rholman

i'm new to downstreaming and I just wanted to see what you downstreamers would do. Would you put the injector at A or B? Also, I will be primarily a one-man show at 8gpm. The shutoff valves and tee are for those times when i bring a helper and we can shift to 2 guns at 4gpm. Would you use 1/2" jumper hose from the PW to the tee? Or is that not necessary? Also, i'm assuming that it would be impossible(with this setup) to downstream with one gun and rinse with the other, but please correct me if I am wrong. I ordered a General Hi-Draw injector from Bob at pressuretek in case that info helps.

Latex paint currently....customer wants to go with a solid white stain...I'm worried about the verticals. Paint started peeling within a year(poor prep probably)How would you guys attack this job? stripper? sander? primer? I called sherwin williams and all they carry is latex solid stain...should i go with cabot oil? or is latex better for this job?

Ken....do you think Cabot oil primer is best? Does Cabot make a solid latex stain? I might have mis-read your previous post....I was prepared to go with Cabot for both the primer and topcoat....is that ok?

thanks guys for all the advice! I pressure washed the deck today. I used the TSP/Bleach mix.....first i used a turbo nozzle on the paint chips(kept it far away as to not do any damage).....Next I applied chemical....let dwell for 15 minutes....powerwashed with a 40 degree nozzle and a dual lance.....to my suprise the paint on the floor board held in quite a few spots. I forgot to take pictures however....I may run over there tomorrow to take some....anyway the paint is bright white again and ready to stain. I have a few questions....I don't remember the last time i used a solid stain, so i would like as much input as possible.... (1) do i need to sand the wood to taper in between paint and bare wood? (2) should i use an airless to apply primer? Roller? (3) do i need to apply multiple coats of primer on bare wood? Primer over the entire deck after that? My main concern is to make sure the floor doesn't look blotchy where the paint held and then i will stain over top. I planned on using the Cabot primer and solid oil stain. What are the advantages of acrylic? By the way i bid this job at $1,500(so stripping it to bare wood was not an option)Please help...thanks!

i'm assuming that i will have to neutralize with citralic after using the TSP/bleach mixture?....just making sure.

what does the fabric softener do? I will more than likely shurflo the chem on so what would be the correct ratio on your mix? I thought hot water was a big no no? Is it ok when stripping paint? Ken.....thanks for the ratio on the bleach & TSP!

also...so it's ok to put an oil based solid stain over top of latex paint?

cool....thanks ken....what kind of ratios are you talking for the tsp/bleach? what's the easiest/best tool for scraping the floor?

ok i'm confused... what exactly has changed?...I haven't gotten in trouble here so i don't know the whole process. It just sounds like the rules are still the rules and you aren't going to track infractions with an automated system any longer. Is that the jist?

just to be clear.....i never mentioned Ed. I am against the $99 housewash advertising crap however. Fine print is BS! So if someone has fine print to cover their a$$ then it is ok? Teaser rates/deceptive advertising is just a gimmick that works for a few. The newbies come into the industry believing that this is the way to get business. Why? because the other guy is advertising $99 house washes. Then guess what? They'll advertise $89 house washes! It's a vicious cycle that just confuses the public and lowers the going rate in this industry. Has anyone ever tested their return rate on advertising using different "hot buttons"? Words like quality, dependable, professional, certified, experienced, reliable, etc... are the type of advertising hot buttons we should focus on instead of just putting a teaser rate in our ads. I don't respect companies who puke rates in their advertising. It's a tell-tale sign of being desperate for work. Can you blame a prospect for questioning your price of $250 if they keep seeing $99 housewash advertising? No!

Barry & Apple, Well said! I have always despised these lowballers, but never really wanted to waste much time in confronting them or asking them "what the hell are you thinking?" The great thing about these forums is that I can easily write a post and put my concerns out there. I haven't wasted any time....just lesiure time and it is actually good for them to hear it. I don't doubt that "some" of these lowballers know what they are doing as far as technique, but they just need to change their tactics(advertising/pricing). If I was at a roundtable with a lowballer(deceptive advertiser) i would call him out on it. And so would many others out there. This thread is exactly that....WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING?

wow, I left for a couple hours and there were like 10 posts since!..... The whole point of using mortgages as an example is (1) it's something that is in the news and you are witnessing what "questionable" sales tactics have done to many thousands of people nationwide(it affects cutomers and the companies) (2) Sales techniques that are obviously bait n switch should be condemned. (3) I just got out of the mortgage business after 2.5 years(12 years of pressurewashing prior) and I LEARNED real quick how you can manipulate people into believing a lie just to get them hooked and then spring the truth on them later. After 12 years of pressure washing I must have lived a sheltered life because I wasn't aware that crap was really going on. I was shocked that the "professionals" in the industry were misleading their customers from day one. It comes down to this....if your FIRST contact with a customer is based on a little white lie(ie. $99 housewash) then what does that say about your character? To me it's a no-brainer.....if you have to resort to bait n switch then you are either scum OR you are letting the market turn you into scum. I'm not into telling people what they want to hear.....I'm into telling them what they need to hear. Instead of misleading people yearly and not getting a high return of referrals or repeat business, why don't you take the time to build a good reputation for quality and you won't have to advertise so hard in the years to come. Just like mortgages....those guys HAVE TO keep advertising because nobody is calling them back because they screwed their customers in the past. Why advertise a lie? makes no sense to me.

