CALL NOW FOR IMMEDIATE 24 HR Water Damage | Flood Cleanup Service (860)537-1594

As many of you know mother nature is not always on your side. Flooding can occur at any point and it’s normally when you don’t expect to have a flood. Just because your basement has never had a flood in the past doesn’t mean it wont flood or its “flood proof”. Many things can occur such as tropical Storm Irene, anyone living on the shoreline was terrified of the salt water rising into, and flooding their home! Al’s Absolute Best Cleaning and Restoration actually stayed in Madison for two months helping people get the water and debris out of their homes and yards from the rising tide and rain water! One of the most common causes of flooding and water damage issues is when there is a power outage along with a substantial amount of rain water or melting snow. When the power goes out your submersible pump in the basement will not function, allowing flooding to occur.

Water Damage happens quick, many people do not realize how quickly secondary damage and mold growth can occur. When you have a lot of water in your basement the humidity level rises, if your relative humidity is over 60% , you are considered to be in the danger zone! Any pictures you may have on the walls, decorations or delicate valued belongings could potentially be destroyed. Flooded, finished basements pose the greatest risk for both secondary damage and mold growth as well. When water seeps under and through walls it can come in contact with insulation which will certainly produce mold growth within 3 days!

When you a call a water damage restoration company like Al’s Absolute Best Cleaning and Restoration Services you can assure that your flood issue will stay a flood issue and not become a much more severe “mold job”. If you are an insured home owner, it is your obligation to take all steps necessary in preventing further damages from the intrusive water. We are professionals and know exactly how to handle your flood, so that you and your insurance company will both be happy. When you call us you will get immediate, friendly assistance and we will guide you every step of the way insured or not we are always working in the best interest of the customer.

Last winter in Connecticut was insane, ice dams caused major flooding across the state, people had floods that went through three floors of their home! In most cases the intrusive water came through the roof and ran through the walls and flooded all floors including the basement! While it was the busiest our company has ever been, it was a very hard time for many folks, many times personal belongings are destroyed. Again we are here to help you when you need us! We do everything in our power to save your valued belongings and dry your home or business properly, so you don’t have to worry about mold growth or further damages from the flood. We specialize in water damage restoration| flood cleanup| mold mitigation| flooded basement | structural drying | flood cleanup| residential and commercial floods.

Connecticut gets hit hard with a storm again, this time it’s Freak Snowstorm!
With more power outages then Tropical Storm Irene, people are scrambling to buy generators! Hurricane Irene delivered winds so strong that it snapped tees  in half and ripped down power lines, for all of us living in Connecticut it was an experience most of us will never forget! Now think about all the power lines that were only loosened up during Irene, all the trees that cracked but didn’t break…that’s what made this snow storm in so severe, causing more power outages than ever!

At Al’s Absolute Best Cleaning and Restoration we have gotten many calls from folks with no power asking if we have any generators left?

We keep many generators in stock for disasters such as these, often we have to use generators to generate power on our flood restoration calls!

We are a 24 HR Emergency Water Damage | Flood Cleanup Service

Sometimes we have generators for rent depending on supply and demand, but do to failing submersible pumps we had a lot of of flood calls, and had to use the generators to re-power the submersible pumps!
When the power goes out submersible pumps that require electricity fail, causing flooding in homes! That is a great reason to purchase a generator for your home!

When using generators they must be kept outdoors! Make sure to consider wind direction and vent the generators exhaust away from your home!

If you have water damage and are without power, call Al’s Absolute Best Cleaning And Restoration and we will come to the rescue!

We also do smoke and fire damage clean up, so we are well aware that when the power goes out folks resort to other methods for heating and cooking, resulting in more smoke cleanup calls for us. Please be careful!

Remember a small unattended water damage can easily turn into a large mold job!

Flooded? Need Hurricane Cleanup? Call Al's Absolute Best!

