Hot Water Extraction has been the primary carpet cleaning method since 1947. Many people call it “Steam Cleaning”. It is simply a pressure washer that is followed by a vacuum to dry it. The strength of equipment varies from little rental portables like Rug Doctors, to powerful machines that run directly off of the V8 […]
If you live and work in the Twin Cities Area of Minnesota like I do, you are aware that MNDOT, part of the Minnesota Government that is responsible for the roads, is plenty liberal with sand and salt on our streets and highways. This is good for safety on our roads, however, sand and salt […]
What areas of a home are the most important to clean in a home? As a carpet cleaning expert here in the Twin Cities, I recommend cleaning all carpet at least once a year. However, some areas may need more attention. These areas include: Stairs Stairs take a heavy beating because we slide our feet […]
Wouldn’t it be great if carpet cleaning equipment was powered by actual horses? This might not be the best thing for the horses, but at least you could actually see the difference in power between the different companies based on how many horses pulled up in front of your home or business. My family owns […]
As a company that has always relied heavily on referrals, my family and I decided to join the Business Networkers International (BNI) Minnesota and Northern Wisconsin Chapter. My father, brother, and I own the Commercial Steam Team carpet cleaning company. Our reason for joining BNI was simple; Anyone who experiences our technicians, customer service, and […]
If you were to search the internet for ways to remove gum from carpet, and maybe you are, you will find countless remedies. This is because there truly are countless ways to remove gum from carpet. You can freeze it and smash the gum. You can use lemons, peanut butter, and any number of […]
Carpet cleaners have earned themselves a bad reputation for several reasons. Many of the reasons, like rusted white vans, are not practiced by a large portion of the industry, but still affect this perception. One behavior, above all others, is practiced by nearly every carpet cleaning company. Whether you call it shotgun sales, overcoming objections, […]
Whenever I tell someone that I know how to remove blood from carpet, usually without a residual discoloration, they usually ask me if I do crime scene cleanup. Although I have cleaned up after crime scenes, those are not where this skill comes in most handy. The most common occurrences of blood in carpet […]
I own a commercial carpet cleaning company in the Twin Cities Area of Minnesota and my crews are always on the road. Usually, they are traveling from our shop in Burnsville, Minnesota to a carpet cleaning job at a Plymouth, Minnesota home to an upholstery cleaning job in Northfield, Minnesota then up to Roseville, Minnesota […]
It is true that corporate franchises have deeper pockets than independent family owned businesses. This is definitely true in the professional carpet cleaning industry. Other than that, what are the differences between corporate franchises and family owned businesses? Franchises tend to pay closest attention to the “bottom line”. Ideals, morals, employees, and customers usually take […]
In the professional carpet cleaning industry, the term, “professional” can be a loose term. This can be for many reasons, but the one I plan to focus on in this article are those with good intentions and training, but weak equipment. What do I mean by weak equipment? Equipment can be purchased for as little […]
Carpet cleaning is important to rental properties for multiple reasons: Carpet costs money to replace and cuts down on profit It is easier to find renters for a home with clean carpets Odor is a huge deterrent to potential renters There is a lot of competition among property managers to lure in potential renters as […]
It seems impossible to get just about any service these days without being on a contract. Contracts would be fine, but the way they are written these days state that you have no choice but to keep using a service even if the service provided doesn’t live up to the promises made by the salesperson […]
My name is Ryan Zakariasen and my family owns a carpet cleaning company in the Twin Cities Area of Minnesota named the Commercial Steam Team. When we started the company out of my garage in Lakeville, the economy was booming. Shortly after the birth of our company, the economy went from boom to crash. This […]
I hear all the time: “I can’t believe how good it smells in here now.” I hear this when I call my clients to make sure they were totally happy with the carpet cleaning job we did for them. Do I have a secret to achieving this? Yes, I do! Every time we fill our […]
I own a carpet cleaning company in the Twin Cities Area of Minnesota called the Commercial Steam Team. I have been cleaning carpet for 13 years and one of the most effective products I use is Hydramaster’s Multiphase Deodorizer. As in its name, Multiphase is a triple action deodorizer that covers a broad spectrum of […]
I can’t tell you how many times I have driven by someone’s house or business and saw work being done by someone wearing a sleeved or sleeveless white t-shirt. Unless you’re a painter, that’s not a uniform in my opinion. The questions that instantly pop into my mind are; If they can’t afford uniforms, can […]
