The first question on almost every call is what it costs. The accurate answer is that we do not know yet. A firm number given before anyone has seen what is on the floor is a guess, or a figure that will be revised once the work begins.
Why there is no price list on this site
A price per room assumes rooms are interchangeable. They are not. A bedroom with a bed in it takes far less time than a family room of the same size with a sectional, a dog and a traffic lane worn to the patio door. Charging both the same means one customer pays for the other.
A published number also becomes a starting point to argue up from at the door, with the furniture already stacked in the hall. We quote once, in writing, so the number given on the phone is the number on the invoice.
How many rooms, and what counts as one
Surface area is the first thing counted and the thing described least accurately. Hallways, landings and walk in closets are carpet as well, and they are left out of most descriptions. The hallway is usually the dirtiest carpet in the house, because every trip through the front door crosses it.
Open plan space works the other way. A living room that runs into a dining area with no doorway between them is one continuous piece of carpet and is measured as one area, whatever furniture stands on it.
Stairs are the slowest surface in the house
A staircase has three surfaces on every step: the tread you walk on, the riser at the front, and the carpeted stringer down each side. Treads hold ground in traffic soil, risers hold scuff marks, and the stringers hold the dust a vacuum pushes to the edge.
None of it can be cleaned with the machine head flat, because there is no flat surface to rest it on. Stairs take a hand tool and a technician working on every step, so one flight can take as long as a bedroom. If there are two flights, or a landing that turns, tell us on the phone.
How deep the pet treatment has to go
Pet work is not a single line on an estimate. The depth of the damage decides the job. An accident that never soaked past the backing is close to ordinary cleaning. Urine that reached the padding is different work, because the odor is in the pad rather than in the carpet. Clean the surface alone and the room is clear for about a week, then a yellow brown ring rises back through the pile as the padding dries. That is wicking.
We ask how many accidents there were, how old they are and how large, and it is better to answer high than low. Three places where the pad has to be treated are three places we work down through the carpet and back, and that belongs in the written estimate rather than in a conversation halfway through the job.
Furniture, and what has to be moved
We move what two people can safely lift and put it back afterwards. Beds, dressers and anything holding electronics or glass are best emptied first. If you prefer that we clean around the larger pieces, tell us when you book, because carpet under a sectional that is never moved is not included in the clean.
The room where nothing has been cleared is what moves an estimate. Toys, shoes and laundry baskets come off the floor before cleaning starts, and if our technician clears them, that time is part of the visit. We keep a short list of what to clear before the visit.
Access, buildings and elevators
Walk ups are routine and the equipment goes up by hand, and the floor number matters, so tell us when you book. Parking near the entrance also matters, because a longer distance to the door adds setup time.
Buildings that require a certificate of insurance, or a service elevator reserved for a set window, matter more. We arrange both with building management in advance when we know about them. A requirement discovered on the morning of the visit turns a booked slot into a wasted trip.
Rugs, fiber, and what the dye test says
An area rug affects an estimate twice. Once because it adds surface area, and once because the method cannot be settled until the fiber is identified and the dyes are tested.
We test dyes in a hidden corner before anything wet touches a rug. Wool and older orientals can release their own color once wet, and viscose changes texture rather than color. If the test shows that a rug cannot be wet cleaned where it lies, the method changes, and that can move an estimate in either direction.
Cleaning the sofa in the same visit
The technician is already at the property, the furniture is already moved and the machine is already hot, which is why most visits combine upholstery with carpet. There is a second reason. A freshly cleaned carpet under a grey sofa makes the sofa look worse than it did the day before.
The drying time changes little. Carpet is dry within hours in warm weather and takes longer in winter, and a fabric sofa is usually dry in four to eight hours, so a combined visit keeps a room out of use for little longer than carpet alone. The upholstery page covers what we clean and how.
| Variable | Why it moves the number |
|---|---|
| Rooms, halls and landings | Carpet as it lies, including hallways, landings and closets |
| Stairs | Three surfaces per step, all of it by hand |
| Pet damage | Surface and padding treatment are different jobs |
| Furniture | An uncleared room takes longer before cleaning starts |
| Building access | Walk up floors, insurance certificates, reserved elevators |
| Area rugs | Fiber identification and a dye test can change the method |
| Combined services | Two services in one visit share a single setup |
How we get to a number, in order
- Send a photograph of the worst patch with your inquiry. A photograph usually shows whether the problem is soil, a set stain, or fiber that has lost its color.
- Give us the rooms, the stairs, the pets and the building on the phone. Five minutes of description is more accurate than any online calculator.
- You receive a written estimate before any work begins. It is a fixed figure rather than a starting point or a range.
- If something at the property changes the job, we requote before any equipment is set up.
The estimate is free and it does not commit you to booking. If a stain will not come out, we tell you that instead of quoting for it.
The special price that changes at the door
A low number on a flyer or a coupon site gets a company through the door, and the pre treatment charge, the pet charge, the stairs charge and the trip charge follow. By then the furniture is in the hallway and it is difficult to refuse.
Two questions cover most of it. Ask what is not included in the number you were given, then ask whether the quote is written and what happens if the technician finds something unexpected. A company quoting properly answers both in a sentence.
The estimate is written, it comes before the work, and nothing is added to it once the machine is running.
When to call us
Call when you want an accurate number for your floor. Describe the rooms and stairs, mention the pets and the building, and send one photograph of the worst patch. We book by appointment 24 hours a day, and all services are performed at your home or business.
Carpet, stairs and traffic lanes are covered on the carpet cleaning page. We work across eight counties in North Jersey and Central Jersey, Union and Bergen among them, and the questions people ask before booking are on the FAQ page.
