One Of A Kind Pros

A 20-kilogramme doodle with an upset tummy, a sectional sofa and guests arriving the next day. That's more or less what the requests look like in the reviews left for One of a Kind Pros, a carpet, upholstery, tile and rug cleaning firm based in Richmond, on the western edge of the Houston metropolitan area, and the company's response is usually the same: hot-water extraction, a pet urine treatment for $50 per room, and a booking for the following day.

One of a Kind Pros's service covers everything that can be cleaned in a home without being moved. Carpets are cleaned primarily using hot-water extraction, with dry cleaning and deep cleaning as alternatives, whilst separate pages deal with old and dried-in stains, odours, mould and disinfection. There is also a range of repair services, including underlay replacement, post-flood restoration and re-stretching of carpets that have become wavy. In addition to these, the company specialises in tiles and grouting, marble and stone, woollen carpets with their backing, sofas, decorative cushions, mattresses and a fibre protection treatment, plus commercial contracts for hotels, fitness centres, churches, schools, shops and offices.

The company claims over twelve years' experience and IICRC certification for carpets, upholstery, tiles and grouting, and the same names appear in reviews: James, who comes in person to address complaints and explain what happened, and technicians Omar and Umar, praised by various customers for their punctuality. The company's former name, Infinity Carpet Care, can still be seen in the online booking link and on its HomeAdvisor profile, so anyone looking for the company's history will find it under both names.

Few companies in this sector publish a full price list. One of a Kind Pros displays prices down to the last dollar, noting that these are estimates for a standard amount of work, and that's where I spent the most time, because the structure is explained over the phone before you call anyone round to your home.

The pricing page and the 400 reviews

One or two rooms cost the same at One of a Kind Pros – $160 – so the minimum order is actually the rate for two; each additional room adds $40, up to $440 for nine. Connecting hallways and cupboards are not charged for; treatment of ordinary stains and deodorising are included, and the surcharges are clear: a standard staircase with 12 to 16 steps costs $99.99, whilst carpet protection and pet urine treatment are each $50 per room. Wool carpets are charged at $1.50 per square foot, tiles at $0.75 with a minimum of $100, and grout sealing at $0.30.

Upholstery is charged per piece: $250 for a two-piece sectional, $150 for a sofa up to 86 inches, $125 for a loveseat and $100 for an armchair, with a fabric protector costing $100 per item. King and queen-size mattresses cost $160, whilst full and twin-size ones cost $130. The fact that One of a Kind Pros publishes these prices publicly eliminates the classic 'at the door' haggling over the price that the technician estimates by eye.

Their external reputation is well-documented and almost uniformly positive. Expertise.com, which has included One of a Kind Pros in its list of carpet cleaners in Sugar Land for several years, cites a Google rating of 5.0 based on approximately 440 reviews; HomeAdvisor shows 4.9 out of 59 reviews, of which 57 are five-star and none are below four; Facebook has 18 top-rated reviews, whilst Yelp has five reviews, all five-star. The Birdeye aggregator lists 169 reviews at 4.9, whilst the widget on the carpet cleaning page mentions 660, most likely the total across all platforms. The Google Guaranteed badge means the company has passed the thorough verification process of Google's Local Services programme, a more concrete guarantee than mere lists of recommendations.

Getting in touch with One of a Kind Pros is straightforward: a telephone number in the header, online booking via a calendar, a contact form, a services page and the address in the footer, whilst external listings show they operate seven days a week. The website, built by a local SEO agency, has a dedicated page for each of the 46 towns and cities they serve, and a section showcasing completed jobs with detailed descriptions, such as a sectional sofa with pet odours or blackened seams restored in a single day.

For someone in Katy or Sugar Land with a stained carpet and a worn-out sofa, One of a Kind Pros ticks all the right boxes: published prices, IICRC certification, an owner who responds personally, and a volume of reviews that few local firms of the same size can match. The only question to ask over the phone is whether a single room is worth the minimum charge of $160, when the same amount covers two.