Two or Three Man Crews???
- Thread starter dodsonish
- Start date
David Saulque
Senior Moderator
We have a crew cab unit that we use to take care of larger and more complex jobs. These jobs have time restraints and require quality and completion. Even a two man crew could not service these units within the time frame. These people would not talk to a single man crew.
mtngoat
Member
Dodos Dosent have any large accounts to service apparently.
As some of the places we do are huge and require more man power to have them cleaned in a timely and professional manner.
I,d love to see him attempt these with a "one man band"
Aint gonna happen.
Whats next? Let me guess. The 4 man crew.We,ve done that to if need be.
As some of the places we do are huge and require more man power to have them cleaned in a timely and professional manner.
I,d love to see him attempt these with a "one man band"
Aint gonna happen.
Whats next? Let me guess. The 4 man crew.We,ve done that to if need be.
Josh
When I owned a restaurant in NJ I had a hood cleaning company come out with 6 guys for a 20foot hood,that was in a 1 story free standing building.It was the owner,a little cigar smoking loud mouth,and 5 hungover ex-convict types(still smelled the booze on three of them).They did not use any plastic to wrap the hood,got water everywhere,broke one of my light globes,pressure washed the filters in my 3 bay sink.One of the workers fell off a 6' laddder,but did not get hurt(probably had enough booze still in him he didn't feel it!) the guy on the roof slipped and fell,but did not fall off.After four hours of this(the hood was cleaned 6 months previous) the little commander yelling at them the whole time(was probably just paying them beer money,they were not very motivated)They did a half ass mop job(no shop vac,just a sgueegee) leaving water under the cooking appliances,and the floor all greasy ,I was presented with my hood sticker,prohood cleaners or something along those lines were their name,this was six years ago.Were they the cheapest,no they charged me $350,the price range of the companies that actually answered their phones was $225 to$550.I needed it done that week,it was a monday and I was opening on thursday,I just bought the place and I needed a current hood sticker for the fire inspector to pass me.Some companies I called in the yp's were out of business,some did not answer their phone,just had an answering machine,some could only do it on the weekends(weekend warriors),and some were booked up for two weeks.So I got the prohood cleaners lol! they were available,and gave a discount for cash,no receipt,wink,wink!I told him I needed a receipt,which he didn't like "cash was king!" I was told by the little commander,but I told him I could give him a moneyorder which I did.The moral of my story(all true)is that it can be done by one person on some jobs,but for safety sake most agree 2 is better,and three is better yet.As David stated on large complex jobs for safety,time expediency,and just the large scope of some jobs 4 0r 5 guys,who know what they are doing are required.In my experience in the food service business most hood cleaning crews almost always consisted of 2 people,on non complex jobs
Take Care
JIM
When I owned a restaurant in NJ I had a hood cleaning company come out with 6 guys for a 20foot hood,that was in a 1 story free standing building.It was the owner,a little cigar smoking loud mouth,and 5 hungover ex-convict types(still smelled the booze on three of them).They did not use any plastic to wrap the hood,got water everywhere,broke one of my light globes,pressure washed the filters in my 3 bay sink.One of the workers fell off a 6' laddder,but did not get hurt(probably had enough booze still in him he didn't feel it!) the guy on the roof slipped and fell,but did not fall off.After four hours of this(the hood was cleaned 6 months previous) the little commander yelling at them the whole time(was probably just paying them beer money,they were not very motivated)They did a half ass mop job(no shop vac,just a sgueegee) leaving water under the cooking appliances,and the floor all greasy ,I was presented with my hood sticker,prohood cleaners or something along those lines were their name,this was six years ago.Were they the cheapest,no they charged me $350,the price range of the companies that actually answered their phones was $225 to$550.I needed it done that week,it was a monday and I was opening on thursday,I just bought the place and I needed a current hood sticker for the fire inspector to pass me.Some companies I called in the yp's were out of business,some did not answer their phone,just had an answering machine,some could only do it on the weekends(weekend warriors),and some were booked up for two weeks.So I got the prohood cleaners lol! they were available,and gave a discount for cash,no receipt,wink,wink!I told him I needed a receipt,which he didn't like "cash was king!" I was told by the little commander,but I told him I could give him a moneyorder which I did.The moral of my story(all true)is that it can be done by one person on some jobs,but for safety sake most agree 2 is better,and three is better yet.As David stated on large complex jobs for safety,time expediency,and just the large scope of some jobs 4 0r 5 guys,who know what they are doing are required.In my experience in the food service business most hood cleaning crews almost always consisted of 2 people,on non complex jobs
Take Care
JIM
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Grant
Administrator
Josh, with all respect, how long have you been cleaning exhausts systems? and how many commercial kitchens have you actually been in? I have multiple accounts that require up to 5 servicepeople due to the size of the systems and the time constraints that are imposed on us.