Al’s Absolute Best Cleaning and Restoration has generators on hand along with hundreds of fans and dehumidfiers to help dry your home in a timely fassion to prevent secondary damage and mold issues saving your home as soon as possible is our number one priority! Hurricane Cleanup can be dangerous and should really only be done by a professional restoration company. Al’s Absolute Best Cleaning and Restoration has been serving CT and surrounding states for over 15 years. We have thousands of customers who swear by our work and absolutely love us. We understand how stressful a flood in your home can be. Dealing with your insurance company can be a nightmare within it’s self, we help our customers every step of the way even dealing with the insuranc adjusters and companies so you don’t have to! You can read more about your rights under your insurance policy by scrolling through our blog posts. Also please visit our website for more information, pictures and testimonials!

Al’s Absolute Best Cleaning and Restoration is your number one Hurricane Cleanup company serving all of CT including Madison, Old Saybrook and Westbrook CT. Many people on CT’s Shoreline are in dire need of Hurricane Cleanup Services , don’t hesitate we are here 24/7 to suite your Hurrican Cleanup Needs! Call us now (860)537-1594

Water Damage Technician Course Hosted By Al's Absolute Best

The first few days included a Water Damage Restoration Technician Course offered by the IICRC. People came from all over, even local competitors such as Serve Pro,and Master Care.

We don’t see anyone in the same line of work as a negative thing, rather we see it as an excellent chance to network. There is a lot of work out there in our field and sometimes you get a cleaning or restoration job that’s just too big or too far away ! Why not keep your customers happy and refer them to a good cleaner in their area!

Anyways back to the point “Summerfest” it was a great time, people drove all the way from Georgia, Ohio, New York, Michigan and more! It was our pleasure to bring Summerfest #13 too our small hometown of Colchester, CT. Many laughs were shared along with many great ideas and new products. Demos are allowed, and many of our industries suppliers donated prize’s for the Summerfest Raffle. Another exciting event held annually at Summerfest is the “Spot Master Championship”, each year one cleaner is elected to make stains on carpet samples. The stains must be of equal size and placed on the carpet samples evenly on the same locations as the other carpet samples. The elected cleaner also gets to choose what they use to make the stains. You can read more about the spot master championship and how Al’s took the lead! Click Here to View Our Spot Master Championship Blog.

Carpet Samples Ready for Spot Master the Championship

Summerfest ended with a great little cook out back at our shop on Lebanon Ave. in Colchester. After the cookout everyone gathered in the meeting room for some final thoughts  and words of wisdom we even had two guest speakers! A lot of excellent information was shared, followed by the raffles! No one left without a prize, our suppliers really support our close community of Cleaners and Restorers, between the 8 companies that donated prizes this year we had about $3,000 worth of of cleaning supplies and cleaning tools to give away!

Al wins "Carpet Cleaner of the Year Two Years in a Row"

One last thing worth mentioning is the awards ceremony. Every year awards are given out for the carpet cleaner of the year, the man of the year and the woman of the year. Al Sims president of Al’s Absolute Best Cleaning and Restoration was elected this year and last year as Carpet Cleaner of the Year! Thanks for reading and stay posted for more up-to-date new at Al’s Absolute Best Cleaning and Restoration Services LLC.

860-537-1594

Stained Carpet Squares Ready for Competition

The stains must be of equal size and placed evenly on the carpet samples in the same locations. The elected cleaner also gets to choose what they use to make the stains. This usually ranges from lip stick, coffee stains, ink, dye, mustard anything they think of really. The competition is timed, each team of cleaners has only 15 minutes to remove about ten serious stains from a 3ft X 3ft. square of white carpet. Once time runs out all competitors are required to cease cleaning activities and hand in their cleaned carpet square to the judges.

This year Al and I  (Shawn) of Al’s Absolute Best Cleaning and Restoration, were done in record time. “We actually removed all the spots and were drying our carpet square with an air mover before most teams had completely removed even a few spots!”     : )   This wasn’t the first year we won the Spot Master Championship title, we actually won last year too!

Summertime can really bring out those pet odors! We are pet stain and odor specialists, 90% of the time those regular household cleaners just don’t do the trick on stubborn pet stains and odors. In the hot summer months bacteria thrives, emitting even stronger odors! This can be reversed with odor neutralizers and the correct thorough cleaning process.

If a pet stain sits for a while even just a few hours, the urine can actually penetrate the carpet, seeping into the padding and sub flooring. This presents a larger issue that regular carpet cleaning probably won’t solve. In this case, we would lift the carpet and pad and clean all sides, we would clean the sub floor and then seal it and re-install the carpet and padding. This is a great way to fix a pretty serious problem and save a few bucks!

