Jamie Corson of Crowfield Carpet Care
About 11 years ago, Jamie Corson, a Charleston native, found himself at a bit of a crossroads. He had been a part of a family business that was a Software Development Company. The Business sold and Jamie had to find something new. One aspect the he particularly enjoyed about the family company job was assisting customers with their software.
“My skill set to talk to groups of people, understand their needs and their wants, being able to relate to individuals, was discovered in my experience with the software company. I enjoyed it immensely. I decided to go back and complete a program called PACE which is an alternative certification program." Jamie said. "I started teaching almost 11 years ago.” He began teaching engineering and has taught at Burke High School, Academic Magnet for 7 years and is moving to West Ashley to Start Cyber Security Program. However Jamie found that when he first began teaching, he had a lot free time over the summer. That is, until he had a conversation that inspired him with a way to fill that time.
“That first summer after I started teaching, a gentleman came to my home to clean carpets for me and when he did, I was talking to him about the business and the cost of equipment and the money to be made. He told me some interesting things so I looked into the marketplace. 9 and half years ago there weren’t as many companies doing it so I recognized the niche for it. I put some money into some equipment and I ran it for the first year and half by myself. I told my wife that if I wasn’t successful with it after the first year, then I would close up. I ended up gaining a customer base and after the first year, I brought on a Tim who is my Technician. He’s been with me for 8 and half years. I handle all the Business operations and Tim goes out on site and performs the work.”
I had the Opportunity to speak with Jamie a little further about his company.
The Metro Shopper: So Jamie, what should someone who might want their carpets cleaned know?
Jamie Corson: The Carpet Manufacterers Association of America suggest that you get your carpets cleaned on a Bi-annual basis. They also suggest that you use steam cleaning. Which is the method that we use. There are other methods such as dry cleaning or bonnet cleaning and while they do perfrom a service and are very good companies, we use Steam Cleaning. I like to explain it like this:
Whenever you take a shower, you use soap and then you rinse off with water. It's that way with carpet. Carpet is almost like a living breathing organism. Everything we bring in on our feet, the carpet attracts it. Dust, Mold, spores, pollen, pet dander, everything we spill is attracted to our floors. We live our whole lives on our floors. Carpet takes the focus of everything we do, so the only way to properly clean that, is with high pressure warm water and effective cleaning agents. We take as much of what we use on your carpets with us along with more...We start with perfectly clear water and leave with water that looks like it came from a mud puddle. The definition of clean is not just how they look – but also how much dirt is now in our equipment.
TMS: What about those Rental machines? – What are your thoughts on those?
JC:People sometimes go rent carpet cleaners form a grocery store or a hardware store and they’re nice but I compare that to wiping a countertop off. It only addresses the surface. Those machines don’t have the vacuum power (Vacuum Uptake) or the pressure (psi) that a professional machine has.
You’re not actually getting down into the carpet. You’re not getting down into the nap and you’re not actually pulling out the dirt and different things that can reside there that we and our pets put there.
TMS: What advice would you give to someone who is thinking about having their carpets cleaned?
JC: Check references of any carpet cleaner that comes to work for you. Make sure other people have been satisfied with their work. How long have they been in town? Do they operate with professional machinery or are they bringing small (rental type) machinery?
TMS: Crowfield Carper Care is known as "The Home of Whole House Package". What is that all about?
JC: When I started my business, I created something called "Whole house packages" so that there is no ambiguity in what you're going to be charged. Before I started my company, there wasn’t anybody advertising whole house packages. We don’t come in and measure and then what started as $100 quickly becomes $250 – That’s Bait and Switch – We don’t do that! Everything is a package price because I don’t believe in telling someone that its based on one price and then walking in and trying to upsell them on things. Operating that way and making the price dramatically different, is just simply not fair. It's not moral and it's not professional! As long as the size of the home isn't dramitically different from what was talked about beforehand, or there is requested special spot cleaning requested or something of that nature, - That price that we quote is the price that is paid!
TMS: What is included in your carpet cleaning packages?
JC: My packages all include Sanitizer, deodorizer,and carpet protectorant.
Jamie lives in Crowfield with his wife Cindy of 16 years and their 14 year old daughter.
For all of your Carpet and Flooring needs Contact Jamie at Crowfield Carpet Care!