bigchaz

:rotfl::rotfl:haha now thats a great idea

Jarrod have you ever actually tried two people? How do you determine its a one person job in the first place? Btw having an "open mind" is a two way street

Rob, reread Anthony's post He said at least 20 or more 2,000 square foot decks and some larger than that. Thats good money. Didnt say he only does 20 decks a year Im sure he does plenty more smaller than that, and hes been in business 17 years **edit: he beat me there

All the education in the world cant make up for common sense. Powerwashing on a sawhorse and horsing around with flip flops not so great

Appreciate the response. I don't mind being a part of an industry, I just consider my business to be controlled by my choices made for the betterment of service for my customers and profitability in my market. We all know PWing and Wood resto differs all through the country so I dont see how this could become some huge national business. I know you do good work for your customers, but do you feel like that contributes to the industry? **Edit, although I do do a lot of reading on how all you guys work things in attempt to see what might be best for me. I think its indirectly that we contribute to the industry by helping others succeed and operate professionally

Thats the way Ive been trying to look at. My work is a reflection on my business and my character, not a reflection on an industry full of people doing the same type of work as me

Yea I am still really new to this so I may be wrong in my analyses. I just feel like my goal in this business is to be knowledgeable and professional and provide an unmatched quality of work and customer service for my clients. And I agree with all your guys being really good contractors for their business and customers. I guess im either confused or just don't buy into this whole concept of making an image for the industry. For instance, everyone seems to be annoyed by this guy doing pressure washing. I think its more of a humor thing, since people like that are always going to be out there. If it makes people look poorly on the industry, it proves importance on the non service side of the business Website, logos, uniform, insurance, proper chems, etc etc. If everyone knew what good wood restoration costs and was willing to pay for it, your going to have the same problems with tons more competition, since all they need to learn how to do is clean and stain some wood. For instance, your work is amazing, I love your quality, and your website, and how you run your business. The person that responded to the ad in Craigslist, I would bet isn't your type of customer. Even if they saw your work and ads, the mindset that leads them to respond to the guys craigslist ad, is what would keep them from paying you what you deserve. Does that make sense?

Do guys actually experiance people who as you say have a bad "image" of the PW industry? I feel like the majority of the jobs ive done are for people who honestly don't know what the service is supposed to cost. Even those who got their deck done for 100 bucks, something obviously went wrong otherwise they wouldn't be calling me. Plus, someone who actually sees those pics and calls that person expecting a quality job, will never pay what the job is worth, regardless of how strong the industries "image" is

-zing

Fixed it for you:)

Why does it urk you? He obviously not any type of competition and like I said is probably just doing his moms house and neighbors.

you can tell that the entire set of pictures at the end is his own house. standing on a sawhorse, trashcan on the side of house used for tools, clear trashbags, soda cans on the plastic furniture, red mulch, white rocks, and pictures taken at night???? No one calls to have their bushes trims, crappy mulch put down, plastic edging installed, and power washing their walkway, and rearrage their plastic furniture.

Haha thanks guys for voting. I think I realize what you were talking about Anthony. I think I changed my mind 10 times back and forth on some of these logos. At first I really wanted the square one but I ended up going with the circle one. Someone else made a really good point about cutting vinyl and embroidery, which will be much easier with the circle. By the way, anyone looking for a great way to professionalize your business, a logo is def great. Design Outpost - Graphic Design Firm - Logos, Templates, Print Material, and More is amazing for this. I bid 130 bucks and had probably around 12 different entries. Nothing beats that for the money Logoholik is the name of the designer on there who worked with me on a dozen revisions and sent me the files in 10 different formats. I recommend him 100% If you guys want to know more ask me Cant wait to get this on biz cards, website, postcards, and apparal!

If you train them right, two people can do the job in less than half the time of the single person IE) One guy starts washing, while one guy is unloading extra stuff and notifying homeowner. Then two guys are washing, one guy stops early and starts cleaning up while second person finishing washing. Guy finishing washing while second person is still cleaning up and goes to collect check or depending on nature of job, speak with homeowner about any issues One guy alone has to unload, wash full job, clean up, and talk to homeowner.

Interesting that yall think the first one resembles a deck. Never thought of it that way, but If it does thats all the better I suppose SPW: These were designed by the crew at designoutpost.com since I have no creative talent

Yup just finished having mine designed there. It in revisions stage right now. Was quite nice. Got around 10 logos for 130 bucks. Picked my favorite and am tweaking it now Probably have them do my business card as soon as Im done

What type of wood is that on the railings it almost looks like regular pine?? not pressure treated

so why does it matter if you use bleach then? not really any fiber you have to worry about coming up

have you done that one before? I feel like ive seen that staircase somewhere before Looks amazing by the way!!

what exactly is composite wood made of? I always thought it was a plastic material. Never really seen it around here and theres lignin in composite wood?

Hey ken would you mind sending me a link to somewhere that sells these osborne brushes. Did a search but not coming up with much since im not sure what im looking for. Is osborne the brand? If so what are the actual brushes like Appreciate it -Charlie

Dang I feel like i read through that faster than most normal writing. didnt even phase me

What services do you provide? Also I would keep the local numbers that forward to the main. Its more personal for your customers and that way you can probably track how well certain areas are doing and use that to target ad money

Yea thats a good point. I mean if i was actually experienced to the point where people were calling me for information I'd be glad to help out. Tons of people have been invaluable in giving me information as have all the forums such as this one. But if someone called, Id want them to say they are new and looking for information on starting their business instead of trying to just get prices. Chances are if they are asking for your equipment and pricing, they will just end up lowering everything 5% and go after all your accounts. I like the idea of having the competition written down. In fact you might not even consider some of them competition. Like Celeste was saying, if you can develop a good relationship with people in your area they can probably help you out and vise versa. Rodney from this forum contacted me when he saw that I live in his town. Nice guy and I told him right away that doing decks Ive gotten several people ask about house washing. Since i'm specializing in wood care, now that I know Rodney does house washing, I can refer people to him. Another idea Ive heard people do, which I imagine is kind of risky if its in your market, is having that new guy come and work a few jobs with you. Might find that they decide the work is too much and they end up not starting a business. Or they see how much work running the business but like the work and you could get a new employee.

Driveways = $20 Houses = $50 Decks $49 or 59 if you want top quality thompsons sealer Come on you gotta help the competition out!! ha