Seems to me ALOT like the mortgage companies who call you and tell you that you are approved for a 1% 30 yr loan without EVER pulling your credit or talking to you. Now, I can tell you that it's all BS, BUT they justify it because they can break the bad news to them later and they also say(behind the scenes)..."well I'm still getting them the best deal." OR "what are they going to do? Walk away from the closing table when they are waiting to get $10,000 cashout?" Just because people are making money doing this crap doesn't make it right. If you think your some kind of awesome businessman just because you spend big $$ on deceptive advertising and happen to get upsells on some of those then you've got another thing coming. Trying to justify your "means" by your "end" is ridiculous. You are no better than those slick-talking loan officers out there that have caused so much trouble in the mortgage industry. Now look at them....the customers are hurting....the loan officer is either struggling or has moved on to another profession. And the government will probably have to step in and bail people out. Well, at least the mortgage companies made alot of money before they WENT OUT OF BUSINESS! Do what you gotta do, but don't expect the PROFESSIONALS to get along with you.

is this some kind of ghost town? lol I have witnessed first-hand that when you have an under-sized tip that the rest of the flow goes through the bypass hose into the ag tank. I don't however know whether that is bad for the unloader or not. I actually remember like 10 years ago when i first learned about the bypass going into the tank, that this PW company told me that you should set your unloader to the point that when you have the trigger pulled that there should be a "slight trickle" of water going through the bypass hose back into the tank. Now, was that a load of BS? I don't know. They told me that it cuts down on wear and tear from switching back and forth from bypass to full pressure by keeping that bypass open a "little". I would be really interested to hear if anyone else follows that advice.

I've ran 2 guns off an 8gpm machine in the past and you can definitely tell when the other guy lets off the trigger. I will play around with it and let you know what i find out. I was trying to shorten the learning curve on DSing part of it. I am going to guess that I should just stick to 1 injector and call it good. Deck cleaning with 2 guns is really most practical on the flatwork part. It is frustrating to do spindles and have your distance set and pressure and then the other guy lets go of his trigger. As far as tip-sizing....4.5's on each gun...and dual lances. that way i can turn the handle instantly to adjust the pressure when the other guy lets off and vice versa. The beauty of these forums is that you can bounce ideas off others before you go out and waste time on the jobsite. Thanks for the info!

i gotta admit I didn't think about that. I got the injector today and I installed one because that's all i had ordered before i posted this thread originally. I got the 5-8gpm version. Since they are relatively cheap should i get 2 lower gpm models? I have 3 turbo nozzles (8gpm, 4gpm & 4gpm) for when i switch from 1 gun to 2 guns, but do injectors work along the same lines. i would think so. Also, what if I just use a 4.5 nozzle with a dual lance with my 8gallon machine....will I get even better concentration with my 5-8gpm injector?

good thinking...i will definitely use quick couplers on the injector. How long do they last anyway? What are the tell-tale signs it's "going" bad?

thanks Eric....That is a great idea to have 2 injectors. And I agree with the 1/2" jumper hose....I have doubted my decision to go with 3/8" since day one. I can justify getting 1/2" because I can keep the 3/8 for a "backup".

Let's try 4 choices instead. I'm thinking it might not be a bad idea to keep the chemicals further away from the shutoff valves(for longevity). I'm thinking C! What do you think?

$1800 + $600= $2400?

that's some funny "stuff"! I suppose there are MANY muscular powerwash guys in the world. Probably twins.

is the contractor even using a stripper? It seems to me that he knows that it won't get any better because he is only using water. He is worried if he gets closer to the wood that it will chew up the wood. The chemical he is using should be doing the work(depending on dwell time)....not the pressure. If he was in-and-out in 20 minutes then that means NO DWELL TIME!! Fire the hack. He's either a rookie or just hasn't learned the right techniques. I would be willing to bet that he thinks the pressure does the work. Did he hype up the psi of his machine when he did his sales pitch? OR he is using a real dilluted mix and then dilluting it even more when he downstreams. Sounds like he is clueless!

I bought an Alkota 8305 that is going to be in an enclosed trailer. The dealer i bought it from is hardly computer literate and is on the verge of going out of business. Anyway, the exhaust burner adapter that supposedly costs $130 looked like some cobble job....I need to know if there is a manufacturer that makes these adapters out of stainless steel and/or custom made for an alkota 8305....I think the adapter looks like crap and almost told the guy to get lost, BUT I have been waiting 2 months to get this machine and am ready to work. i have seen some 'clean' adapters in some past threads, but can't remember where. thanks for your help.

kevin, i would be real interested in seeing a pic of your lift-up utility door....that sounds like a great idea!

I am pretty much trusting Alkota on this one....my understanding is that they custom made this adapter specifically for the 8305. I'm not sure if they had adapters for their lower GPM machines already or not, but I think that they will be offering this adapter to their customers in the future. The adapter does have a very small gap where it meets the coil housing cover(or whatever you call the thing), but probably not enough to help with up-air. If I would have went with the double 45 degree design then I think I would have insisted on a gap. Also, the pipe goes through the roof with NO COVER on the top so it is virtually unrestricted. Any rain that comes down through the pipe will come out the bottom drain hoses of the coil. I am "hoping" that when I route the engine exhaust through the vent also that that will cause up-air. I could be totally wrong about that though. I have always used open trailer units so this whole deal has been a learning experience for me. I will fire it up tomorrow and see what happens. thanks guys for all your input