RyanH

From personal experience, the best way to get into it is to find small business that are in the construction phase and hang around the site trying to get in touch with the owners or local managers. Law firms, churches, doctors offices, banks, contracting firms, etc. are pretty good places to start looking. They are generally small, require little time, and will pay well relative to the time you put into them. Stay away from large established companies at first because they will generally look only for well-established cleaning contractors. If you know any people who work in office settings, ask them to find out when the current contractors' contracts are up for review or rebids and submit before that time. And FOLLOW UP on this...don't expect to get a contract on one contact only. Good example: a company has been trying for over two years to take over an account I currently service. They have been calling the HR people every 6 weeks asking if they are still satisfied. I'm getting out of the business in the next three months or so, so it will be available then. Who do you think the company will contact first to receive a bid? They're not going to pick up the yellow pages...they're going after the guy who has shown constant interest. Just an idea....

Try moving a floater over a long distance and you'll appreciate wheels.

Paul, check into the wireless cards or PDAs Verizon offers. The PDA has a dedicated number, can be had for about $40/month, and can be connected to a computer. you can use your computer to send/receive faxes. Hell, many PDAs can even receive a fax now, save it as an image, and upload it to your computer with ease. Just don't tell them you'll be using it for anything business. Landlines are going the way of the dinosaurs. They're just too limited. And I don't think the yellowpages will turn down advertisement income because you don't have a landline.

Deep cell marine battery with as many Amp-hours as you can afford, or atleast as many as you feel you will need in a day. Good way to tell...take the amperage draw from your pump, multiply it by how long you think you will be using it (2,3,5,8 hours???), and divide by 0.75 as a good measure, and you will get an approximation of the amp-hour range you should look into.

Not sure how the economics of the Augusta area work, but on the Atlanta southside I noticed increased demand once grass started turning green again. It's a basic understanding of sociology I guess..people get outside and notice that their houses are looking pretty shabby and want them straightened up to fly right. The second week of March is when my call frequency peaked last year, but I was just doing neighborhood newsletters, though. No data on yellow pages or other advertisement forms.

Also, to help agitation, don't mix at a 90 degree angle...mixers work better when the shaft is inclined to about 60 degrees. If you have access to a welder you can easily make an extension shaft out of rebar...you might want to paint first if using a caustic.

By the way they are covering this "Ice Storm 2005" you'd think the end days were here. Reporters are actually out in the field covering every area of metro-Atlanta (which takes up about half the STATE!!) holding their mics to the ground and stomping the frozen grass so we littlings can see the wild world out there. The area gets completely shut down and these clowns raid the stores for every non-perishable item they can get their lemming hands on. Arghh!!! No wonder you Yankees think we're such goobers down here and react to ice the way we do. Here's what the area looks like after this "ice storm." Granted, it may be more in the mountain area; but, in the city, this overreaction is just plain goofy.

My point exactly. Actually, the ice did get quite a bit worse on the trees and lines...knocked power out for most of the weekend. Roads still weren't bad, though. We went out to the stores and restaraunts that actually stayed open and enjoyed the lack of crowded places and traffic. Only had to do 4WD once and that was crossing an intersection where I didn't want to spin the back end around.

Xjet reduced my need for any extension wand by about 90%. Now I just use it when I need more directed pressure on tough applications like chimney vents. Just a note in case you haven't given that a try yet.

Can't agree with you there....I've been using cell phones while driving for over 5 years now and have never had any problem paying attention. The problem is too many stupid people are using them and can't prioritize...driving first, everything else second. I do give other drivers a hard time if they don't use an earpiece, though.

How about posting some of those awesome two-tone pics you used to have up here? I guess they disappeared in the last upgrade. I need some ideas for my own deck (and I'm not that creative to go from scratch)!!

And one that for some reason most people never think of... If you are going to be impatient and pull out in front of someone, make damn sure you accelerate such that they don't have to apply their brakes. And go AT LEAST the posted speed limit on the road. There's nothing I hate more than when someone pulls out with a load and there is no one behind me and now I'm forced to go according to their driving comfort.

Windows XP also has the ability to show image files (JPG definitely, most likely GIF and BMP also) in a slide show format...just dump them all in one folder and select "Slide Show" as the view. Makes them full screen and it looks really nice.