Or are we all misled in beleiving that Arnold, MO has more than six snack bar / coffee shops?
Or are we all misled in beleiving that Arnold, MO has more than six snack bar / coffee shops?
David Saulque
Senior Moderator
It would seem that Rusty could or should add another week of training. In time Josh, you will run into large commercial kitchens. We just completed one last night- we had 5 people on the job.
Why you ask-2 people on the roof and the rest in the kitchen(s). Fly out and I will show you how it works-Free and I will even throw in a cert.
Why you ask-2 people on the roof and the rest in the kitchen(s). Fly out and I will show you how it works-Free and I will even throw in a cert.
dodsonish
Grease Police President
I tried to word my post in a way that I wouldn't sound like a know it all. I've probably been in about 300 kitchens, or about 1/12th of the "coffee shops & snack bars" in the St. Louis area.
I'm not saying that It can't be helpful to have 5 people on a job, I just don't see how it can. If you do it and it works, good. I don't see how 2 people on a roof with one set of equipment can reduce time on the job.
I might take you up on that offer David, do I get a certificate?
I'll change my location so it doesn't look like I'm just some small town hoosier. I'm a small town hoosier in a big town.
I'm not saying that It can't be helpful to have 5 people on a job, I just don't see how it can. If you do it and it works, good. I don't see how 2 people on a roof with one set of equipment can reduce time on the job.
I might take you up on that offer David, do I get a certificate?
I'll change my location so it doesn't look like I'm just some small town hoosier. I'm a small town hoosier in a big town.
David Saulque
Senior Moderator
My account last night had 10 roof fans. When they complete the fans they return to the kitchen. These fans are large set fans. Fly out to my location and I will give you a tour.
David Saulque
Senior Moderator
When we service large properties we must keep in mind the constraints of the customer. The unit that we cleaned last night started at 12 and we had to be out by 6AM-10 fans and close to 100 feet of Waterwash. We were complete by 6:30 AM. If a smaller crew were on site they would still be at the job at 4 pm. Smaller crews have a place, but the larger crews make more $ if planed properly.
If a crew is slow you can best look at the manager-he has left his whip at home.
If a crew is slow you can best look at the manager-he has left his whip at home.
"too many people...for any job..."
Hardly. We have joined forces with other firms to do jobs no 3 or 4 person crew could ever accomplish. One large eating establishment has 26 systems. Another new one in town has 22 separate systems with 22 fans. Large centers in our metro area have that many and more. Under contract you must complete in a given time framework. Even given economy of scale, a 4 person crew would simply not get paid. At least 7 or 8 seasoned cleaners is appropriate. To assume a crew of 4 could accomplish any job indicates that:
(1) You are suffering from megalomia; or
(2) You have just returned from an excursion into cloudland; or
(3) Your medications are not working.
I confine myself primarily to the small FFR business - I'm in this business to avoid the rat-race - but those who are capable of the really large jobs earn more net income in 2 days than Josh and I combined earn in a month.
David,
An additional year of that kind of 'training' would not suffice. You and I both know that it takes experience that is 'caught', never 'taught'. I would be willing to offer the same tour and training as you offer, however I would expect fair remuneration. Since some charge 16 thou for one week, my much more valuable training should be worth at least 10 times that much. It's a bargain at only 160 thou - cash up front of course! Hurry, I can only accomodate 30 students per week.
Richard
Hardly. We have joined forces with other firms to do jobs no 3 or 4 person crew could ever accomplish. One large eating establishment has 26 systems. Another new one in town has 22 separate systems with 22 fans. Large centers in our metro area have that many and more. Under contract you must complete in a given time framework. Even given economy of scale, a 4 person crew would simply not get paid. At least 7 or 8 seasoned cleaners is appropriate. To assume a crew of 4 could accomplish any job indicates that:
(1) You are suffering from megalomia; or
(2) You have just returned from an excursion into cloudland; or
(3) Your medications are not working.
I confine myself primarily to the small FFR business - I'm in this business to avoid the rat-race - but those who are capable of the really large jobs earn more net income in 2 days than Josh and I combined earn in a month.
David,
An additional year of that kind of 'training' would not suffice. You and I both know that it takes experience that is 'caught', never 'taught'. I would be willing to offer the same tour and training as you offer, however I would expect fair remuneration. Since some charge 16 thou for one week, my much more valuable training should be worth at least 10 times that much. It's a bargain at only 160 thou - cash up front of course! Hurry, I can only accomodate 30 students per week.
