mobileoneservices

On May 8th the Wash Post wrote an article about cleaning outdoor furniture. They quote a few furniture store managers and they say power washing is a bad idea. I understand that some of this may be directed at keeping a homeowner from damaging his patio set, but the guy from Spring Valley Patio says power washing teak will shorten the life by 70-80%. I've never heard that before and even had a customer ask me about this the other day. Thoughts? http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/home/how-to-clean-outdoor-furniture/2013/05/07/ac9494d8-b35a-11e2-9a98-4be1688d7d84_story.html Thanks, Scott

I have a customer with a new pool, less than 12 months old. The oak trees seem to be dropping debris and staining the concrete. I washed it today with a commercial concrete cleaner with no luck. Also tried wood brightener and had no luck. Any ideas on how to remove these stains? I'm trying to avoid any muriatic acid due to the damaging effects it has on the concrete. Thanks, Scott Scott Martindill Mobile One Services www.MobileOneServices.com Kensington, MD

Guys, thanks for the help. I worked on the pool deck today and tried Oxalic, bleach and a few other things, and nothing. Thanks for the ideas, this one has me frustrated. Scott Scott Martindill Mobile One Services www.MobileOneServices.com Kensington, MD

I stripped and stained a good sized Ipe deck last summer, the stain is actually holding up and still looks pretty good. Cabot ATO. The customers home backs up to parkland and a ton of trees. The wood has a good bit of dark (mildew/Moss?) staining, very evident when the furniture is moved and you see the un-weathered section of wood. How can I get this area nice and clean with out lifting up the stain? I tried today for a while with little success. I used Wolmans Deck Brite and also tried Sunbrite's EZ off and wood brightner with a pretty mild mix. Any help is appreciated. Scott

Thnaks for the info, I will try the light bleach cleaning that Charlie recommended. The customer wants this for a party this weekend, and the stain seems ok, it's just got some staining. No way could I strip and re-coat this in 3 days. Also, the customer dosen't want to do that. Thanks again for the ideas. Scott

Beth, I'm in Silver Spring. I can take the job if it's still available. Let me know when you have a chance. Scott 301-562-6004

Jarrod, I'm a part time power washer, I specialize in carpet cleaning and water damage restoration. For mold clean up inside a home, bleach is not a great choice, here is a link giving more information, maybe this explains why the mold was not as fast to come off as you expected? I know there are tons of papers on stuff like this, but for interior mold, I would not use clorine bleach for remedition. MOLD ACROSS AMERICA - BLEACH WARNING Any thoughts are appreciated. Scott

Jon, with direct mail you need to send out at least 5,000. The 2nd time you hit the same neighborhood would have been better spent on a different one. With direct mail, you have to have a "Go big, or Go Home" mentality. I never hit an area more than once per season. Either they want it done, or they don't. If they want it done next month, they will most likely hold on to your ad. (If they find it appealing) I have to disagree with some of your logic. Go Big or Go Home is good, but doing it once a season is wrong in my option. Take a look at Class A advertisers, do they just run a commercial on TV 1 time a day, or once an hour? No, they keep running them to keep their name and product in the front of peoples brain. I you send out a postcard in April and a customer thinks about it, but decides to wait for a while due to other more important things to take care of first, and then a competitior sends a coupon in June, you stand a good chance of loosing the sale. Studies show that people make a decision in 1-3 weeks tops, so if you don't send out regular mailings, and by regular I mean every 6-8 weeks, you are most likely loosing a great deal of business. By mailings, I mean to your database, not thru Val Pak, or Money Mailer, those things are a complete waste of money in my experience. Just my thoughts. Scott