Doug Dahlke

Thanks for taking on the forum leader position Jarrod. People like you make this a great place to be.

Today my business is one year old. I did a house wash yesterday wearing my jean jacket that still carries the chlorine stains from my first job. Tried to clean the facia and soffit on a house. Used a 30' ladder on one side. Held the wand above my head and sprayed Chlorox outdoors through the downstreamer while showering in the spray. Thanks to boards like this, the input of suppliers and phone calls from others in the biz I soon discovered the x-jet, proper cleaning chems, proper procedures, etc. Going into 07 I still have my cold water 3700 PSI 4 GPM machine but recently purchased a trailer rig with hot water and a 5 GPM rate. Received a work order for my first commercial work yesterday. This year I am really pushing to grow my PW business. Thanks to all those willing to share their knowledge with the new guys. Looking forward to the NC Round Table and meeting some of you face to face.

My local paper charges $240 a month for a service directory ad. That to me is way too high but they are the only game in town.

Are we talking about the Yellow Pages or the Yellow Book? I have a Yellow Book ad this year. Just came out in January and I have had two calls from it. One person shopping price and the other was a commercial request that required confined space gear, permits, etc that I was not equipped to handle. I am hoping as the weather warms up it brings in some $$$$.

I'm with Ryan. I have customers that hardly glance at my quote before they ask how soon I can do the work. Other people say they want to get more bids and sometimes I hear from them, sometimes I don't. There will always be people out there who look only at the price and they get what they pay for. If you present yourself as a knowledgable professional people are more willing to pay what you are worth. One other thing I am doing to combat the low ballers is to get some commercial work. Once again some businesses could care less if you have insurance, etc. Some companies won't even let you quote without proof of general liability, WC, etc. The upfront cost of that keeps the beer money guys out of it.

What about the effect of the chemicals going through your hose? Does it shorten the life compared to X-jetting and having only water in the hose?

Thanks for the encouragement Jeff. Yesterday I got a call from a HOA to quote cleaning 1300' of fencing at the subdivision entrances. Later that day a family friend called and wants me to quote cleaning their church. I have a few other quotes out there that I have done in the last week so maybe this thing is going to start picking up some. For me this year it is all about figuring out how best to market my company.

I'll be traveling about 370 miles for the N.C. roundtable.

My goal is to get some commercial accounts going. February 3rd will mark my first year in business and I need to get some regular cash flow coming. Yesterday I finally got set up as a vendor for a large PM company. Had to get all the extra insurance and verification that they wanted. I will be looking at the first property to quote tomorrow. Right now I am just constantly networking, sending letters, researching and with my new rig will start cold calling and offering on site demos. Never worked so hard in my life but I am hoping it will start paying off soon.

Just a point of reference, ALL drugs were legal at some point in time. That includes cocaine, LSD, etc. In my opinion you cannot legislate morality. Some of our nations lawmakers are among the most immoral people there are. The war on drugs is not working. I am against drug use, prostitution and other behaviours that I consider wrong. I also look at things in a realistic way and all the legislation in the world will never do away with drug use or the worlds oldest profession. Regulation of these problems will do much more to wipe them out then legislation.

I would never vote for Hillary Clinton. I voted for Bush both times but if he could run again I wouldn't vote for him either. I do believe in the constitution and it is the reason this country was great. It has been trashed by both political parties and an electorate that is more concerned about the next American Idol than their liberty and indivdual rights. The Republicans have their heads so far into their posterior regions that they don't even realize that is why they just lost control of both houses in the last election.

Talk to the vendors listed on this board. They can help you get started with chems. Make sure you know what you are doing when mixing them and follow the procedures they give you.

I've already filled out several W-9's. Same as you I am a sole prop so my SS# is my tax ID. My understanding is this is a record for the people paying you of where their money went. If they get audited and the IRS guy wants verification of who received the $5,000 they paid for pressure washing last year here is the record. It also exists as a record of what people who had you fill out the forms paid to you. If you recieved $50,000 in income through sources with your W-9 on file and you report you earned $40,000 don't be surprised if the IRS knocks on your door.

Chamos, I'm still a newbie myself but I'll add my $.02 anyway. Sounds like the GC is being penny wise and dollar foolish. If this building is being prepped for paint the entire surface needs to be cleaned. If there is a film of dirt between the new paint and old paint the new coating could fail prematurely. The GC saves a few bucks now but repaints the bulding again possibly years before he would need to if it was done right the first time. If the majority of the cleaning you are asked to do is at the top of the building then cleaning the lower part is not going to take too much extra time. You are doing the hardest part already. Your fixed cost for getting to the site, setting up, etc is the same wether you wash 1 square foot or 5,000 square feet. I would quote a price that you feel comfortable with for washing the entire building. Then if you get the job wash it all and tell the GC you went the extra mile to prep it right for the paint even though he didn't ask you to. The GC thinks you're great and the painters won't be cussing when they show up. If the GC doesn't want to pay that much let someone else do it. Then you aren't in the finger pointing circle when / if the paint fails early.

Dropped out of college in my freshman year. Worked in several different factory jobs while playing in a band. Finally realized the music thing wasn't happening so I focused on a career. Worked for several different textile companies in different states and finally worked my way to plant manager at a small factory that was part of a family owned company. When the company was sold the new management and I didn't see eye to eye on how to treat people and where the line between being responsible to the shareholders and greed was. They cut me loose in Feb 06 and here I am.

I appreciate the feedback. Responses here are great. I'm picking up my first hot water rig on Wednesday. I'll post some pictures when I have it. My goal is to earn a living by providing a great service with integrity. Lost my previous job because I was not willing to compromise my beliefs on what is right and wrong. Looking forward to 07 being a good year.

Thanks for the response on your method. What is a good procedure to use to get concrete off of vinyl and painted aluminum trim?

Just out of curiosity what exact procedure did you follow on this. Looks great.

I definitely need and want some training. I have bought some manuals and they have been helpful but learning by doing or seeing it done is best. I am reluctant to spend $800 on a class to find out what I already know or could have learned here for free. What education is out there other than PWNA and Delco? Have people here been to those classes? If you have do you think the price tag was worth it? I am not disputing that the money asked for the training is excessive. Spending several hundred dollars on training that can earn you much more is a bargain. I just want to know what training people here think is wortth the money.

I have a cold water 4 GPM machine rated at 3700 PSI that I have been using for about a year. I have been happy with the machine but don't have experience with anything else to compare it to. Next week I am getting a 5 GPM @ 3000 PSI hot water machine. From what I have heard from others I am expecting to see much better results with flatwork and increased speeds with the higher flow and hot water. Sounds like you're moving in the right direction Don. I live in Georgia but was born in Sandusky. You ever get out to Cedar Point?

Hello all, I have been in business for almost a year now and have joined several BBS. Lots of good information here and I look forward to learning more and growing my business in 2007. I will take delivery of my first hot water trailer rig in a week and am looking at going after some commercial accounts. Up to now I have done only residential. Looking forward to being a part of the "Scene".