Floor care cost calculator for commercial buildings

Two answers drive the range

The first answer is the service. Commercial carpet cleaning is priced per cleaning, floor stripping and waxing per service, concrete floor scrubbing per visit, and pressure washing per wash. Each one is a single visit with its own crew, machines and drying time, so the calculator treats it as one job rather than a monthly bill. On exterior work, crews plan water use before they start and protect the storm drains nearby.

The second answer is the area, and it pays to measure only the surface the job covers. For carpet, count the carpeted rooms and corridors and leave out tile entries, restrooms and kitchens. For strip and wax, count the vinyl composition tile and other resilient flooring that carries a coat of finish; luxury vinyl plank and stone take other treatments. For concrete scrubbing, count the open floor the scrubber runs over, such as aisles, dock lanes, shop bays and service drives, and leave out space under racking or fixed equipment. For pressure washing, add up the sidewalks, entry aprons, plazas and dumpster pads on the list. A floor plan or a tape measure along the main runs gives a figure that works well here.

What the walkthrough adds to the number

The range assumes a floor in fair shape in a building that is easy to work in. Seeing the property in person settles the details that move a real price:

• Room mix. A row of small offices with desks and chairs to shift takes longer than one open floor of the same size.
• Restrooms and entries. Tile and grout near fixtures and doorways get their own method, priced through restroom floor deep cleaning or tile and grout cleaning.
• Floor types. Nylon, wool, carpet tile and broadloom each take a different heat and number of passes, VCT, sheet vinyl and linoleum each accept finish in their own way, and bare, sealed, epoxy and polished concrete each get their own pads and cleaning solution.
• Traffic and condition. Worn traffic lanes, tile buried under years of yellowed finish, or exterior concrete spotted with gum and grease all need more work per foot.
• Timing. Crews work evenings and weekends as a rule; a job that has to fit around open hours or split across several nights is planned during the visit.
• Supplies. Crews bring the finish, stripper and cleaning chemicals, or work with products your building already stocks.

Periodic work the calculator leaves out is priced at the same walkthrough: the burnishing and scrub-and-recoat cycles of hard floor care, and marble and terrazzo cleaning and polishing. Every price covers the crew’s pay along with payroll costs, insurance, supervision and the supplies used on your floors.