Featured Areas

Events

Syndicate

Construction Cleanup

Submitted by Chellflower on Sat, 08/23/2008 - 21:07

Home Business

Average:

Your rating: None Average: 4.8 (6 votes)

The previous post I placed is obviously gone, but for those who read it...

I got the job cleaning one of the schools! Its the elementary school my son goes to. Its been renovated and the construction company accepted my bid for the cleanup.......I must have made a good impression (I managed to remove some bad glue stains fom the carpet...they thought they would have to replace it), there were lots of contractors there finishing up while we cleaned, so they paid me again do a make ready clean again on the school. They also accepted my bid for one of the new Firestations!

We completed cleanup on the Firestation Thursday....and the Const. Supervisor told me I'd be cleaning the other new Firestation -I haven't even put in a bid yet!

I've been hoping to get in with a big construction company and get about 4 cleanup jobs a month, but wasn't expecting to get them all in one week! I'm not complaining though.......I'm thrilled to finally get the steady work coming and get my Cleanup business off the ground.

Is anyone else into construction/house cleaning???

Please help

Submitted by TMB on Thu, 09/25/2008 - 21:13.

I am doing some research and could use any advice you have about bidding and doing new construction. I usually do residential and some office clean-up. I have a request to bid on an office new construction. If you don't mind me asking. What did you get for the jobs you described. Sounds like your doing great. If you have any advice for me I could use it. I would like to expand my business a little. I am just not sure where to start. Thanks

Trina

Congrats!

Submitted by Lavender2 on Mon, 08/25/2008 - 14:04.

Great news on your business, Chell! Once you get your foot in the door, it seems the word spreads pretty quick. Quality work in that busness really makes a difference. You'll do great because you're showing that!

I helped my sister out with some of her jobs last year to help her keep on schedule. She cleaned mostly new construction town homes and condos. It was hard work, but great pay if you were quick. I don't think I would care much for house cleaning, but I didn't mind the new construction jobs. One thing I could have done without is the big sticky labels on the toilets that you had to remove... do they really need to do that? LOL!!

I'm with you on that one,

Submitted by Chellflower on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 18:45.

I'm with you on that one, Lav..... the window labels are pretty easy to remove, but the ones on the toilets are a real pain! I spent over 10 minutes trying to remove one. It seems they're always on the front curve where you can't get a scraper blade under them....why can't they just put them on a flat area of the toilets???? And what kind of 'super glue' is on those labels anyway?!?! LOL.

Chell, I bought some stuff

Submitted by randy cobb on Fri, 08/29/2008 - 01:00.

Chell, I bought some stuff for my wife that does really well on removing that really sticky adhesive that comes on labels. If you want, I will see what it is and post the name of it. I think it is Oops! I saw another one though that was a larger container at the hardware store and I also saw it at Dollar Tree for considerably less. Something like that though might be applied to the label and allowed to soak while you went about your business somewhere else. Ten minutes is a costly item for a self-employed person. I know toluene would work but it also is really not good to breathe and it is absorbed by the skin. It's hard on your liver.

Thanks Randy, but... I

Submitted by Chellflower on Fri, 08/29/2008 - 19:15.

Thanks Randy, but...

I advertise/can only use Green Seal Certified all natural products. I actually purchased more cleaner after the job with the 'label' incident..... my supplier carries a product for removing adhesives, tar, etc and it works really well -even on those stubborn labels. Wish I had already had the stuff on the previous job, but I was trying to be careful not to spend too much at first. My regular cleaner works on almost everything, especially when mixed at 'sanitizing strength' (its what saved the carpet at the school from a tile glue stain), it works on the labels if allowed to sit a bit, but those labels are so stubborn they just crawl across the surface instead of coming up.

I'm actually considering getting my own private label on the cleaners I use.... the start up isn't too bad... I've just got to come up with a name/design for the label.

Thanks again, it's so nice knowing y'all are looking out for me!

Chell

Congrats

Submitted by ayla45019 on Sun, 08/24/2008 - 21:19.

Hard work always pays off - may you continue to be blessed.

Thanks y'all!Yes, it can be

Submitted by Chellflower on Sun, 08/24/2008 - 11:35.

Thanks y'all!

Yes, it can be hard work....it's very meticulous cleaning.

The most stressful part for me was getting the transom windows (25 foot up) cleaned(inside & out) at the Firestation.... there were 8 of those beauts in there.....The painter was sweet enough to let me borrow a scissor lift, but everyone else had borrowed it also, and by the time I got to it the battery had run down......I learned quickly to make sure it was plugged in everytime I walked by it, and to wait until everyone had left for the day to use it. The scissor lift was kinda fun once I got use to it (kinda like a high-rise gokart ! LOL) It sure beats climbing a ladder.....I wouldn't mind having one of those things, LOL!

