JFife

We talked about doing this a few months ago-----well, I'll start it off by listing a few recipes. #1) This is my favorite dish, and I'll be lucky to see 30 if I eat it much more, but it sure is good. Fettucine Alfredo: 1 box of ROTINI noodles (much better) stick of butter 4 garlic cloves or garlic salt 1 cup of half-and-half or heavy cream 1 egg yolk 1 8oz. package of shredded Parmesan cheese 2 T. of Parsley (optional) cubed chicken, can of diced tomatos, shrimp ----boil noodles. Melt butter on low heat, and sprinkle in some garlic salt to taste. Once melted, add 1/2 C. of cream. Mix the other 1/2 C. with the egg yolk. Add slowly some hot mixture to bowl with egg yolk, so not to cook the yolk. Once warmed, add to saucepan with butter, etc. Cook to almost boil, and dump in the bag of cheese. Stir until melted, and add parsley. I like mine with a can of italian diced tomatoes and cubed chicken or shrimp. #2) Here is an easy pizza crust. Nice because you don't have to fridge it, etc., you can just make it and go. 16" pan 1 package of yeast 1 cup hot water 2T sugar 1T salt 2C flour corn oil Mix yeast, water and sugar in a large bowl and let sit for 10 minutes. In another bowl, mix flour and salt. Add flour/salt to water/yeast and stir. Rub corn oil on pizza pan, and splash a little on the dough to make it more pliable. Spread on a 16" pan, cook at 450deg. for 10-12 minutes, take out, add sauce, toppings, cheese and cook until done. #3) Biscuits A good biscuit recipe is hard to come by---this one is easy, fluffy and good, the best i've found. 2C flour 3 1/2 t. baking powder 1 t. salt 1/3 C crisco (1/4 t baking soda if you mix with buttermilk as opposed to reg. milk) Mix flour, bp and salt in a bowl. Cut in the crisco. Add milk till they stick. Roll out and cut---makies about 6-12 biscuits, depending on size. Make them tall and they'll be fluffy. Cook 20-35 minutes @350deg.

Scott Karvonen, A good round charge is $1 per item.....and that saves the guesswork and doesn't make the homeowner feel it is negotiable. When I did decks, it was all super-upscale and my bids were all-inclusive, but I know some of you guys work in lower areas and the $1 rule works okay.

Those dark colors would be hot, that would be my first concern. Our shirts are two colors of grey, both athletic tee type colors. If i were doing again the other color I'd consider would be oatmeal. I wanted something to match Carhartt brown shorts/pants and carpenter blue jeans. Getting ready to get some hoody's made, also will be in athletic grey color. Have you settled on a logo/colors yet??

got a pic/description?? jonathanmarkfife@hotmail.com

John T, went your website....you use that bucket truck much??? Looking to part with it anytime soon?? Just curious. Do you like the way the bucket on your truck works as opposed to the knuckle type??

.....interesting......the high bidder right now is a guy named John......John T., that pretty new red Dodge needing something to pull??? :) I hope you get it, I can think of a million ways to make a fortune off of that rig. The industrial/commercial apps. for that thing would be endless. That thing reminds me of the first time I ever saw an 18wheeler with 12" hoses coming out the side blowing out mulch.....expensive, but they locked up all the commercial jobs.

James, ....Joking about my guess that it was Curves?? I just lucked up this older post, the clues were that his sisters would run it, the seller was a woman, and it is one of the top franchises for the last few yrs. running. I'm a franchise junky---I stay on top of that stuff and know what the top ones are (they usually stay the same). Ken, I think I mentioned this in another post to you, but I'd suggest you research these two companies, Certa ProPainters and Archadeck. The have interesting franchise concepts, and would work well for the residental pwash business. Obviously, there is nothing wrong with re-inventing the wheel if you have some great ideas, but these models are capable in my opinion and may give you ideas. It is good to see you shooting big. I've always thought this residental pwash biz is prime for a good franchise concept, and you're the guy that can make a solid one, imo. Good luck with this, really, I hope you tear it up.

....and i think that is a good price. Let's say you settled at $240, I think you made out like a bandit.

PressurePros, My question is......why are you doing pwashing?? if you have the resources at your disposal to buy and sell franchises, why would you not just focus on that?? Clean, no physical labor, those type of businesses sell nicely......I can think of a hundred more reasons!

I don't know how I just found this, but PP, what ever happened?? My guess is.......Curves For Women????

Rich is right, Obsornes have their limitations. For most things I like them better, like when getting out the fuzz on the soft grain of redwood, when it is recessed from the hard grain. Osbornes are soooo heavy, can be quite cumbersome.

Tidyjet, Don't forget the time it takes to do all of the little things......removing window screens, taking down downspouts, removing exterior lights/sconces. What about ceilings?? They are hard to do, nasty, and tough. The thing you have going for you is that since you are only stripping, the costs are minimal and your only risk of loss is decreasing your hourly productivity. So, assume this takes you twice as long as you anticipate, then rather than make $100 pr hr, you've made $50 pr hr, and that is not bad for a learning experience, if you plan on trying to tackle more of this work in the future.

here ya go:

My female does the same thing!! Gets excited and contorts her body into a circle....very funny!! I also like the "snorting" when they get excited, lol.

