n4rb

Just curious as to how everybody got started in the pressure washing business, and what your first steps were & equipment. Honestly, I became interested one day when my mother called a company in my area to pressure wash her house, the guy did a horrible job and I thought to myself I can do this, and I can do it a heck of a lot better. Couple of days later I started researching a little bit, and went and bought one of those small Pressure Washers from Home Depot. I did a couple of houses for people I knew and thats basically how it all got started.... So ... what's your story? :)

For cleaning vinyl I use All Brite from SunBrite Supply. I mix 7 gallons of water, 1 gallon of cleaner, and 2 gallons of 12.5% Sodium Hypochloride. Works like a dream on Mold etc. You mentioned 4 gallons of bleach, and 1 gallon of water ... wow :O Im pretty sure it works very well, but you don't need that much. And I highly suggest using cleaner too (like Power House or All Brite from SunBrite Supply, or Simple Cherry from PressureTek) I also use an X-Jet though, I don't downstream. and 1 1/2 hours - 2 hours for a 2,500 sq. ft. house sounds about right with the right equipment and chemicals, afterall, if you get the right mix, its a matter of soaking the house, and just rinsing it off ;)

Has anybody here ever used this product from SunBrite? If so, how do you dilate it (if at all) Thanks for any help! (I forgot to get my guy to ask Nichole from Sunbrite, my mistake!)

Honestly I have no idea about wood, since we do not mess with wood. On the other hand, before you do ANY customers job. Try it out on your own wood deck first. Nothing could be worse than listening to everybody's advice, and you "thinking" you follow it, and *poof*, your customers whole deck is a mess. So I would suggest you try it on your own wooden deck first, or anything else, just don't make your customer the first one for you to experience "wood staining" on .. just my .02 cents =]

I mixed it in a 5 gallon bucket (couldnt find a 10 gallon one, lol) and used: 3.5 gallons water, 0.5 gallons All Brite, and 1 gallon 12.5%. Worked like a dream!! Thanks for the response Tracy, and also thanks for the Quote!

yeah same here! plain white truck with black lettering and something else, havent seen them in a couple weeks. Crazy, I thought they were a small local company too, lol.

Im not trying to change the subject, but the topic mis-lead me, lol. We have a company around here called "Two men and a truck". Their a moving company though ;) But back on topic, sometimes I see those wooden signs that only have "pressure washing (xxx) xxx-xxxx" I'd love to just rip it down when I see one, but one day ima have to just call the number and see whats up, matter of fact, I might ask for an estimate and watch that fool. lol.

I def. say yes to this one. Too many people do it nowadays without licensing or certification, they screw things up, and then it looks bad on every power washer, because the consumer than thinks "pressure washing is dangerous and messes up my property" ... not good. So im all for it, as a matter of fact, I wouldn't mind if you had to have certification in order to get a business license. Just my .01 cent, the other one I lost earlier ;p

XIII. Chemical Usage: No chemicals can be used during the cleaning process. Interesting.

$2 / gallon from SunBrite

Out? In?:lolsign:

Hey everybody, got a quick question, what is the best way to estimate a fence? I got about 30 cents per sq. ft. but does that sound about right? They want me to do an estimate on appx. 300 yards of Wooden fence, 1 side only, probably untreated (looks untreated, just like normal wood), 6 ft high. Also in front of it, is about 300 yards of vinyl fence, I attached some pics for reference, sorry I dont have close-ups of the wooden fence (yet) because my camera died :P Also what about chemicals? I was thinking about using just normal Vinyl House Wash which I use to clean houses with on the vinyl fence, but on the wooden fence ... ? I have never done a wood fence before. March 1st. We have a class in our area about Wood Restoration etc. but if I get enough advice on here before that, I could test it out on my wood fence to see results. Thanks!!! :)

Ok, finally was able to go and take some more pictures, got me a new phone too ;) The BlackBerry 8310 Curve ... what a phone! These pics were taken with it by the way. Anyways, I measured it all out and took pics, judging from the pics, what would YOU guys recommend as in chemicals? Also, Water is probably NOT available at the location, how much do you usually charge for that? Thanks!!!

Hmm, my calculation was flawed ridiculously .. haha. The fence part is about 300 yards, and the vinyl fence (as seen in the pics) is about 300 yards. Im going back out there today to exactly measure how many feet it is exactly, and take more pics. Ill respond later ton today. Thanks!

Yeah I was thinking about walking away from the wood, unless I can queue the job after March 8th,9th when im going to attend the Wood Restoration class by Alliance Trade Services. But then again, I might just pass up on the wood and keep specializing in vinyl/brick homes and commercial .... Wood might just be a little bit too tricky for me right now ;)

What product would you recommend for staining?

For the wood I was actually thinking just using my normal pressure washer and use low PSI to apply SafeWash Wood Cleaner from Sun Brite, and then follow up with #80 Brightener from Sun Brite. Anything else I would need, or better ideas? Really my main concern is the estimate. It about 600 yards, so about 2400 feet. 2400 * 0.30 = 720, does that sound about right? it sure does look like a lot of fence, lol ...

Oh, and here are the pics. Sorry about that.

Hey hey hey! Just curious if any one of you ladies & gentlemen know of a good company for Direct Mailing? I am thinking about sending out 1000-2000 "postcards" of sorts to my surrounding area. I need a mailing list and have found quiet I couple, but I would also need them to ship those cards out for me also. Is there such a company that does that? Thanks for any suggestion! -Pat

In The Grime Scene Arcade! n4rb is the new Chopper Challenge champion! 21:39, 19th Feb 2008 n4rb is the new Curveball champion! 19:56, 18th Feb 2008

Hey everybody, I know its been a while since I have posted, but I have a quick questions about Vinyl Sidings on homes. If I wash one, how well would it work if I mix 50/50 standard bleach and water? Or can anybody give me some tips on how to mix it? Thank you for any advice.

I use the M5 XJet. I just don't know the correct amount of mixture I should use for mold & mildew to come off the easiest. Thanks for the suggestions so far!

Hey everybody, Just curious to see what you would bid on this house, and how far I am off (I haven't been in this industry very long). It is a 2100 sq. ft. home, with ~80 linear feet around the whole house. I have attached some pictures of the house which I took with my Phones Camera, thats why it's not the best resolution, but I hope it helps, what I came up with is roughly $300. What do you think? Thanks for any input!!

Wow the people around here are cheap, lol, or maybe Im just bad at "selling". I think I quoted this guy like $298 and that was a no-go for him ... :-\

ha ha, jury rig the hose .... I guess I might just be fortunate that there are not really any other competitors in the area.