Take advantage of the warm summer weather and get your carpets cleaned this year! It’s healthy for the kids, pets and family and you’ll be able to relax this summer knowing you have nice clean carpets and upholstery. If pet odors are an issue in your home, no worries, we are here to help! Calls Al’s anytime, mention this blog and save $25.00 on your summer cleaning!

What does it take to be the best carpet cleaner in CT?

To start with, how about 20 years of experience in the cleaning and restoration industry and Hundreds of classes, courses, seminars and training from the best carpet cleaners in the industry. Alan Sims president of Al’s Absolute Best is actually a master textile cleaner, this is the highest rank achievable in the cleaning industry and not many people make it through all the courses because it takes years of traveling around the country to each class! Back in the early 90’s Al started his carpet cleaning business under the name “Al’s Carpet Cleaning” He began with an old Subaru station wagon and very small carpet shampooer, working out of the house! He went into the field because he was always an entrepreneur and always had an interest in cleaning because of the instant gratification attained afterwards.

Today we have 5 trucks, an office front in Colchester, CT and a bunch of full time employees! If you think about it they always say “you learn from your mistakes” Imagine all the things my father Al, had to go through to make it where we are today. All of the on-job experience is what really adds up and helps to create CT’s best carpet cleaner.At first we didn’t stay in business because of all the big bucks spent on advertising or the fancy trucks and equipment. We grew because my father is such a personable and hardworking guy who pays attention to every detail and always taught me to go the extra mile. This is a quality that is very hard to find these days but it’s also a quality that every employee here at Al’s Absolute Best possess! Before the internet got so big we were booking most of our carpet cleaning jobs just from word of mouth, we would clean a house and the customer would love us and refer us to their friends and family. Many of the same people that stayed loyal to our company back in the early 90’s are still some of our best clients today, this really says a lot it shows that we do our absolute best all the time to satisfy our customers.

Why are other carpet cleaners so different from Al’s Absolute Best carpet cleaners?

Many of the cleaning and restoration companies today are franchises. When someone decides to open a new location it’s usually because they have some cash to start a business and are in it just to see profits. Many of these people have little or no experience in the field, but they have funding to put an ad on television and funding to start with 10 trucks and hire 15 guys they don’t know to send out to their customers. They may not even care too much about how happy their customers are with their work! It’s just like anything else, there are companies that are in business just to make money and then you have local companies that offer a more quality service and really take pride in being the best and providing the absolute best service possible. When you choose a local, family owned company the company reflects the family name. We wouldn’t want even one person to be upset with our services because it’s a direct reflection of us and our family. We only hire people that we know and trust and everyone here is as good as family to us. When you call Al’s Absolute Best Cleaning and Restoration, you will get friendly, knowledgeable advice and we will happily help you with any questions or concerns you may have.

One thing you must really be wary of is cleaning companies that offer very low prices for carpet and upholstery cleaning. If the price seems too low it normally is for a good reason, this carpet cleaner isn’t the best carpet cleaner. This carpet cleaning company will probably have hidden costs and the low price agreed upon over the phone probably won’t stand unless you don’t mind skipping 2 or 3 of the important steps for a proper carpet cleaning!

Pricing:

We offer all methods of carpet cleaning from dry foam cleaning to truck –mounted steam cleaning. We prefer to use our 5-step steam cleaning process; it’s fast, efficient and delivers the best carpet cleaning results in the industry! We charge by the square foot, in our eyes it’s the only fair way to quote a carpet cleaning job. It doesn’t seem fair to say “carpet cleaning $19.99 per room” Homes very in size so much that one room could be 100sq.ft. in one home and a room in another home could be 500 sq.ft.  At Al’s Absolute Best Cleaning and Restoration our costs include everything even deodorizer if requested or if required for the job. Our price for carpet cleaning includes vacuuming, pre-spray, rotary scrubbing, steam cleaning and speed drying! There are never any hidden costs; we will give you a ball park estimate over the phone, when we arrive to clean your carpets we measure all the areas to be cleaned. We subtract any areas that are not going to be cleaned for instance under large furniture that can’t be moved and multiply the total square footage by the price per sq.ft (usually .42 cents). Our technicians pay attention to detail, when we enter your home we lay down drop clothes to protect any flooring that we will not be cleaning, we use corner guards to protect the walls from our hoses, we also wipe down your baseboards and vacuum dust and dirt we see in corners and on radiators! We enter your home with the intention to overly satisfy your expectations; we want to be your #1 choice when it comes to choosing the best carpet cleaner!

