what to charge a nieghbor

Hi Guys/Gals

We recently had a storm that knoked out power and caused local water damage to homes. I am not a water damage expert so please help me here. The customers basement carpet was wet from incoming rain water. The area is about 20' by 18' and less than half the carpet was wet to the touch. I did the following.....

1. used a portable extracter to pull out as much water as possible. This took about an hour.

2. I left an air mover for the customer who also had fans and a dehumidifier going.

3. I allowed about 3 days for the carpet to dry .

4. I returned and cleaned the carpet using a rotary op bonnet machine and treated an area that had mild browning and then treated the whole area with Microban to preventing any mold/mildew.

 

I want to be fair in pricing as this is a very nice couple who live in the same town and were refered to me by another customer.

 

I quoted $325.00 and the couple thought this was way too much.

Please give your thoughts and opinions.

 

Thank you

Rick Davies

Green Earth Commercial Carpet Cleaning

 

 

 

Edited by onestilllearnin - 03/March/2010 at 5:26pm

provided you checked the moisture levels in the slab to ensure it was dry then your price is VERY fair.

its a good thing you dont have to charge that price all the time or you would go broke.

How do you know the pad is dry. did you prope it for moisture? I would of pulled the pad and replaced it. Did you check the baseboard and drywall,bottom plate, insulation for moisture. I would bet that this is a seepage issue and it has leaked before.MOLD? What were the humidity and GPP levels before and after? Why did you not apply microban right after extracting the water? Sounds to me that they got what they paid for. It's nice to help people out but this may come back to bite you. 

My guestion to you is what is a fair price for performing work improperly?

If they asked you to lick the carpet and underpad would you $$ Just because a home owner requests something you obviously have no business morals or knowledge and deliver upon their request. Let me ask you this, would you let your baby crawl on that carpet? I take back the comment about extracting the water because you don't know what is under the carpet, type of pad, vct, vinyl, a sub floor etc. Property owners have little or no education when it comes to water damage, and by you doing what you did gave them a false sense of what could really be going on. You seem to be more concerned about the money in your pocket than the potential problems your neighbours may have. If you feel that I am a know it all than that is your problem. You will not go far in this industry if you are not prepared to take advice from people that have years of experience and knowledge in this industry. Keep on doing what your doing and good luck to you!

My phone # is 603.362.9555 - feel free to call me. You are a f**king a**hole. Did you not read my post. I told them they needed a water damage expert. The couple are selling the home and the sale is under contract. I adviseed them to disclose to the buyer that there has been water damage in the basement and it should be checked by a professional.

You do not know me and yet you judge my morals and ethics. I would never try to give a customer a false sense of what is going on . I extracted the water as best I could, loaned them an air mover, cleaned thier carpet , sprayed a anti mold product and did all this for a price that lost me money. This was a situation where we all had no electricity, heat or toilet facilities and I was trying to help. Did I mention I brought them and others fresh water so they could flush thier toilets. Did I mention my 17 year old daughter was in a car wreck while this was going on. If I thought for a minute that this couple were not in a position to pay or make thier own decisions I would have offered my services for free.