How Long Will It Take? The Truth About Cleaning Timelines
One of the most common questions we get is:
“How long is this going to take?”
The honest answer:
It depends — and we mean that in the most professional way possible.
At Grime Time Inc., we don’t just throw out random timeframes. We calculate our estimates using industry benchmarks, decades of experience, and real-world testing. But cleaning isn’t always predictable — and here’s why that matters.
🔍 How We Estimate Cleaning Time
When we quote a job, especially in commercial or industrial environments, we break it down systematically:
Identify the surfaces: Is it VCT flooring, tile and grout, stainless steel, concrete, epoxy, etc.?
Evaluate the contamination: Are we dealing with grease, old wax, rust, silicone, or some mystery gunk from 20 years ago?
Determine the right chemistry: We choose chemicals based on how they interact with specific types of buildup — not all degreasers or strippers work the same way.
Reference industry standards: We use ISSA’s cleaning time benchmarks to help determine how long each section should take under normal conditions.
Break the job into zones: This helps us organize labor, allocate time, and track progress as we go.
This gives us a solid educated guess — one we’re proud to stand behind. But sometimes, the real world throws us curveballs.
⚠️ Why Some Jobs Take Longer Than Expected
The biggest variable in any cleaning job? Surprise factors.
A floor that looks like it just needs a strip and wax, but actually has six layers of unknown finish from the last decade.
Grout lines full of hardened silicone that take hours of scraping and chemical agitation.
Old restaurant grease that doesn’t respond to normal degreasers and requires three different chemical tests before we find the one that works.
We’ve cleaned everything from VCT in retail stores to factory floors caked with mystery coatings, and no two surfaces behave exactly the same.
🧠 We Don’t Just “Scrub Harder” — We Troubleshoot in Real Time
When something doesn’t come up right away, it’s not because we’re being slow — it’s because we’re being methodical. Our team tests different:
Chemicals (alkaline, acidic, enzyme-based, solvent-based)
Tools (pads, brushes, scrapers, machines)
Techniques (dwell time, heat application, reactivation)
Sometimes we crack it right away. Other times, it takes trial and error to find the combination that works safely and effectively.
That’s the real difference between a pro team and someone just going through the motions.
✅ What You Can Expect from Us
Accurate estimates based on real industry data
Transparent communication if things take longer than expected
Professional problem-solving — not finger-pointing or excuses
Real-time adjustments to ensure quality over shortcuts
We want to finish on time just as much as you do — but we won’t sacrifice results just to stick to a number.
🏁 Final Thoughts: It’s About Trust and Results
If you're hiring us, you’re trusting professionals with years of experience, specialized training, and hundreds of successful projects under our belts. We don’t just clean — we solve problems.
Sometimes that means taking a little more time to get it done right. But in the end, we believe that’s what you’re hiring us for.
Have questions about an upcoming project or want to know more about how we estimate time?
👉 Contact us today — we’re happy to walk you through it.