Firedkm

Today I got a phone call from a customer that I did a house wash for this past Monday. He told me there was a problem with his electric outlet outside that he did not know he had. When I was there cleaning I had asked him to close his garage door. He came back out and said he had to reset a breaker to close the door. He asked if maybe I could have tripped it. I never saw thr outlet and he stated he did not have one outside. Now back to today, he said he went to do his dishes and the dishwasher would not work. He looked around outside and found the outlet that was not there.:cool: I went over tonight to look at it and was horrified at what I saw. Luckily the circuit breaker worked and did its job. I could have burnt his houe down. Check out the picture of the outlet that was out in plain site that I never saw and he said he never had. The one wire you see there is the ground wire that melted away!!

Steve, If you say x-jetting it diluted to much you need to make it stronger for it to work. I x-jet my stripper with great results. I will say you do have more control of the spray if you use a pump-up or shurflo type set-up. Using the x-jet is just so much faster, imo. As far as the sealer not coming off in some places. You may have to agitate it with a brush to help loosen up the sealer. This is not always necessary but it does work good. The best thing to do is neutralize right after your done cleaning/stripping the deck. Having the deck wet is fine and I dont always rinse it when I am done. If you wait for the deck to dry like the next day I feel you should rinse it when your done. I would just neutralize the sam day. Why make two trips when you dont have too.

Rob, Gutter shock does have a little sodiuom hydroxide but its main base is buytl. The

uhhmmm, that is the last week in June.:whoops: Call me after the 4th of July. We can set-up a date then. as of right now I have one house wash on July 6th, one house wash on July 11th and a house wash and a deck wash on the 12th. I work mostly weekend as this is a part-time business for me. 609-268-0085 nighttime 609-744-2700 daytime

Steve, The mix should remove the the white from the brick, if it wouldn't I would try some Gutter Shock. I also would not use a turbo nozzle. That will do serious damage before you may realize it. Next week will not work for me unless you want to go to Mytrle Beach. However, I wont be working. Just sucking down the brews and enjoying the beach with the kids!!

Steve, The price is higher because of how difficult it can be stripping a deck. Depending what is on the deck you may have to strip it two times and somtimes more. Basically the labor and cost of materials are higher so you have to adjust your prices accordingly.

Gutter Shock is butyl based. If you ever get down here in south jersey you will see how it works.:)

Steve, Your current house wash should be fine for a "general cleaning". As for the mold, the best way to kill it is bleach. As long as you take the right steps into using bleach on the side of the house you will not harm the surrounding vegetation. What are you using now for your house wash?

Steve, It can be done with one person. And yes that is me on the roof!:nerd:

Steve, Anytime, just give me call some day. 609-268-0085 evenings 609-744-2700 daytime

Eric, This is just a guide line to go by. Average Pitch: 10 to 20 cents per square foot Steep Pitch: 20 to 30 cents per square foot Minunum Charge: $100.00 to $150.00. Note: Lighter shingles usually require a stronger concentration of chemicals Average 2,000 sq. ft. roof takes 2 hours. Minimum Charge $150.00

Thers is a diference between Gutter Zap and Gutter Shock. Gutter Zap is sodium hydroxide base and the Gutter shock is buytl base. I have tried both and like the gutter shock the best. As far as the f-13 I have not tried it but I hear rave reviews about it. The big thing about using guttershock is dont let it dry on the windows and you will have no problems. If it dries then all you have to do is rewet the window and brush it and rinse. If you keep the window wet you will not have to brush it. It will rinse right off. Lawrence, I take it you switched to shooter tips? Why do you like this method over using the x-jet? Yes I am a x-jet fan but I am always open minded about trying out different ways. Steve, I am in South Jersey, so if you want to make a trek down hear to see how I wash houses and the use of Gutter Shock and the x-jet come on down.

Matt, Yes I diliute pool chlorine to the percentage I need. You only need about 500 psi for the rinse with the sodium hydroxide cleaner. 1000psi would be toooo much. You need to get a larger tip to reduce the presuure on your machine. Depending on the gpm your washer is will depend on the tip size you need to get that pressure.