Richard
dodsonish
Grease Police President
When I think about a 20+ hood system I think a couple of days worth of work. I'm sure the customer might want to have it done all at once, but I would not offer that option. To be honest, at this point in my hood cleaning career, I'd probably pass this one off to the next guy. I wouldn't feel comfortable "joining forces" with anyone, and I don't have the manpower myself.
So like I said before, I'm sure multiple crews on a job can be helpful. That is when you have 20+ hood systems. In reality, how many 20+ hood systems are there in a city? Looks like a couple in the Denver area. And what are these, restaurants or food factories?
As much as I'd like to have the RETCH certification, I think I'd rather save the 160 grand and fly out to sunny California.
Let me try to restate my origional question.
How many men do you have on a crew to clean an up to date 20' hood system? Or an average job, not a mega food center.
So like I said before, I'm sure multiple crews on a job can be helpful. That is when you have 20+ hood systems. In reality, how many 20+ hood systems are there in a city? Looks like a couple in the Denver area. And what are these, restaurants or food factories?
As much as I'd like to have the RETCH certification, I think I'd rather save the 160 grand and fly out to sunny California.
Let me try to restate my origional question.
How many men do you have on a crew to clean an up to date 20' hood system? Or an average job, not a mega food center.
this is an interesting question and since i dont clean hoods i cant offer any advice except for something i experinced one night that i considered a poor management of labor.
every three months we drive 1.5 hours out of town to clean 11000 square foot of flatwork (13 foot wide 880 feet long)
when we showed up to clean we noticed 3 men working on a Rockola Cafe store across the street one was outside with a wand and another was bringing him some kind of metal filters he was laying on the ground and steam cleaning,the other guy was moving around i dont know what he was accomplishing,any way we proceeded to get started cleaning and 2.5 hour later me and my help was done and while we were leaving we noticed the three men were still there,as we were heading home i was thinking,2 of us had done $600 of cleaning and was finished faster cleaning 11000 sq ft of flatwork than the three men cleaning the hood system at the restaraunt,which from listening to the pricing posts averages around $300-$350 for cleaning,i could not figure how they could be making any money with that type of labor management.
in short i would say its safe to say whether you are using one man or 5 per job the best number of men per crew is only as many as you need to be as efficient as you can.
every three months we drive 1.5 hours out of town to clean 11000 square foot of flatwork (13 foot wide 880 feet long)
when we showed up to clean we noticed 3 men working on a Rockola Cafe store across the street one was outside with a wand and another was bringing him some kind of metal filters he was laying on the ground and steam cleaning,the other guy was moving around i dont know what he was accomplishing,any way we proceeded to get started cleaning and 2.5 hour later me and my help was done and while we were leaving we noticed the three men were still there,as we were heading home i was thinking,2 of us had done $600 of cleaning and was finished faster cleaning 11000 sq ft of flatwork than the three men cleaning the hood system at the restaraunt,which from listening to the pricing posts averages around $300-$350 for cleaning,i could not figure how they could be making any money with that type of labor management.
in short i would say its safe to say whether you are using one man or 5 per job the best number of men per crew is only as many as you need to be as efficient as you can.
"how many 20+ hood systems...a couple"
Huh? There are so many of these situations that some very large firms will not take the FFRs or the mom & pops - period. In my state there are prisons, casinos, convention centers, resorts, high-rise buildings, stadiums, dinner playhouses, centers of performing arts, and food courts which must be done on a given night. Many, many of these simply cannot be done with a skeleton crew. Several crews may be needed, each working independently with their own equipment. Those who can accommodate this very lucrative business earn so much money it is obscene - you wouldn't believe me anyway. I avoid these, however I am happy with a very small piece of the pie. If I were young with many mouths to feed I would go for it - I don't see how a young tech just starting out can survive apart from these.
I personally know some very large firms - none read these boards. I don't think one can get a good read on this question in that the big hitters simply don't share this info. Just us little guys won't be able to offer viable input.
Richard
Huh? There are so many of these situations that some very large firms will not take the FFRs or the mom & pops - period. In my state there are prisons, casinos, convention centers, resorts, high-rise buildings, stadiums, dinner playhouses, centers of performing arts, and food courts which must be done on a given night. Many, many of these simply cannot be done with a skeleton crew. Several crews may be needed, each working independently with their own equipment. Those who can accommodate this very lucrative business earn so much money it is obscene - you wouldn't believe me anyway. I avoid these, however I am happy with a very small piece of the pie. If I were young with many mouths to feed I would go for it - I don't see how a young tech just starting out can survive apart from these.
I personally know some very large firms - none read these boards. I don't think one can get a good read on this question in that the big hitters simply don't share this info. Just us little guys won't be able to offer viable input.
Richard