As a company we have so many testimonials from people all over the Twin Cities Area of Minnesota. From Britt, the building services field supervisor for the City of Brooklyn Park, to Alex Shapero at J.N. Johnson in Edina Minnesota we have posted testimonials complete with pictures describing why we are the company best suited […]
More and more we hear about the importance of air quality in homes and businesses. Air quality effects asthma, congestion, allergies, headaches, and many other medical conditions. Air quality can cause problems and/or make current problems worse. Some of us have air quality in the front of our minds but some people don’t think twice […]
How often should businesses clean their carpets? I am asked this question all the time. One would think after focusing on commercial carpet cleaning for 13 years I could give a definitive answer to this question. Unfortunately, I can’t. There are many variables that alter the frequency in which the carpets in Minnesota businesses need […]
Why do I like being a carpet cleaner? My answer is usually received with a look of disbelief. When people think of carpet cleaning they often think of an overweight guy in a rusty van and a less than white t-shirt. This is one of the reasons that I like being a carpet cleaner. Confused? […]
Confucius said “The path to wealth is rich in hate.” This is one of my favorite sayings, partly because it is so very true in most cases. But also because I love challenges and proving that statement to only be solid wisdom instead of solid fact is a challenge worth taking on. The carpet cleaning […]
My first apartment was on the border of Bloomington and Richfield Minnesota. Although it has been overhauled since I lived there, it wasn’t the nicest complex to live in. I remember looking at the carpet which had more visible dirt and stains than dye pattern and thinking “why don’t they just put in laminate?” When […]
In my 13 years as a carpet cleaning professional in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota, I have run into many cases where the carpet underneath an area rug has a yellow tint to it. This discoloration is literally the size and shape of the area rug that was sitting on top of it. It […]
Reputable carpet cleaning companies agree to return to their jobs any time a customer is unsure of the results of the work done. The most reputable companies call every job a week after cleaning to make sure they are happy and offer what we call a “redo” to make sure the client stays a satisfied […]
Well intentioned as they are, janitorial companies are not professional carpet cleaners. In my 13 years of carpet cleaning I have cleaned up after hundreds of janitorial companies who wanted to make a little extra money from their clients by cleaning their carpets. This is a sound idea for them as a business model, however […]
Employee turnover in the carpet cleaning industry is a very large problem. In search of profits employees are often undervalued and under paid. Expedited growth in a company due to things like mass advertising can also cause employee turnover as well as mass hiring which poses the same problems. Carpet cleaning isn’t the hardest of […]
Ask just about any Established Professional Carpet Cleaner in the Twin Cities, or anywhere for that matter, what makes it tough to make a profit and they will usually bring up the “low ballers”. These are fly-by-night companies that pop up and offer bad work for low prices. You see, the carpet cleaning industry is […]
Office chairs are extremely expensive. The lowest end seems to be around $150. Nice ones are often $250 and up. Even if you only have 10 employees your bill is easily in the thousands to replace your office chairs. You don’t even want to know how much if you have hundreds of employees. Sometimes replacing […]
Russell Hamline Zakariasen ll, or as we call him Russ Sr. and his wife Lynda, formerly Lynda Lee, have been married for 40 years as of January 16, 2011. I could not be more proud of my business partner and father (for hanging onto a catch like my mother). And I couldn’t be more proud […]
*We make your job easier! *We understand that our job is to make you look good! *We do the scheduling and quality control for you! *We pick up and drop off keys so you don’t have to! *We go back to any job where there is a concern Free Of Charge! *Only 11 out of […]
Property managers have a unique business unlike any other industry I can think of. Whether residential property management helping people rent and manage their rental units, or commercial property managers owning buildings and leasing out the spaces, or managing the tenants for a building owner. What makes their jobs unique is that they are firefighters […]
How many times have you been waiting for a service provider to show up and they are late? Frustrating isn’t it? In fact it has been getting so bad these days that we almost expect it. We worry from the moment we book the job, until the minute they show up at our door. Worrying […]
? Loyalty is the most important quality in a client. So why does it seem to be the most underappreciated quality? Case in point, I saw a commercial for a new H.D. DVR system for the satellite company that I use. It was free, which made it even better. I was moving, so I knew […]