YES!!!! I learned how to post pics!!!! Now, I'm excited----i'm going to walmart to get some CD's and try to transfer my pics from memory stick to disc!!! They are about 4 months and two months in this pic. I am always embarrassed to say their names.......The boy is named Luca. I got him first, and named him after Luca Brazzi on "The Godfather" (unfortunately my Luca is a real wiener:)). Then, two months later I got the 10 week old female from someone that had her for two weeks, and had already named her "Abby." So there they are, Luca and Abby. Well, about a month later I am at the dogpark and some chic asks me what they're names are, and I say, "luca and abby." She says, "oh, that is so cute, you named them after the couple on "ER". So you liked them as a couple also?" I looked at her confused and asked her what in the heck she was talking about, and she goes on to explain to me that Luca and Abby is the name of two doctors on the TV show "ER", and they were a couple at one time. It was about the most humiliating moment of my life, and I've had to endure comments every since, so I pretty much come off as a real flamer. Oh well, so that is the story on my dogs names. :) I'll get an updated pic soon, I still cannot believe how big your dogs are!! jon

Celeste---they are beautiful!! They are SOOOO much bigger than my two! My male weighs about 70 and the female about 65....how did yours get so big??? Yours are in awesome shape too.....good muscle. I wish I could post a pic of my two goofballs. they both lay on my feet when I type on the computer, lol. I still cannot get over how gigantic yours are, lol!

Wow, I sure am glad your dog is okay. I have two boxers (almost two yrs) and they are definitely my best friends. I take them everywhere and do everything with them, just like a family! They aren't really hunters, but they do kill a lot of stuff! Boxers are so playful--but the rabbits just don't see it that way. They play with moths, junebugs, beetles, frogs----basically anything that moves they play with. I took them to Kansas on a turkey hunt this spring, and when i cut the wings off of the turkeys I gave it to them---they had a blast playing with that! I sure am glad your dog is okay, my dogs' best friend is a Weim--very nice breed of dogs.

Does anyone have a hand-held (palm) sander that spins in a full circle, similar to a buffer?? I found a Makita, but it large and heavy, and could not be used with one hand, and costs around $300. I'd like something the size of a palm orbital that spins. Any suggestions??

Dale, I prefer to caulk after cleaning, so the surface is better, sounder. An option if you up-sell the caulk job would be to go ahead and backer rod the areas, but don't caulk. If you are just doing a light wash, it shouldn't blow out and it will significantly reduce the amount of intrusion. And blow at an angle away from the window, this will help. All these things should prevent a problem. Being said, a cedar house probably won't have room for rod, so you may be stuck Nonetheless, stipulate in the contract that someone needs to be around and watching for intrusion problems. Warn her that this is probable (you'll be the only guy that warns her) and rather than scare her off, you'll come off as cautious and detail-oriented, and probably close her. Good luck,

I was thinking percarb was around a 10pH. I don't think it is NECESSARY to put acid on percarb'd wood, but it does brighten it and thus causes the final stain color to be more vibrant.

James Hayhurst: I enjoyed looking at your site; I'm sure customers are impressed by it, and the discounts you offer. I am curious why you housewash for free?? I am assuming that maybe when you wash a roof the chems get all over the house anyway, and you basically rinse/wash them off similar to a housewash. Or is this just a sales tactic to kick off your biz, etc?? Sounds great if you are a customer, but it sounds like an awful big "freebie" to give out on a regular basis. I don't really do houses or roofs, so I don't know, but you can enlighten me. Either way, very good site, educational without being too wordy, good pics, and it portrayed your biz in an enthusiastic and driven way.

degrarffeed, My experience (though minimal) was the exact opposite, it clung extremely well. Don't know what you are working on, but strippers won't cling well to a sheened product, like Sikkens or a glossy waterbase, you have to apply lightly and wait for stripper to "bite" into the wood and then apply heavily.

You are exactly right Tony, 3-4 crews is where the money jumps, up to that you may as well be the Lone Ranger out there. I believe you've mentioned you have a family, and I cannot imagine what ins. costs for all of them.....that would scare me. .....And also your dead winters----i definitely respect your risk-taking nature!

From chemists I've spoken with, all of those chems are in the same family (Disod, percarb, perborate,etc) and I've not noticed any performing any better than another. I do use these, and have a lot in the past, but I'm just finding them to barely work any better than pure water pressure. For anything other than a maintenance cleaning, I'd suggest just using sodiumhydroxide at a strength conducive to the job---something you'll figure out through experimentation. As far as safety, Naoh is nasty and should be respected, percarbs are fairly harmless. Environmentally safe.......well, that will be a matter of semantics. Both are biodegradable. If you are just beginning in this field, I'd suggest buying your products from a manufacterer (www.pressuretek.com) You won't be saving any $ unless you do a significant amount of work. Good luck,

You are correct, some products contain percarb and oxalic, I believe Wolman's Deck and Fence Brightener is one of them, but I may be mistaken. I am not sure what you are trying to accomplish, but I don't find percarb cleaners to be all that effective, except for a few situations, and that sucks because it is the only product that tends to be harmless. The only use I can think of for what you are wanting to produce would be re-clean/re-coats.