RyanH

Americans say "I'm hot" to describe a feeling of uncomfortably high body temperature, usually due to higher than desirable atmospheric temperature. Translated literally into german, one would say "Ich bin heiss." To a german, however, that statement translates back into the equivalent of "I'm horny." Now, if such a simple thing can be misconstrued between two etymologically similar languages, don't you think misconceptions can be made when tranlating from aramaic and other original biblical languages into present-day versions? And the fact that proper education was not widespread at the time, I'm sure we are not fully grasping the true meaning of what Peter, Paul, or Mary had to say at the time.

I think it's time to replace the oil in my pump, but I've misplaced the papers and don't recall what I put in to begin with. What suggestions do you guys have? AR pump, 4gpm, shaft drive. Thanks, Ryan

Well, I went to the house the yesterday and began the work. The lady returned before I could start on the driveway and said that she wanted to have some trees cut back then have me back out to do the driveway. Sooooo, no need to toss in the freebie (for anyone who has been keeping up with this issue of "giving" away services). Incidentally, she said that the guy that did it last time only charged about $150. After looking at my work, she could see why I charged $600. I guess the other guy knew nothing about removing gutter streaks and keeping the water from blasting under the windows sills and soaking the carpet, problems she said she had when he was "finished." Imagine the mess that would have caused with bleachy water!! Here's my big "Thank You" to everyone here who has pointed out these issues in the past and made me a better cleaner for it. RyanH

Ahhhh. Thanks. I always like to learn and add new things like that. I'm still tickled over FUBAR.

Like many folks here with a ShurFlo setup, my setup is made by clamping hoses together as opposed to quick connect fittings. So, what happens when your application wand breaks and you don't have an extra and you don't want to leave the site for another? Fortunately I have a few extra high-pressure lances in my trailer. The only problem is they have larger quick-connect fittings that aren't easily adaptable to the hose I use for the shurflo. BUT, cutting a 1/3" notch in the hose at the end, heating it (either with hot water or, in my case, exhaust from the engine) to make it more pliable, and cramming the hell out of the getup, you can squeeze the QC fitting into the hose. Use a hose clamp to keep it in place and a green tip (not sure the the # equivalent of that is) and the makeshift lance works pretty well. I used it with my extension pole and it was adequate to apply my gutter cleaner to the second floor gutters at low pressure (so as not to waste the stuff on the rest of the house). Just flush out the lance afterwards so as not to damage the higher quality seals. And the adage "If it don't fit, don't force it" doesn't apply here.......

I tried to find a replacement for the nice brass extension I had...nobody had anything close. There's a big Northern Tool about 40 miles from here I may try...the smaller store nearby doesn't carry them anymore.

Cujo, Okay, I'm familiar with the term "SWAG" but what's PFA? I can guess that it contains the words "pure" and "assumption" but not entirely sure. Care to clue me in? You can PM it if necessary, or allude to it. SWAG just sounds really cool.

Now Jon needs to get his browser to read stuff to him. Microsoft has that stuff worked out now...allegedly. The technology has been around for atleast 10 years that I know of.

Pam, Thanks. I've got to go by there in about 10 minutes anyway to pick up some gutter cleaner. I'll grab a quart.

cool. Thanks.

You might be able to get a shop to move the current axle back a little to accomodate two axles. I have seen trailers this size with two. Sounds like a good setup...I"m jealous. I want hot water now.

patzpw, dOES tHE tERM "tONGUE iN cHEEK" mEAN aNYTHING tO yOU? bESIDES, iF yOU dO eNCOUNTER tHESE sITUATIONS, iN aNY aREA, tHE pOINT rEMAINS vALID.

buy the rig and take it to somplace to add an extra axle as that 225 gal tank will bend it the first you drag it over a speed bump. Is it a hot washer?

