Properly cleaning carpet can often require more than meets the eye.
Houston residents Jim Clark and Art Thomas both have the background to understand that, and with that in mind began a business called Dun Rite Carpet Cleaning and Restoration about three weeks ago. Each possessing significant experience in the field, Clark and Thomas have known each other for years and have often talked about being in business together.
“The interest has been there a long time,” Clark said, “and there’s a need for this here.”
Dun Rite uses state-of-the-art HydraMaster truck-mounted hot water extraction equipment. Carpet cleaning jobs are done to standards set by the Interstate Insurance Product Regulation Commission (IIPRC).
Art Thomas, of Dun Rite Carpet Cleaning and Restoration, works on a floor last weekend at Walt’s Convenience Store in Roby.
“We clean at over 200 degrees, and we extract out more than 80-percent of the moisture,” Clark said. “The water extraction is very important.”
Dun Rite will handle either commercial or residential jobs, and also does emergency water extractions and cleans tile and grout, hardwood floors and upholstery. The restoration side of the business usually follows when crews in other businesses are done.
“If a company comes in and does a structural dry-down, they’ll remove all the sheetrock and cabinetry and everything,” Clark said, “and once it’s dried down, they’ll leave. That’s when we’ll come in and put it all back together and paint it or finish it. Whatever they’ve torn out, we’ll put back.”
Clark (who has 20 years of experience in the field) has lived in the area for about two years after moving from the Oklahoma City area, where he was the president of that area’s largest privately-owned restoration company. He said he and his wife moved here to be closer to grandchildren after she “got tired of the tornadoes.”
“We lived in Moore, so we experienced the F6, two F5s and multiple F4s,” Clark said. “She’s from Missouri and she said, ‘you grew up here and you’re used to that, but I’m not and I’m moving.’”
A native of Southern California, Thomas has been a local resident for 11 years. He and his family lived for about the past 10 years in Lancaster (in northeast Missouri), and he has close to 15 years of experience owning remodeling companies.
Clark said pre-job assessments are done with full honesty and nothing is left to chance.
“And our pricing is highly competitive,” he said. “For one thing, we don’t have to charge you with travel expense because we’re not coming from Rolla, West Plains or Springfield. And our pricing per square foot is way less – and that doesn’t mean our service is less, it’s just that we’re a local company that can serve the local community better.”
Clark said many carpet cleaning companies in the area finish and leave without extracting enough moisture.
“That presents a huge problem,” he said. “If the carpet is still wet two days later, the backing will begin to break down and there’s a good chance of mold and mildew developing. Plus, water can get into your wood below the carpet and cause more problems.
“By extracting 80-percent of the moisture, it never has a chance to get past the backing. Depending in the outside environment and what you’re doing with climate control inside, carpets we clean should be dry in about six hours.”
Thomas is Clark’s son’s wife’s father. The two talked about becoming a team for quite a while before pulling the trigger, so to speak.
“We wanted to wait until we could start off totally debt-free,” Thomas said. “We’re not overly leveraged and we want to stress that we’re here for the long haul.”
Dun Rite recently became a member of the Houston Area Chamber of Commerce.
“We want to participate in the community and we want to serve the community,” Thomas said.
For more information, call 417-699-0773, or log onto www.dunritecarpetcleaning.com.