Firedkm

You really should not be rinsing anything down while you are on a ladder. This is a accident waiting to happen. All my rinsing is done by the x-jet and if I need a longer reach I will pull out the extension wand. If you are having problems rinsing with the x-jet you may have to change your chem ratio or go to a better chem than what you are allready using.

Steve, I have not had a problem with this. I just make sure I rinse it down really good when I am done doing the deck

Steve, You can always a spray bottle with oxcalic acid in it an spray the threashold after applying the stripper. This will neutralize it and you wont have any problems with the threashold.

Steve, Looks like you did not let the cleaner dwell long enough to kill the mold if thats what it is. How long did you let it sit before you did your rinse?

Very carefully!:hmmm: I think?

Looks like the California boys need to get out and work more!:whoops:

Good one Jon.

Jon, If I was doing the deck I would probally strip the whole deck. You dont know what was there before the last finish and if it was applied correctly. I would also make sure the customers really wants solid white for the handrails. Yes it looks great but once you go with a soild color its very hard to remove it later if she is unhappy with it. What product do you plan on using for the solid color?

I also use the handtruck set-up with about 35' of hose. I have a 30 gallon drum I use but its very rarely full of the house wash I use. It does get heavy but its not that bad to haul around. On another board a member is using 200' ft of house connected to a small shurflo to push the chems to the x-jet. This will leave your bucket or tank of chems on the truck or trailer. I will try this out myself to see how it really works. I will let you all know after I try it.

Keep in mind that if only the second floor need to be done as you say, you still will be cleaning the 1st floor. All your soap that you spray on the second floor will run down to the first. Right now it looks clean but afterwards it may look streaked. I would clean everything to make sure you get a nice job done.

Chad, A mildacide is fine but thats for prevention not for killing what is allready there. You really should do a search on bleach and see what is some of the better ways of doing things.

Chad, Your thinking is the old method of doing things. You really need to get up to speed on whats the better and faster way of doing things if you want to compete in todays market. Just blasting cold water on something is not really cleaning anything and you risk the chance of damage. Would you clean your body with just cold water? I think not, you would really smell if you did not use some type of soap. Todays way of doing things is using a good commercial grade soap, chlorine(diluted down to kill mold and algea) and low pressure on the water. If you let the chems do there job, your job will be easier on you and the surface you are cleaning. If do a search on house washes you will find many ways to make a great one to suit your needs. I use citracleen, a foamer, rinse aid, wet wax and chlorine in my mix. It works great for my use. Everyone has there special mix that works for them. Good luck

Eric, A good rule of thumb in $1.00 a linear ft. per floor. After you get used to seeing the homes and knowing what will take longer and what will be easier you will have an eye for just looking instead of measuring it out. Depending on where you live will depend on what you can charge. As you can see Ken claims he can average $530 bucks a job for a house wash. Technically he shoudl be doing homes that are 5000 sq ft. and up. Where I live the average house is around 2500-3500 sq ft. Ken, As far as you getting into trouble on the other board was entirely your fault. You just dont go around and bash someone elses method of cleaning. You had stated that you had a better way of doing things, yet you refused to share that technique with us. That really struck a nerve with me since you did come out to me and see how to use the x-jet method.:irritated The funny thing is you raved about it to me before you left for the day. I will leave it at that as I dont want this to get out of hand the way it did on the cleaner network. So be nice please.

Paul, Sounds like you could make a good living just selling jobs for your buddy and quit your day job.

Mike, Appriciate it your time. What size tip are you using on the wand?

Rick, Your shurflo is only 1.8 gpm? I have a 3.8 gpm and I would think any lower would not be that effective. I have alot of loss in pressure and gpm with 200 feet of air hose. Its almost down to about 1.5gpm. Have you figured out what your loss at all? I think your also right about Mike being use to the x-jet method. I did it today just playing around on the in-laws roof and its super quick compared to the shurflo method. I know you posted a picture of the Phelps wonder wand! I cant find it, would you mind emailing the picture and what you used parts wise? Right now I am using a wand I got from Beth that came with the topper sprayer for applying sealer with. That may be one of my problem with the loss of pressure and gpm. If I remember right the nozzle was fairly large on the wonder wand. Thanx, Firedkm@comcast.net

Paul, Are they your initials in the third picture?:D I would say you pointed the customer in the right direction and you painter friend should buy you a nice dinner too.

opps!:whoops:

Sounds like Tony is calling Jon an "old fart".:D

Steve, What gpm is your machine? Also where is you gauge mounted? When your trying ti figure out the pressure at the tip you should have your gauge as close to the end as possible. I have one I put on my gun and you will get a better reading that way. You will loose alot of pressure in your hose due to friction loss. I start out with a 4013 tip ( about 400-500 for my machine) and usually dont go any higher than a 4010 for the railings. On the deck floor I use an 8010 tip. Thats great because of the area it covers.

Sound like I should move to Jons neighborhood for some excitement.:sonic:

Steve, Are talking about the M-5 xjet? If you are you really are better off using a regular fan tip for the cleaning.

Steve, I was assuming the above for your question. If you are reapplying the same color use efc-38 and a light coat of RS is all yuo should need. If you think the color will darken to much you can always mix 50/50 of the color and there clear together.

Always two coats.

Happy Belated B-day.