To Rotovac or Not to Rotovac

When I got my first Rotovac 3 years ago I immediately thought.. "This would really be great if it came with a brush attachment..." To the best of my knowlege at that time Rotovac did not offer a brush head.

Our next capital expenditure will be three sets of brushes.

So your advice on the commercial carpet is to use the brushes f/b a pickup with the wand? (Would that be a wand with or without glides? )

I have read about the various claims, too slow... too much water down... too noisy... Frankly, most of the claims are in fact true, however, once you spend some time working with the unit, you adapt and overcome these issues. When you speak of slow, how slow is slow? If I'm by myself and can get in and out of a single story 1700 sq/ft house in 3.5 hours, thats good. Halve that time when I have an assistant to hold my lines. Depending upon how soiled the carpet is, I lay my solution down on the upstroke and vac only on the backstroke moving across the room and then go over the same area up and back with vac only. I lay down some really great looking patterens and it is dry within the hour. On to the next room, no breaks. We start and don't stop until done. There is plenty of time to take a break on the way to the next customer.

Regarding the 'pitch'.. I don't have one or really need one. The Rotovac pretty much does it for me. Most customers have had wand service before my visit, and when I've completed the job, they just stand there with there mouths wide open and stare at the carpet. I do no advertising. It is all word of mouth, referral and reputation. Before I start I will tell the client, "If you don't like what I have done, then don't pay me." In three years I have not had anybody take me up on that offer. I have found that people are willing to spend more money on a product or service if they think it is worth it. When I quote them a price the initial response is usually something like, "Isn't that a little pricey?" That's when I offer my 'no like - no pay' offer. Again the Rotovac does such a superior job, I really don't have to sell anything.

Regarding the glue-down commercial carpeting... Right now as we speak, my wife is down at one of our biggest accounts, (27,550 sq/ft bank and real estate office) with a double crew doing the commercial carpets. Sure there are alot of uneven areas and some snags at some of the seams but all in all... we have never had any problems with commercial carpets.

The one major pain in the ass thing about the Rotovac (when used with a portable extractor.. we use ProChem Cheyenes) is you have 3 lines to deal with. The large bore vac line, the high pressure solution line and the electrical cord for the Rotovac. Every time I use it I bunch all 3 together and take a 13 gallon trash bag and tie it around an area about 2 feet behind the Rotovack and another one about 4 feet behind it and so forth all the way back to the Cheyene. Also... one must usually have to have a line handler. Someone who holds the lines about 5 feet behind the operator who makes sure the operator doesn't trip over the lines as they move backwards. I normally have one of my 3 sons do it and I pay them about $10.00 an hour.

The buffets? Who says I stay away from them. I stand 6 foot tall and weigh 245 pounds. (The buffet at the Rio is one of my favorites)

I hope I was able to enlighten those may have been wondering about the Rotovac. Mind you I'm always looking for a better way and in no way shape or form am I forever devoted to Rotovac. We have a great deal with Brady Industries here in town and our account rep is always showing us new products and such and if he can show me something new and different that does a better job, then great!

I hope the reply was not too long and/or bored too many folks to death, however, I wanted to answer the questions put forth by Carpetologist as he requested.

Scott@CTD

To Rotovac or not? We have used the Rotovac for 3 years and have two of them. I think they are great. If you want to make alot of money, then a Rotovac is a must buy. People are amazed at how well they clean (when compared to a regular wand) and the repeat business is excellent. I use our Rotovac with a ProChem Cheyene for residental jobs. I don't know what you are charging in your area, but here in Las Vegas the going rate for a regular wand cleaning is about 12 to 14 cents a square foot. With the Rotovac, I charge 28 cents a square foot and have yet to hear anybody complain about the price. I tell my customers..."You get what you pay for." If you can afford it up front, I'd say get one because it won't be long before you will have it paid for.

We have new glides that allow this machine to clean commercial carpet well. Coming to a distributor near you very soon!

Ken

The RotoVac works better than a manual wand.  In my opinion, the amount of scrubbing you would have to do with a manual wand to equal the rotovac would wear you out in a few square feet.

It does not work on any carpet without pad.

I've used it with both my truckmount and potable units.  One thing I notice is that you have to clean it out more fequently when its used with the portable.  I would guess the reduced suction doesn't clear all the junk out of the manifold.

Good luck with your new buisiness.

Sam