Yep (on the matter of pride). what I put was kind of a spoof on the "You might be a redneck if...." line by Foxworthy. But I sill think there were some valid points (evidence of bias?). It is aggravating when the person for whom you are cleaning truly wants a clean house and the neighbors let their's go to waste. I've also been in a subdivision where the homes ran about $400 k (I wouldn't have given half that for them, but that's another story)...customers wanted their patios cleaned, but completely ignored the black streaked gutters and greenies on the walls. It's crazy man.

Okay, this will probably **** some people off and offend others, but this is brutally true and honest and I don't think anyone can dispute it. Drive throught he mobile home lot and look at 1.) the cars and 2.) the yard. If the cars are multi-colored and one of those colors looks remarkably like Bondo, it might be a money waster. If the cars have body parts held on by old wire hangars, rope, stretch cables, plastic tie offs, it might be a money waster. Excessive rust spots, old, peeling window tint, failing and falling roof liner (inside) also indicate a potential lack of interest in having clean things. If you see toys or car parts strung over the lot in a haphazard manner, you might wanna pass. If the grass is mid-calf high, or has more dirt than grass on what is supposed to be a lawn, you might wanna pass. Also, if temps are regularly in the 50's or less and you still see one of those blue plastic 20" deep pools you can grab at Walmart for $9.99 on the ground that's also an indicator. You can tell alot about people's desire to maintain their property by how the easy stuff is maintained. Why would someone put $150+ into washing their home when they don't take the 15 minutes to pick up the yard or cut the grass? Again, the PC thing to do in this emotionally softened and sheltered culture is to never profile, but in business you have to. The same statements above can just as easily be made for homes or apartments. Now, in neighborhoods where these conditions are dominant, you will likely find a diamond in the rough who does want a clean home...I've encountered plenty of them and the owners are more than willing to pay for high quality, but the neighbor with the algae-infested roof and whose siding is a breeding ground for 8 new types of green stuff wouldn't give any more consideration to having their's done than a politician would to telling the truth. But, Mike does have a point in that if you discount your price in hopes to stay busy in the same area all day, you may have a decent shot.

The wife is more cranky when she gets home now! I agree with the problems of starting up at 7am...I do feel kind of bad about the neighbors. Bad for my janitorial business also as most of the bosses generally come and go with the sun...before the time change when it's dark until after 7:30, nobody shows before 8:15 or so, so I have a little play room. Now, people show up around 7:15, so I've got to be even earlier and faster to avoid being in their way.

Ah....Defender. Those were the days. Of course, I was 4 at the time, but I played that game all night long at my grandmother's house when she'd keep me.

Something else... if the homes have metal siding, you will have to be careful with your pressure so as not to wash the paint away. This stuff is generally pretty thin (especially on older ones) and can come off without too much effort. A 24" or 36" wide broom with soft bristles can make quick work of one of these things. I'm guessing that, neglecting windows, doors, decks, and possible lattice work, you should be able to get a double-wide done in less than 20 minutes.

Talk to the super...sometimes they have neighborbood covenants requiring certain standards to be maintained (even in mobile home communities, where on wouldn't normally expect it). I spoke with a guy who owned three parks in Florida and he had a requirement that all property dwellers had to maintain a clean appearance, and dirt/green stuff was included. I think he had a contracted company to take care of the properties at a discount to the renters. Perhaps you could see if this particular one has similar circumstances.

Normally, my practice is not to give services away; this is poor business practice under most circumstances. In this situation, however, the customer will not know ahead of time the extra services I will provide. Perhaps it's her specific situation that makes me not mind giving a little for free, or perhaps it's just getting "that time of year" where people do abnormal things for the sake of their intrinsic gratification. Doesn't really matter. I wasn't trying to start a whole debate with this post, I was just wondering if anybody ever gave away any services for the purpose of enhancing others' perceptions. Jeez...I figured I'd get MUCH more response from the post with the "upgraded" version of Havin' a Blast's logo. :banana: Oh well...it's good to hear everyone's opinion. They're very valuable.

