Carpet cleaning estimate booked on the doorstep

What to put on a carpet cleaning quote

Give every homeowner a carpet cleaning estimate they can check against their own floor plan. Bedrooms, halls and stairs each get a line, stain and pet odor work is priced on its own, and protector sits as an option they can tick. Load the FreshPile sample in the quote maker to change the rates and print a PDF, or keep the Word and Excel files for jobs you price at your desk. Prefer a firm price? Change the title and it becomes a carpet cleaning quotation.

Carpet customers judge your price against the number of rooms they believe they have, so the estimate should count what you will actually clean. List each area, the cleaning method, stain and odor work, what furniture you move and how long drying takes, and make every extra a separate choice instead of a surprise on the doorstep.

1. Areas by name and sizeLiving room, three bedrooms, hallway, stairs and landing, each on its own line. Put a size cap on a standard room, such as 200 ft², and count anything bigger as two.
2. Cleaning methodSay whether you use hot water extraction from a truck mount or a portable unit, or a low moisture method. Some carpet warranties name a method, so owners of new carpet ask.
3. Stairs and landingsPriced per step because each tread is hand tooled. Say whether risers are included and whether the landing counts as a step or a small room.
4. Pre-spray and spot workA traffic lane pre-spray belongs in the room price. Coffee, ink, rust and paint get their own spot treatment line, with a note that some marks are permanent.
5. Pet odor treatmentUrine that has soaked into the pad needs an enzyme flood or sub surface extraction. Find it with a UV light and price it per area, not as a guess.
6. Furniture movingWhat you move (dining chairs, coffee tables, small items) and what stays put (beds, dressers, pianos, entertainment units). Ask customers to clear breakables before you arrive.
7. Protector and deodorizerOptional lines per room, applied straight after extraction while the fibers are still damp.
8. Drying time and site needsThe drying time to expect with airflow, plus parking for a truck mount, hose run to upper floors, and access to water and power for portable units.

Sample carpet cleaning quote with example prices

FreshPile Carpet Care has priced hot water extraction for Rachel Green: three bedrooms at $45 each, the hallway at $35, 14 stairs at $4 per step and one spot treatment at $30. That makes a $256 subtotal. Protector on four areas is an optional line at $20 each, which stays out of the total until the customer ticks it. A job this size carries no deposit. Treat the prices as examples only.

Edit the FreshPile Carpet Care estimate

5 lines are filled in, from bedrooms to protector application. Put in your own carpet cleaning rates, then download the PDF.

Open the carpet cleaning sample

How carpet cleaners price a job

Homes are usually priced per room and offices per square foot, with stairs per step and a minimum charge that covers travel and truck setup. Whichever basis you pick, define it on the estimate, because one customer’s room is another customer’s open plan living and dining area.

1. Per room with a size capA set price for rooms up to a stated size, with larger rooms counted as two. Quick to give over the phone and easy for homeowners to follow.
2. Per square footMeasure length by width and apply a rate per ft². Fairer on commercial carpet, open plan homes and wall to wall jobs where the idea of a room breaks down.
3. Minimum chargeA floor price for any visit, often matching two or three rooms, so one small rug across town does not cost you money once fuel and setup are counted.
4. Add-ons per itemStairs per step, spot work per stain or per job, pet odor per area, protector per room. Keeping them separate makes your base price easy to compare.

Chemical cost per room is small, so your margin depends on drive time and how many jobs fit in a day. The guide on pricing a job shows how to fold travel and overheads into a room rate, and the estimate maker can show a low to high range when you price from photos.

Worked example: an office carpet priced per square foot

Commercial carpet rarely fits a per room price. Here is an open plan office measured and priced by area, using example rates you would replace with your own.

1. MeasureThe open plan floor is 60 ft by 40 ft, which is 2,400 ft². A 10 ft by 12 ft meeting room adds 120 ft², so 2,520 ft² in total.
2. Price the areaAt an example rate of $0.28 per ft² for extraction, 2,520 ft² comes to $705.60.
3. Traffic lanesThe walkway from the entry to the kitchen is heavily soiled. Pre-treating 300 ft² at $0.10 per ft² adds $30.
4. FurnitureLifting and replacing 24 desk chairs and four small tables takes about an hour, charged at $60.
5. Total$705.60 plus $30 plus $60 is $795.60 before tax. Rounding to $795 or $800 is your call, but keep the method visible on the estimate.

Glued down commercial carpet dries faster than plush residential pile, but night or weekend work usually costs more, so agree the time window before fixing the rate.

Carpet cleaning inclusions and exclusions

Carpet cleaning estimate mistakes to avoid

Carpet jobs go sideways on the doorstep, when the house does not match the phone call. Each of these turns a good estimate into a discount or a bad review.

• Quoting three rooms with no size limit, then arriving at an open plan living and dining space the size of four bedrooms.
• Promising every stain will come out. Write that stain removal is best effort and name the marks you saw.
• Forgetting stairs, landings and closets, which customers assume are part of the bedroom or hallway price.
• Pricing pet damage as a spot treatment when the urine has reached the pad and needs flooding and extraction.
• Having no minimum charge, so a single rug across town costs more in fuel than it earns.
• Skipping a note of existing wear, ripples or loose seams before you start the wand.