You are here: Home >> Northwest Austin >> Business Profiles >> K&M Steam Cleaning

K&M Steam Cleaning

Attention: open in a new window.

Written by Candace Birkelbach Friday, 25 July 2008

Trading a fairly new Ford truck for a barely functional steam cleaning van might not seem like the typical way to start a business, but for Ken Moncebaiz, this trade was a gateway to a better life for himself and his family.

Before making this purchase, he had several years experience working for a steam cleaning company. He decided to start his own business in order to make customer satisfaction his top priority. Owner Ken Moncebaiz

“I couldn’t find employment where the owner cared as much about the results as I did,” he said. “The quality of work is more important to me than anything else.”

He started his company in 1996 out of his own garage. For the first two years, he did only carpet and upholstery cleaning using a single van. He bought his second van in 1998 and his third in 1999. Starting in 2001, he was able to purchase one van per year. Moncebaiz slowly added more services as he and his staff were trained and certified.

In 2002 he moved into his first office in Northwest Austin and now says K&M Steam Cleaning has grown into something he could have never imagined. He has nine mobile units and 22 employees. More than half of his employees have been with K&M for eight years or longer.

K&M Steam Cleaning ships out mobile units to the greater Austin area from Georgetown to Buda to complete about 45 jobs per day. K&M’s key to success has been through repeat business, Moncebaiz said.

“We’ve cleaned the homes of one out of seven people in Austin at least once,” he said.

Amazed that he now has a fleet of nine cleaning vans, Moncebaiz sends three out to the Round Rock area per day. But employees are not sent to a job without a pep talk from Moncebaiz himself.

“I tell them to treat the houses just like their mothers’ homes,” he said. “That’s something I tell them each and every day before they go out.”

K&M Steam Cleaning is known for cleaning carpet, upholstery and air ducts, Moncebaiz said, but its current focus is providing specialized pet odor removal and tile cleaning.

Moncebaiz trained both managers himself, and all staff members are trained to do the job just the way he wants it done. He boasts that his prices have not changed since 2000, and he offers customers a 10-day warranty on services. Customers can get their carpet cleaned and stain guarded twice a year for the price that many other companies would charge for just one visit, Moncebaiz said.

Eventually, K&M Steam Cleaning would like to expand to the San Antonio and San Marcos areas. Moncebaiz said he is always seeking to grow and has his three children hooked on helping the business.

“They will take over one day and take it nationwide,” he said.

Website features:

K&M Steam Cleaning added an innovative feature to its website — a live help messenger.

Map showing location of K&M Steam Cleaning

Customers can now send an instant message to Moncebaiz himself to book a cleaning or even ask questions about how to get a stain out. Customers can also get a free estimate for services on the website.

Military Discounts:

Military discounts will be offered starting in 2009, providing military families with free stain guarding in certain rooms. Moncebaiz said he wants to offer these families a discount for their military service because his father was in the military.

Services offered: