The alarm goes off, and I slowly pull myself out of bed at 4:30am to start my day. As I stumble through the darkness out of my bedroom and towards the stairs my toes land in a cold, wet, pile of some sort of mushy substance. I turned on the light to confirm what I already knew. One of my cats had again eaten too fast, and hurled up a kitty land mine in the middle of the hallway
In addition to my binge and purge loving felines, I also have young children that are prone to dripping ice cream, dropping chip crumbs, spilling soda, and dragging in salt and sand laced snow from the winter wonderland I live in 6 months out of the year.
Last weekend the state of my home's high traffic areas had reached critical mass, and my wife and I decided it was time to shampoo and clean the carpets.
We were looking to clean the following areas;
- Two main living areas
- Walkway of our bedroom
- Upstairs hallway
- Area in front of our mechanical room (where cats' liter box and food reside)
- A total of 20 stairs
Option #1: Professional Carpet cleaning company
Cost:
Rooms: $109.95
Hallway: $ 10.00
Stairs: $ 35.00
-----------------------------------------------
Total: $154.95
Pros: No work on our part except writing the check, done in one day
Cons: Most expensive, need to have someone home during the work day
Option #2: Renting a Carpet Cleaner:
Cost:
Rental for 24 hours: $ 24.99
Carpet Shampoo: $ 12.99
----------------------------------------------
Total: $ 37.98
Pros: Less expensive than hiring someone
Cons: We have to do the work, work must be done in 24 hours or pay extra
Option #3: Borrowing Neighbor's Carpet Cleaner
Cost:
Carpet Shampoo: $12.99
---------------------------------------------
Total: $12.99
Pros: Least expensive, can be completed on our schedule
Cons: We have to do all the work, equipment is not professional grade
My wife and I went with option #3 with it being the least expensive, and the most flexible. By putting in about 6 hours worth of effort on Saturday, and another couple of hours on Sunday, we completed the cleaning we wanted to do.
The carpet looks awesome, and our house just feels cleaner. Additionally, we didn't use all of our shampoo, so our neighbors are letting us hold on to the carpet cleaner and do some additional work next weekend too!
We have a installed a new rule that all food must be eaten at the kitchen table. By doing so we can at least eliminate food stains on our freshly cleaned carpets.
If only I could find a way to avoid having to play Black Ops every morning as I walk down the hallway.