My reasons for "giving" these services away: 1.) The person owns one business and has interest in several locales in the area, so I will be able to put business cards in these stores. 2.) She is very well known in her (used to be mine) church, of which many real-estate agents, lawyers, and doctors are members. 3.) She is very active in her community. She (and a dozen other residents) have had other cleaners out to their houses and have done awful jobs (literally high pressure and nothing else, even on window sills). A high quality job giving high curb appeal to her house (second from the entrance) will definitely get others' attention. 4.) $300 of this is a factor I put in for roofs....there aren't any roof cleaners in the area (advertised or otherwise), so I put this in because I can (supply/demand). Also, generally it's there for a safety factor, but this house won't be too difficult (not with my new kick-a$$ setup). 5.) I have nothing better to do that day, and it will only end up costing an extra $15 or so in chemicals and 4 or 5 hours. Not a bad investment in my opinion for the return I expect. Sure, the argument can be made that if I supply high enough quality that should be sufficient for her to tell others. 6.) (and this will just be icing on the cake, I'm not banking on this) She owns a very prominent jewelry store, and I know from dealing with other business owners that they are more than willing to trade services for services. She has already hinted at trading jewelry for services, so this is a viable possibility (well, the wife atleast would be happy for that, I'm not big on the icy stones). I don't like doing complete trade-offs for service as bills still have to be paid, but doing a situation where I can benefit in both ways isn't a bad deal. Bottom line, giving the services away won't hurt me in any way, and I don't believe they will be a detriment to my credibility in the future. I already have the job for house, so I'm not dropping prices to win the bid. I see tradeoff value in offering the extra services. Besides, I'm doing these things without her knowledge beforehand. She'll be away at work all day, so the news will only come when she gets home and the job is done. Also, she came by way of a personal recommendation, she has known me for years although I've never met her (like I said, I used to be a member of the church, but being a kid/teenager you typically don't notice everyone else even though they notice you), so a good impression will solidify her opinion of me. --edit-- And, I'm not in competition for work on this property nor area as other contractors have already proven their ineptitude.

Not which one you *should* use. I just know that mine doesn't seem to clean well enough unless i walk slllooooooowwwwwww. The spinners don't spend enough time in a given area to effectively clean. With a smaller diameter, they will make more passes over the same area in a given amount of time. What happens is I notice faint swirl marks or rows of uneven coverage unless my walk time is very slow. This is the case on 9 out of 10 driveways...I'm sure it is different on different surfaces. Incidentally, the pressure/flowrate pressure washer I use is the absolute minimum recommended by Steel Eagle for the 30" bar, so I'm not disappointed in the spinner quality or Steel Eagle products, I just realize that it's the minimum recommendation for a reason. 24" would work better I believe. I think 20" would scream.

I include windows with the house wash, but I avoid doing them by themselves. Nobody is willing to pay the price I think it's worth to gather the equipment and go to the site.

Avoid the 30" cleaners....my similarly powered washer does not work very well with the 30". Go smaller, perhaps 24"

How about throwing some stuff for "free?" I've got a job next week for a lady. She and her husband own a rather successful jewelry store, but he has recently had some pretty serious medical complications and it will cost them roughtly $30k *after* insurance and other things kick in their share. Anyway, the bid for her house alone was almost $600 and the total for house, roof, and driveway was around $1100. She says she can only afford the house currently. I think I'm going to surprise her by doing the whole thing anyway and only charging for the house. Reasoning: she has some well-off neighbors who need their houses done (she says they have been needing it for quite some time and can't find quality people to do quality work). She also has many contacts through repeat business in her own business, people are also rather well-off. Would throwing in $500 worth of work for free be a bad idea? Because of my setup, it won't take me but an extra 3 or 4 hours, but i think I'll sleep better at night knowing that i gave her a complete job rather than a really high quality house, which she sees only after driving over a nasty driveway. And I'll tell her that her word and referrals will be payment for the additional work. I've got no worries about her appreciating my quality.