From experience, 4gpm is not enough for flatwork. It works fine when cleaning houses, though. I've never encountered a situation where 3600 psi wasn't enough to accomplish what I wanted when washing houses (I usually require much less)....so spend your $1000 on a machine that can provide 5gpm at 3000 psi. you can daisy chain a hot box later and mount the motor/pump on a skid for a more professional look if you decide to continue with the game.

I'll see if Amanda (wife) will take a look at the history of this thread and comment. She's pretty smart with the legal stuff (been doing paralegal work for almost 6 years). She'll know the procedures and what comes next in various situations and may can tell you what to expect. Ryan

GI (government-issued) used to mean high quality when it came to military apparel. Now, it looks like AI (asian imports) are the preferred stock of our boys in combat. Snagged this off MSN. Looking at it again, it looks like a bomb technician's vest. I guess in case he has to run!!!

Buy your own enclosed trailer for $4k. Steal someone else's open trailer, offload everything into your enclosed, then dump their trailer, sans fingerprints of course. Hey, it IS an option, albeit not a very ethical one. You wanted solutions, you got one. Personally, though, if I was serious enough about the business and had everything else lined up, I wouldn't let a nickel hold up a dollar. I don't know what you mean by "lined up," but if you already have seriously potential clients or know your potential for income, look at it as an investment and go for it. After all, if you are looking at $5k (which, after the research I did, is a little unreasonable considering the type of equipment you want), then really going up to $10k isn't going to hurt you in the long run. It may *sound* difficult, but is often a necessity. All investments have a pay-off period and rarely will you buy something and not have a period where you will feel some discomfort in having to pay for it. Something you *can* consider is buying the washer and a cheap trailer and just load whatever extra crap you need in it and deal with the inefficiency until you save enough money to buy a better trailer. Trailers rarely depreciate much in value (which is why you're having such a difficult time finding one), so resell it and by a bigger one. No one ever has all money they need up front when starting a business, so start with the bare essentials, suffer the extra time it will take you to do the work, then reinvest in YOURSELF. If you are sincere in your effort to succeed, you won't regret it.

I've read about how wonderful the specialty chemicals for stripping stain from decks are. Are they equally suitable for furniture? I'm wondering if I can strip stained antique furniture with good results (sanding and touching up afterwards, of course). Using the paint thinners and volatile strippers is such a nasty mess that if I can use other methods I'd love too. Anyone every tried or seen this?

Cujo... Have you read Atlas Shrugged? You'd like it.

Might try Xcrete from Extreme Solutions (or Xstreme solutions). It's designed to soften concrete on cement trucks and such.

Anybody had experience with Hardiplank siding? Either that you have owned or serviced? I was curious about the propensity for mold/mildew growth, ease of keeping clean, etc. Amanda (wife) and I think we have finally found a house to buy and it has this type of siding on it. Just curious about what's in store for the future. Somehow my own property always gets neglected when it comes to cleaning...I'm so quick to run out and do others!!! Thanks a bunch! Ryan

We are building in a new neighborhood. Got to pick out the lot (best one in the entire hood as far as we're concerned) and make some minor changes to the house plans. Also get to choose colors, but the hardiplank is standard on the sides. From what I've seen, it comes in a basic cement-gray, looks sort of like bondo. I'll ask about the pre-finished color. The builders want a tonne of money (that's a little more than a ton :) ) to extend the deck, so they are going to attach the anchor bolts and fastening board to the house as they put up the siding so I can do with it what I want when I'm ready to build the deck. Amanda has a double-decker in mind...I don't know if that'll be feasible or not. But, atleast this will give me some latitude to do some really cool designs.

Good enough. Thanks!!

You can buy it at most hardware stores. HD sells it by the box in powder form and is usually located in the paint section. You *can* mix it with bleach and it will work on a roof. Bearing in mind that there is hydroxide present in the mix, whether or not you *should* will be at your discretion. Do a search on this board (ano others) for "sodium hydroxide" or SH and you will see many discussions on its application to roof cleaning. From personal experience, I've found that the difference it makes in house and roof washing is insignificant. Bleach and a little soap mixed with water seems to be my best combination for houses. Application of 6% (final concentration) bleach seems to be my best tool for an awesome looking roof.