line

While loyal carpet care customers can seem to offer job security, only proper care and maintenance of their carpet can ensure they see a lifetime of performance out of it — and your company gets plenty of service calls for it.

Help make sure your customers get the most out of their carpet investment because there’s no guarantee they’ll be choosing carpet over hard floors when the time comes to replace their flooring.

There is a list of approved vacuums at: .

Jessica Violand-Bruno has been a flooring inspector since 2006. She is an IICRC Senior Carpet Inspector and holds certifications to inspect other floors as well. She is the lead sales associate with a flooring wholesaler. She has a unique perspective on why consumers choose what they want, the limitations that some homes and contractors face, and the lack of education for retailers. Contact her at
Jessica@Mark4Floors.com.

The post Deadly Vacuums appeared first on Cleanfax.

Almost all of us who have been involved in the cleaning or restoration industry have heard about, and perhaps have been intrigued by, trauma scene cleaning.

There are many terms that can be used to describe this type of work: Trauma scene cleaning, crime scene cleaning, and forensic restoration, among others. These terms and more refer to cleaning up and decontaminating a scene, or site, that has been affected in some way with human blood, tissue, and/or bodily fluids.

A question I am routinely asked is this: “What is involved in doing this type of work?”

The purpose of this article is to briefly look at these areas:

• Business potential
• Technical cleaning/decontamination expertise
• Psychological issues for technicians onsite

Business potential of trauma scene work

There are companies working in the United States that specialize in trauma scene clean-up work.

As a former restoration company owner, and one of the first to really specialize in this type of work, I know that there can be significant financial rewards. But to get into this aspect of cleaning or restoration, and to do it right, it will require that many aspects of business acumen all be brought together simultaneously.

From a business perspective, the marketing must be done appropriately, and in a somewhat “low-key” manner. This is a type of work that no one wants to have to call you to do. Billboards and flashy websites are not the proper approach, for various reasons.

And remember that this is a very limited market. Yet, there are also very few providers.

The following discussion is blunt, and I apologize to anyone who is offended. Unfortunately, business opportunities are based on very sad and troubling circumstances.

Death is going to happen to all of us. We will all die: In the home, a hospital, a car crash, a violent attack, or by some other means. Death in a hospital, for us as cleaning and restoration professionals, is a non-event. When a death occurs in a hospital or a hospice facility, then the attending physician can make the legal declaration that the person has died.

However, for virtually every other death, the only person who can make this declaration is the coroner. Knowing this, who is your key target for marketing? The coroner.

There are many different situations that require our type of expertise. Here are a few examples of incidences in which a company or organization will have to clean and decontaminate the location:

• If a person dies alone at home, it can be days to weeks before the body is discovered. The longer a dead body remains in place, the more it decays and the more complicated and costly the cleanup.
• Someone dies of a violent attack. The police arrest someone who is intoxicated, and that person vomits inside the police car.
• Someone becomes very ill in a hotel room and vomits large amounts of blood

From a business perspective, there are many opportunities beyond just the violent deaths and suicides we see on television or at the movies.

Technical expertise

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The technical cleaning and decontamination procedures that need to be used are finally understood.

The IICRC developed the S540 Standard for Trauma and Crime Scene Cleanup, which covers trauma scene cleanup and decontamination work. The RIA also has a guidance document, The Guidelines for Professional Forensic Restoration. Both can provide help in understanding what you must do and how to clean and decontaminate the various situations technicians will encounter in the field. However, classroom training is a necessity as there are many different scenarios that will be encountered in the field, and being taught by a knowledgeable instructor is the only way to be prepared.

A couple of examples:

• Blood spatter on a sofa: Can it be cleaned, or should it be discarded?
• Blood spatter on a painted, sheetrock wall: Can it be cleaned, or should it be cut out and discarded?

If you thought both should automatically be discarded, you are wrong. During class, the instructor will explain how to make the clean-versus-discard decision, which is mostly based on the extent of contamination, the contaminated item’s porosity, and then the cleaning skills of the technician.

Psychological issues

One of the most significant and troubling issues in this line of work is the potential for psychological problems that technicians can experience in the field. If you read the true-life story in the sidebar to the left, you will see what I mean.

Decision time

Can trauma scene work be profitable? Yes. It can also be rewarding, as you are helping fellow humans when they are at a very low point in their lives. If you are in a position to do this type of work and decide to offer trauma scene cleaning, do your homework. Remember, this type of work does require proper marketing, training, and specific equipment and supplies.

Perhaps most importantly, it also requires the understanding that some aspects of this work are regulated. We will discuss regulations in an upcoming article

Read part two.

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A woman left her husband and moved in with another man. The husband showed up at the wife’s new residence, and the wife called 911. The husband exited his vehicle with a shotgun, kicked in the front door, and shot and killed the boyfriend. The wife ran into the bedroom and locked the door. The husband blew the door open with the shotgun.

The wife then fled into the bathroom and locked the door. She was trying to escape the bathroom through a small window when the husband blew the door open with the shotgun and killed her.

The horror she must have felt when he came through the bathroom door still haunts me to this day. The police finally arrived and the husband tried to escape by
shooting his way through the police, who then killed him.

This is the kind of real-world situation you and your technicians will be facing if you choose to engage in trauma scene cleaning. The best way to minimize the psychological effects of this type of work is to not learn the facts of the case, but, as humans, we are always curious. As such, this type of work presents a real dichotomy: “I am curious to know, but I know that I really should not know.”

What this means is that trauma scene clean-up work is not for everyone. Doing this type of work should be on a totally voluntary basis, and no one should be forced to do this type of work.

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Richard Driscoll has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Clarkson College of Technology and an MBA from the University of Dayton. He is a professor at Webster University where he provides graduate and undergraduate level lectures. He is an IICRC Certified Master Restorer, Master Textile Cleaner, and approved instructor. Driscoll has been consulted by state governments on legislation related to the cleaning and restoration industry. He also is the author and instructor for Restoration Sciences Academy’s MR-110 and MR-210 microbial remediation classes and MR-211 trauma scene clean-up class. He can be reached at rmd490@earthlink.net.

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