The floors were time consuming....we had to scrape not only paint and glue, but there were also morter drippings (stone floor tiles) ....we were on our knees with utility scrapers...ugh! But ya learn as ya go........I've already purchased a 4" scraper & rigged it to a pole so I'm prepared to tackle the next nasty floor!

The best part is seeing it sparkling clean when we're done and knowing that we did that....(patting ourselves on the back, of course!). Oh, and getting that check!! LOL.

I hear you there.......

Submitted by skbeal on Mon, 08/25/2008 - 11:28.

Back when my husband and I lived in Iowa, he was a maintenance man for the apartment complex we were living in. That's how I met him........Anyway, during the summers, there would often be a lot of apartments to clean up before people moved in. We lived in a college town that was home to the major state Unversity. I worked for several summers helping clean apartments...some in a new building, others in our complex. The ones in our complex had linoleum floors, and I'd have to scrape all the old wax up from those floors, strip them, wash them and wax them. That was easy. What wasn't was cleaning disgusting bathrooms and kitchens that had never had the stove or refrigerator cleaned....Believe me, sometimes it was impossible to breathe.

I understand what you're doing Chell, and I really congratulate you for going after things like this and pulling together what's looking like a booming business in so short a period of time! You are nothing short of amazing!

Susan,The Assistant Administrator, the Texas Yankee and the Texas Rangerette.

Susan, I have it made

Submitted by Chellflower on Mon, 08/25/2008 - 13:44.

Susan,

I have it made compared to what you were cleaning!!!! One reason I prefer New Construction is that I can -for the most part-stay away from those nasty bathrooms!

I guess I have a mental phobia of cleaning 'Human Funk' (who doesn't?)... my helper got tickled at me last week 'cause when I was cleaning a new toilet, my rag fell into the potty water, so with my gloved hand I retrieved it, threw it in the 'dirty rag' bucket, donned new gloves and a clean rag and commenced cleaning. Hey, sometimes the other contractors DO use the new toilets instead of the porta-potties like their suppose to. I keep a toilet wand on the job just in case though.....I can handle cleaning it as long as I don't have to touch it, LOL.

I recall recently Spring Cleaning under my fridge (shiver!)...and it had only been a few months since I had last cleaned there ....My boys tend to pour drinks at the open fridge door and if something spills and goes under the fridge, they consider it gone-no need to wipe it up.

I can't imagine some of the stuff you've had to clean...especially with rental properties. I know.... 'Its a dirty job, but somebody's got to do it' and I highly commend you for stepping up and accomplishing such hard work !!!!!

I used to work at Service Master (fire/flood restoration, etc)..... We had to meticulously clean folks' homes & belongings .....I was always amazed to realize some of the nooks & crannies that we can forget to clean. The worst job though was when the guys needed me to help clean an apartment and they didn't explain the situation until we arrived (they knew better)........a diabetic man lived there and had fallen into a seizure/coma and died and two weeks passed before he was found. The mess wasn't near as bad as the smell (fortunately the carpet had already been removed). The worst part was that I kept thinking of how the poor guy had died alone and in such an undignified way, not to mention wondering if medical help could have saved him. That depressed me for days......

I've contacted a few realtors about 'make ready' cleans on homes that are up for sale, but hopefully I can find enough new construction to be able to stick mainly to the 'dusterminating' aspect of the job. LOL!

.....and Chell also grows Plummies!!

Submitted by mawnature on Mon, 08/25/2008 - 05:31.

Besides developing a very successful business, Chell is also a very successful grower of the tropical beauties, Plumerias. She has a large collection of them, and grows many from seed ordered direct from Thailand. We're proud of you Chell, and hope to see some Plummie blooms in the future!

Annette/ maw We come from the earth, we return to the earth, and in between, we garden. Author unknown http://www.gardenhere.com/content/MAWNATURES-TRADE-LISTCmon-lets-make-trade

Thanks for such great praise

Submitted by Chellflower on Mon, 08/25/2008 - 12:14.

Thanks for such great praise Maw, but I think we can safely say that as for growing Plumies, I've merely had a good stroke of beginner's luck! (Thank goodness for Hydroponics!!!) I have only been collecting and growing them for about a year now......I am totally addicted though!!! Let's just hope my luck doesn't run out!!! (or my amount of overwintering space indoors, LOL)..

BTW, thanks for the goodies!

Love ya Ladybug!

Chell