(Before)                                                                              (After)

Al’s Absolute Best Cleaning and Restoration is CT’s Best Cleaning and Restoration Company. We have developed a great standing in the community from hard work and excellent service with a good reputation. We offer the best value when it comes to carpet cleaning and many other cleaning and restoration services. We also have an area rug cleaning salon at our new location in Colchester, CT. You can now arrange for pick-up or drop-off and your area rugs will come out better than ever! Make sure to read our other blog posts and browse our website for helpful pointers and sales!

It is actually very hard to clean carpets or upholstery without putting some sort of pollutants into the air. Any company that uses a truck mounted cleaning system couldn’t possibly be a completely green company because they are using gasoline or diesel and oil to power  and lubricate their engines and truck mounts.

Here at Al’s Absolute Best, green cleaning refers to what is used in your home, the actual cleaning solutions used and the cleaning process and even the fabric protector we apply is safe for the environment, children, pets and even people with weakened immune systems.  At this point our truck mounts still run on gas and kerosene and we use gas driving to each job so it isn’t politically correct to say we are entirely environmentally friendly, although we would love to be.  This is true with any cleaning and restoration company I know of, we just haven’t found an efficient way to power vehicles without harming the environment in some way, shape or form.  There are electric cleaning machines, which we use upon request or in situations where the job cannot be done by truck mount. When it comes down to it manufacturing electricity pollutes the environment because most methods of production produce harmful vapors and pollutants. Also electric powered machines are not as efficient or as powerful as gas powered, truck-mounted machines.

If your looking for a top-notch cleaning service in Connecticut, that uses all environmentally friendly “Green Cleaners” then we are the company for you!

Call Al’s Absolute Best Cleaning and Restoration today to schedule your carpet, tile, or upholstery cleaning appointment today!

Fig 1. This is what a dust mite actually looks like if it were much, much larger! Many people do not realize that they are living organisms, while they do cause allergic reactions in some humans they actually play many roles in the environment. In fact humans wouldn’t even survive on this planet without them. It’s actually the fecal matter created by the dust mites that some people are allergic to, it isn’t the dust mites themselves, the two allergens in the fecal matter are dermatophagoides pteronyssinus and dermatophagoides farinae . One particularly disturbing fact is that if dust mite feces was the size of golf balls, the average queen size bed would have a pile  70 ft  tall !  dust is composed of mostly 2 things, 80% human skin (what the mites feed on)  and then a lot of dust mite feces.

Ok, back to the point,  although it is absolutely impossible to remove all the dust, we are the best at what we do and can remove almost all of it from your carpets, tile, upholstery, radiators and base boards. When you choose Al’s you get a company that goes the extra mile for you… cleaning for health as well as appearance. When you have us clean your carpets the indoor air quality in your home is much better, because we provide the most thorough cleaning around, and also wipe down your baseboards and radiators as well : )

Our technicians are stain and odor experts! Many people call us with pet stain and odor issues because they know we come very highly recommended and our services are backed up by a 100% Satisfaction guarantee! Spring time is the perfect time to take advantage of our 20% off special and have all those pet spots and odors removed!

After such a wet winter/ early spring many people have concerns with mold and mildew odors coming from previously flooded basements and furnishings. We can always help and are always willing to when it comes to water damage restoration, odors and stains. When it come to water damage cleanup and restoration things tend to get a little more complicated because its no longer a typical cleaning job,  we recommend that you call us with your specific questions, so we may better assist you! And Don’t Forget About the Amazing Results we have when it comes to cleaning your tile and grout!

We even have a celebrity testimonial from Robert Irvine of the Food Network! He loves our work! Especially our tile and grout cleaning work!

Thanks for Reading and Please Give us a Call and Save 20 % When you mention this Blog Post

860-537-1594

Al’s Absolute Best Newsletter – April 2011