Mathew, There are two popular ways of cleaning asphalt shingles. 1. Using bleach (4%-6%) and flooding the roof with it. You really should have two people doing this. One on the roof and one on the ground. The ground person should be rinse the side of the house down and the surrounding landscaping so you dont burn or kill the plants. After you flood the roof with bleach and let it dwell for awhile then you go back rinse the roof with water. Using a garden hose if fine for this. This is the recommended way by the shingle manufactures. 2. Using a sodium hydroxide cleaner. You coat the roof with this cleaner and let it dwell for 15 minutes or so. Then go back and rinse with at least 500 psi. When I use this method I have a Pitch Witch. This mounts on a extension pole or your wand. This works great at rinsing the roof. I use both ways. The bleach works faster and is easier to do. You get good results doing it this way. Doing the sodium hydroxide takes more time but the results are better than using bleach. The only downside to this is the pressure you need to clean the roof.

Wolman products are consumer grade cleaners. They will give you ok results. If you want to have great results you really need to get some contractor grade cleaners. In the end using the best cleaners, strippers and brightners will save you money in the long run. They are also easier to work with and give you the best results possible. Wolman F&P sealer looks great when first applied and I really like the look of the cedar tone. I dont like how long the color last. I have only had luck with the color lasting about a year. The deck is still sealed from the weather it just looses it color. Dont take this the wrong way, but if you plan on getting serious with doing deck restoration stop fooling around with the Home Depot and Lowes stuff. Contact Beth or anyone of us that do decks to set you on the right track.

Ryan, Have you tried the Petzel Stop device? I like how that works better than the Grigri. It seems to catch you a little faster when you slip. I use a clove hitch with a saftey knot. Paul, As long as you pay for the airfare I will do it for ya!:)

Ditto on what Tony said. I will say you would be better off getting it at a pool supply place. Using 10-12% is less expensive than going to Home Depot and purchasing 1 gallon containers of 3% bleach.

Ryan, No not yet on going over the side to reach spots yet. I have thought about though. I would like to see some pics of you using your equipment too. Just to compare to your methods and mine. Steve, I have an old firehose section that I cut up to go over the rope. I put this where the rope will rub on different spots. So far it has worked pretty good.:whip:

No it was not a gfi circuit. This was the original outlet from the time the house was built. The outlet inserts that you have would not have worked. The cover was mounted flush against a brick wall. The water went down the brick behind the outlet cover.

James, Out of curiousity, what is the ratio of bleach and soap that you use? Also what kind of soap. I know there has been and always will be a debate about using bleach on wood as the same as using sodium hyrdroxide on roofs. I am really interested in your process of cleaning wood and why. I have always used other methods that did not include the use of bleach. I have always been a firm believer that it should not be used. But then again things do change and my ways may also change. This year I started using Ready Seal which I know thats what you use too. Both you and Pierce seem adamant about using bleach to clean with. I would think that the manufacture of Ready Seal would know whats best for his product. Everett keep quiet on this one!:D Thank you

Nick, You can try to use less efc-38 to see if that would eliviate your problem. Beth here on the board sells defurring pads. They go onto a 7 or 9 inch sander that looks like a buffer machine for cars. This works great at removing the fuzzies.

That should be working for you in less than an hour. I use a bucket and stir the the solution before using it. The water will absorb only so much so you may still have crytals or powder left in the bottom. Dont be shy about applying to the surface. I very rarely rinse it off. Where in Blackwood do you live? I work that area alot for my full-time job. Maybe we could get together and compare some notes.

James, I understand what you are saying. However in the court of law I would have been the cause to make the damage happen. Even if its a problem that was allready there. This is where a thorough inspection of the premise is to our benefit and make sure its written down on the estimate that is signed by both you and the homeowner. Even If I saw this I never would have dreamed this would have happened. This little incident has me really thinking about becoming an LLC. All I would need is my liabiltiy insurance not cover something like this and loosing what I do have from my years of working. My lawyer keeps telling me I cant loose my house but I am really not sure I want to find out.

If its taking an hour for it to work I think your solution is to weak. How are you mixing it?

Yes this happened from water getting into the outlet. The water shorted out the circuit and popped the breaker. When the home owner reset the breaker he said he heard some popping noises and the breaker tripped again. Then he was able to reset it aftrewards. I did not find out that he heard any kind of noise untill lastnight when I went back to replace the outlet cover with a new one. I wish he said something when I was doing the job there in the first place.