RyanH

Paul, it sounds like what you are suggesting will one day lead to a type of union for pressure washers. As far as that idea goes, I say not only no but HELL NO!!! (I have my own reasons for disliking unions). As far as your comment about the IRS losing jobs---GREAT!!! Nothing I'd like better than to see that bloated division of the government downsized considerably. I don't like the idea of any entity creating more need for itself. And as far as the taxes on items drastically increasing the cost of the items, consider this: When you go to the store to pay for a banana, you see only one price. That banana, however, had to be grown on some piece of property, managed by some person, harvested by some person and some type of equipment, packaged in some type of material, loaded onto some type of vehicle, shipped to a store where it must be stocked by some other person. The amount of taxes tied up into that one banana is quite enormous. You have income taxes, social security taxes, etc. paid on every individual who had their hands in the process of growing that banana to putting into your grocery cart. The sales taxes on the fuel required for the vehicles had a sales tax on it (as well as any income taxes on the people who had their hands in processing the fuel, and building the vehicle, and making the parts to build the vehicle......). The land on which the banana was grown had property taxes imposed on it by the local government. The producers pass those costs right along to your hungry hands. So many taxes you are already paying for in the store for that banana before you even pay your state and local sales taxes. From I remember, somewhere around 23% of the cost of almost every product is for the accumulated taxes. By eliminating all of the income and property taxes along the line, 23% of the cost can be saved. The idea proposed by a few senators was to do this and then impose a 24% sales tax on all goods. Mathematically, this comes out to be somewhere around a 1% increase in the cost of goods, but you get to keep ALL OF YOUR INCOME, not only 60 - 80% of it like the tax payers do now. But the "poor" people won't vote for this because they don't understand the current tax burden on the tax payers. Sorry for the off-topic rants. Ryan H., who believes that *most* poor people are poor because they make the choice to be poor.

I chose to not do the tax-exempt route because I don't want to be responsible for keeping track of the taxes. I pay the sales taxes up front to the store and let them handle that work. The only thing I charge for is my "service," meaning I don't factor the cost of the materials into the job when I give an estimate, much like you wouldn't factor the cost of the paper on which your invoice is printed into your overall cost to your customers. I pay taxes to the state/feds in the form of income taxes. All of my equipment/supplies are considered business expenses and are factored into my overall budget as a deduction. As for the business license, I do my business in several counties and even more cities, so being licensed by a single county or city doesn't make much sense. I do not have a "place of business;" i.e., I do not have a business site which is accessible by the public (I work out of my house). The trailer and truck bave tags, on which I pay property taxes each year. I figure the counties get enough in taxes from them. Now, in the next few weeks I will be going to an accountant to get set up as a small corporation, so whatever he/she suggests I do in the way of licensing and taxes, I will do. Now, my little rant. If income taxes were eliminated on EVERYTHING and EVERYONE (rich, poor, ugly, nice, etc.), I think we would see more businesses grow and flourish. When I vote, I don't vote along any particular party line, I vote for the candidates who want to see a sales tax imposed on everything. That way, taxes have to be paid, simply, and nobody has to worry about tax accountability in growing their business. Done ranting. Ryan H.

I used to work in a purchasing/receiving department of a company when I was in high school. The typical invoice had a line at the bottom giving finance charges at 30-day intervals for past due invoices. I think it went something like 30 days past due: 1.5% 60 days past due: 3% 90 days past due: 6% - 10% (this was to REALLY get their attention). But this still does not solve the problem of a non-payer. I'm with One Call.....have a lien placed on their property. You could "threaten" to take it to small claims court and report to credit bureaus and see what happens. Whatever, plan a course of action and stick to it. Nothing shows more indecisiveness than wobbling around on your goal. I would not negotiate with her; it starts a bad precedent. Ryan H.

Don't know about the wacky laws in CA, but in GA the license is typically a business license. There is no licensing for pressure washing itself, but the city wants a business license. From what I have learned in talking to others, this is purely a tax-related requirement. The city wants to be able to tax a business on all of its assets and functions, and licensing is an easy way to track businesses. Most banks will not allow you to open a business account without a business license. I happened to find one that does and I will be going there this week to give them my business. I will not get licensed unless I see some personal benefit to it. On my advertisement, I only list "fully insured." Unfortunately, there is a herd mentality with people on this. Once they see cleaners listed as "Licensed and Insured," they will question--and most likely not contact--others not toting the "licensed" portion. Just my few thoughts. Ryan H.

This is one of those cases where your first gut intuition is right.

Hmmm. Ron's picture looks like a Billy Bob Thornton with a little of Keifer Sutherland thrown in for spice. BTW, Billy Bob is one of my favorite actors, so don't take it too badly! Ryan H.

Wendy, Hampton is about 30 miles south of Atlanta. Not too much to speak of in Hampton itself (in the way of PW business), but there are some larger cities neighboring it. Ryan H.

Wendy, I've never had that issue come up. I do a pretty good job of "shooting the bull" with my customers before I ever do the job, so I kind of figure out how to present myself before going to do the cleaning. When I show up to give my quote, I always show up in clean, decent clothes and a clean, shiny truck. My customers realize that pressure washing is a dirty job, and don't expect me to dress the same when actually doing the job. I have actually had customers say that they envy me for being able to wear shorts on the job. Ultimately, my professional image is related to the job I do, not how I dress to get the job done. Take school, for example. My professors generally like the presentations I give and the organization of my work. If only they knew that I was usually nude when I did the initial calculations and homework at home...................... I realize image if very important. That is why I'm saving up to get a nice looking equipment setup. My equipment does everything I need, but it doesn't look the most professional. But I also think that my comfort and my ability to comfortably do a job, and to do the job with the best quality around, is more important than what I have on my feet. And they always laugh when I pull on my hat and give them a big "let's get it done" smile. So that's good. Ryan H.

