Commercial carpet rarely wears evenly. The entrance and the main corridors grey first, the private offices barely change, and one schedule for the whole floor ends up over-cleaning one and under-cleaning the other. This guide covers how often each kind of area needs cleaning, what that costs per square foot in general market terms, and how to read a quote.
Three kinds of carpet cleaning
- Vacuuming.The routine that takes dry soil out before it's ground into the fibre. Usually part of a janitorial contract, not priced separately.
- Interim cleaning.A lighter, low-moisture clean between deep cleans, such as encapsulation, to keep traffic lanes looking even. It dries quickly but doesn't reach the soil at the base of the pile.
- Deep cleaning, usually hot water extraction.The restorative clean that flushes embedded soil out. It takes longer and needs drying time, so it's usually booked outside business hours.
Check your carpet manufacturer's maintenance guide before you settle on methods, because some rule methods out. Shaw's commercial maintenance checklist, for example, says bonnet cleaning is not recommended, and pairs encapsulation with a hot water extraction after every third interim clean.
How often, by traffic level
Shaw publishes a frequency chart for commercial carpet that makes a sensible starting point. Its own caveat applies: it's a general guideline, and your program should fit your conditions.
- Light traffic (private offices, cubicles): vacuum two or more times a week; interim cleaning as needed; hot water extraction once a year.
- Moderate (shared offices, secondary hallways, meeting rooms): vacuum daily; interim cleaning as needed; extraction twice a year.
- Heavy (main entrances, elevators, main hallways): vacuum at least daily; interim cleaning monthly; extraction four times a year.
- Extra heavy (entrances in severe climates, food service areas): vacuum at least daily; interim cleaning weekly; extraction monthly.
For a good part of the year, a Calgary entrance counts as a severe climate. Salt, slush and gravel arrive from November to April, so the carpet just inside the door often needs a heavier schedule in winter than in summer. Entrance matting and a salt-season routine cut down how much reaches it.
Zoning is where the savings are. A building that extracts its private offices four times a year because the lobby needs it is paying for cleaning nobody will ever see.
What it costs per square foot: general market ranges
A note on these numbers:they are general market ranges taken from the published sources listed at the end of this post, for rough budgeting only. They are not Prime Look Cleaning's prices and they are not a quote. None of them is specific to Calgary, and one is a US figure in US dollars. Rates vary with the provider, the building and the scope, and we price every job from its own scope.
- HomeAdvisor (US, updated June 2026): commercial carpet cleaning at about $0.15 to $0.25 per square foot, in US dollars.
- Metropolitan Building Maintenance, a Vancouver-area cleaning company (June 2026): about $0.25 to $0.50 per square foot for most commercial jobs. It breaks that down as roughly $0.25 to $0.40 for hot water extraction, $0.08 to $0.15 for low-moisture methods, and $0.40 to $0.75 for restorative cleaning of heavily soiled carpet.
The same Vancouver guide lists two other numbers that often matter more on a small job than the rate per square foot: a minimum charge per commercial visit, which it puts at about $185 to $250, and a premium of about 10 to 15% for evening or weekend work. It also notes that larger spaces generally get lower rates per square foot.
What moves a quote
- How soiled it is. Carpet cleaned on a regular cycle costs less per clean than carpet that has had nothing for three years.
- Method. Low-moisture interim cleaning costs less per square foot than hot water extraction, and restorative work costs more than either.
- Furniture. Open floor is faster than offices full of desks and chairs. Ask whether moving furniture is included.
- Spots and extras. Stain treatment and carpet protector are often priced on top.
- Timing and access. After-hours work can carry a premium, and a tower with a booked loading dock takes longer to get into than a ground-floor unit.
- A program or a one-off. A recurring schedule usually costs less per visit than an occasional rescue clean.
Comparing quotes
Two quotes for "carpet cleaning" can describe very different jobs. Check that each one names the method, the areas and their square footage, whether furniture moving and spot treatment are included, and whether the price assumes after-hours work. For the rest of a cleaning budget, what janitorial service costs in Calgary covers routine cleaning, which is priced differently.
We restore commercial carpet on a schedulebuilt around your opening hours. Tell us the square footage, the traffic and which areas take the most wear, and we'll suggest a cycle and give you a price. Our commercial services cover the rest of the building.
Sources
- HomeAdvisor, How Much Does Carpet Cleaning Cost?, updated June 17, 2026 (US figures, US dollars).
- Metropolitan Building Maintenance, Prices for Commercial Carpet Cleaning Services in Vancouver (2026 Guide), June 16, 2026. Published by a cleaning company.
- Shaw Industries (Philadelphia Commercial), Carpet Maintenance Checklist, revised June 2022 (cleaning methods and frequency).