We Wash Concrete

Thanks for the new screensaver Ron!

Lucky. How'd the fishing trip go?

It was great. Just wanted give a BIG thank you Jeff and Ron, all the speakers, the distributors who supported it, and whoever donated all the prizes! I got a few pictures and videos, I'll try to post them later. Meeting a lot of the guys was also a highlight of the weekend. I wasn't able to meet everyone as there was almost 75 people there - but the networking was great. Thanks again!

Jetstream, you still in town? Give me a call if you are, 864-356-3010. I live in Anderson.

Hey Doug, can you tell if the epoxy type stuff is peeling from only the concrete? In other words, is the new coating peeling from the previous coating? I wonder if the chemical mixture is a little off preventing proper adhesion.

You'll find that many online window cleaning companys sell SafeRestore... I'm not sure I've seen an online pressure washing store carry EaCo's products. Look at the site sponsors first. I have been wanting to get a local chemical company to start selling EaCo's products. But I'm not sure if that would be good or not... I don't want the other guys to know what my secret chemical is! haha

Brian, Sorry to hear about your accident. I was just thinking of a couple of things that may make your jobs a little bit easier.. I've seen Delco's got a Trigger Lock to hold safely hold the trigger in the on position. This may relieve some stress off the hands. I've heard of some using a tennis ball to hold the trigger open, but I've never tried that. You could also use a ball valve if you wanted, although it would add more weight. That dual lance wand will also add more weight also, I would only use it when I have too. Also, do some searching (if you havn't already) for certain chemicals to make the job much less labor intensive (if you don't know about these already). I could imagine brushing gutters would be very difficult for you, theres soaps out there that will let you clean with little to no brushing. Also, if you do much flatwork, like driveways, a surface cleaner would be a good investment to give your elbows a rest. Don't ever let a customer push you around. A reputation for being pushed into doing things for free is almost as bad as a reputation for doing poor work. Don't know if you give written estimates out or not, but this is where a written estimate comes in handy. Again, sorry about your fall. I hope the rest of the season goes much better for you!

A Sorbo squeegee will save you a lot of time and trouble, especially since it'll be new to you. Sorbo's are the best squeegee you can use if your using a pole. The most important tip I can give you is to not wet the top of each frame (if you have too, make sure to wipe it dry before you squeegee). If you get the top wet it can drip for hours. The Sorbo helps with this, because of the angle of the handle and channel. I suggest a 24' or 30' "black mamba" Sorbo.

I'd just squeegee that. From the looks of it you could use a 30 foot Unger pole, but if you already have the man lift, and don't have the pole, the manlift would work too. For outside only I would plan on two hours and $255. For inside and out I would plan on three hours and $375. If they went monthly or even quarterly they would get a discount. I don't consider pressure washing a form of true window cleaning. In order to really get the windows clean (to remove bird droppings and bird stuff) you would have to use quite a bit of pressure. That pressure can (and will) damage the seals and create leakage problems.

Wesley, sorry it took a day or two to respond, I had to go through a tank of gas to get your numbers. I filled up at 28653 miles. I was empty yesterday at 28960. The truck took 20.80 (71 freakin dollars) gallons. So if my math is correct, I got 14.75 mpg. I'm happy with that, considering that mileage is pulling my trailer up to the mountains, in the mountains, and back. Some highway mileage was included in that tank, but mostly a lot of city driving. I wasn't babying it trying to get every mile either, I drove like usual, about 70 or so when possible. If I go out of town this weekend, I'll do a fresh tank of interstate driving to see what kind of mileage I get there. As far as pulling 13,000 pounds, I don't have too, and probably never will. If I did have to carry that around everyday I'd prob. get a stronger truck, a diesel. But for pulling a pressure washing rig around, this truck is perfect for me.

Pretty interesting, but how do you increase your page rank?

Good pictures, Al. 8 in the morning or 5 in the evening would have been a perfect time to do that job if you could do it safely with traffic. Everybody coming in and out would have to see who did the good work! I hope business picks up for ya soon!

Yep, Get a 5.7 Tundra.

Derik, You can use the search feature to find the answer to your question. Plain water will only work on a very limited amount of houses, many jobs will require chemicals. You'll find that with proper chemicals you'll work less and make more money. Just try something like "housewashing mix" or "chemicals" and see what you get.

Carlos I remembered that lift from an American Window Cleaner magazine ad, but I could not remember the name of it. I searched for about half an hour trying to find it. I'm glad you mentioned it. The Denka lift would be perfect for this job.

I too would use NMD80 or Prosoco's Vana-Trol for this job. Definatly not muriatic. Sell the builder on the fact that you'll be using the proper acid and you'll be able to get just about whatever price you want. Rinse, Rinse, Rinse the windows. Before, during and after. If you don't feel 100% comfortable with this job, you may want to pass on it.

Ron, Make that ad quarter page size, black and white, and add an "avon coupon" to the bottom and you've got a winner. Somebody's been putting those fliers out all over the place here. I sure would like to know what their return is, either for the pressure washing or avon! lol.

Len, have you showed those pictures to the wood supplier? It would be interesting to see what they would say about the moisture content being double as advertized.

First season using fliers, and they're working great. I only leave them in the newspaper box. If somebody is working in the yard I'll stop and talk to them, everybody so far has wanted an estimate (I love talking to those people, they're the ones that really care about how things look). Been passing them out for two weeks. Last week alone I gave out $3,998 in estimates. Closed nearly 75% so that so far. Get a good ad, full color with pictures.

Looks like good ol' Georgian red clay on the retaining wall to me... that stuff is about pointless to clean off, because it will come right back! The deck looks awesome.

Is this the first kind of stain like this? Does anybody else offer an equal stain? Not judging the product, but I find it humorous that the 'lumber jack' in the picture, the "protector of woods", is holding an axe. Many people don't associate a lumber jack with a "protector of woods". Or do they?

If the person continues with the "no acid" statement, offer to neutralize the acid once you're done. Dilution with water will go a long way, but by spraying a mixture of baking soda and water or vinegar and water you should be able to neutralize the acid, right? Somebody correct me if I'm wrong.

Thanks Beth! I havn't seen anything advertising this.. I'm waiting on some information from them on how much it cost to set up a booth, do you know anything about that?

A Dodge Viper IS a muscle car in my books, just a new one. They look good in pictures, but they look so much better in person. Very impressive. ::wipes drool::

And I'd still rather be a "steam cleaner" then a proctologist, even with the stated $362,875 difference in salary!