Jon, I have only done a few commercial windows, but they were in rather difficult locations. I charged something like $10-$15 per window. Each window was 4' wide x 6' high. The reason I charged so much was the safety factor. It only took about 1 minute per window, but it took 10 minutes to get to each window. I had to set up a ladder and secure it on a 50-60 degree slope beside the windows, which were 15-20 feet above the ground. Talk about stress-sweat!!!! I sold it as part of a pressure washing job, so the total profit was pretty good. Like others have said, it is SO cheap to do windows. I use the ZEP tinted window cleaner because it is alcohol-based and evaporates very quickly and leaves no streaks. I also do them for my residential customers, but I include it as part of the house-washing. I had (initially) some customers question why I had certain things that were included in the house wash and not others. Example: Gutters and siding, but not windows or trim. So, I now sell a total wash package. I don't give an option of washing the siding and not the windows. They never see the price breakdown. My final price may be a little higher than my competitors, but my customers like the fact that they don't have to worry about the final result. When I tell them all that is included in their price, it looks like (and is) a lot more than the local competition does!! But, you asked for price. I usually charge around $2 for the bottom windows, up to $5-$10 for the upper windows. Size is generally not as important as convenience to me. Ryan H.

Been away for awhile having some much-deserved fun. I can put an end to this discussion once and for all. Go to West Yellowstone, Montana and rent a snowmobile for a few hours. Take a ride up to a point the locals call "Horse Butte" around 7 am local time. Look west, past snow-covered Hebgen Lake. Stand there and watch as the rising sun burns off the residual clouds and low-lying fog. Watch as Lionhead and Coffin mountain slowly emerge from the whitewash. Stay a little longer as the blinding white snow from the peaks relfects the early morning sunlight, sharply contrasting the clearest blue sky upon which your eyes have ever fallen. I did this very thing this past weekend. At that moment, I realized I needed neither churches nor priests to tell me about God. I'm a scientist and engineer, and I realize the infinite possibilties available in a universe as massive as ours. I realize that the mountains would appear exactly the same whether I was there or not. But, I also realize that the feeling I get when I see something that majestic is not biologically viable. That feeling does nothing to propagate the species. It is a feeling of awe. I have never seen anything so beautiful in my life (and I have been to many places). I saw the beauty of nature and the complexity of creation. And I thanked God for the gift He gave. Ryan H.

Instead of using Coke, you could also use something like club soda. Good source of unstable carbonic acid (which will react very quickly and breakdown quickly if you OD on it) and no sugars or additives. As for my personal protection, many will probably laugh. On a hot day, I wear shorts, a T-shirt, sandals, and my trusty "beach hat." I have found the hat to be more useful to me than anything else. And, the wife thinks it's "cute." I also use goggles (have you seen what degreasers to to polarized lenses on glasses!?!!?) and face shields if I am spraying above me. Cold weather calls for waterproof boots, pants, and a waterproof jacket. Gloves, definitely. And......my hat. Ryan H.

Dale, Now you are talking about a subject I have enjoyed researching for years!! Playing devil's advocate, I will say that there is a lot of thought against a "single" beginning to the universe. Stephen Hawking (one of the leading current advocates) suggests that there comes a time where the universe stops expanding as a result of a big "bang" and begins to collapse back upon itself as a result of gravity, essentially setting itself up for another big bang. This process happens over perhaps trillions of what we consider to be years (a little uncertain, however, since Einstein threw the whole issue of relativity and time incongruity into the mix!). The idea is that the universe can effectively be infinitely old, and it just keeps resetting itself. And every time around, new forms of life are created, new religions are found, and new wars are fought. Hydrogen is constantly consumed by stars to make heavier elements, but an ultimate implosion of the universe will supposedly shatter all matter into subatomic and elementary particles, so it is entirely possible that all matter can eventually end up hydrogen again. As far as the bible remaining intact from its original text, that may very well be true. But someone had to first put pen to papyrus to record the stories, and it is these stories that can contain the flaws. And I still believe in the possibility of flaws in translation. A very simple example could be conversion from German to English: In German, people "carry" their clothes, but in English, people "wear" their clothes. And if you are "hot" in english, you are really "horny" in german. This little quirk got some HUGE laughs when I messed up a few years ago. :o Again, just being devil's advocate. I still believe God made the cards, then the thing we call nature keeps shuffling them. Ryan H.

Ron p - best laugh I've had all week, but I think you're wrong. The one on the left is the lady who claims to have won the Ohio lottery but lost the ticket, and the one on the right is the lawyer who has agreed to represent her. Ryan H.

Paul B., I think we all have stories similar to your brick experience. When I was 8, my uncle told me he would pay me to clear a field of all sticks, stones, and roots. He had had it bulldozed and roughly cleared to put up a shop, but all of the little stuff had to be done by hand. After a long (VERY long for an 8 year old with cartoons to watch) day of picking up sticks and rocks, he told me I was silly to expect payment. I thought he was playing around, but turned out he was serious. I immediately got an attitude and told him that if I wasn't going to get paid, then he wasn't going to enjoy the benefit of having a clear field! I then walked around the perimiter of the property and began to throw every stick and rock I had spent the day moving back onto his property. Of course that made me a "smart alleck" and was going to "get me in trouble," but I didn't care. I think when all was said and done, he did give me 5 bucks, which I wasted on a GI-Joe. Ryan H.

I don't intend to get into a long, drawn-out discussion (unless that's what you guys want, 'cuz if so I could go on for quite some time!), but here is my $.02 + tax on the issue of creation. The book of Genesis was NOT written in english. It was written in a language that, for all practical purposes, has been long forgotten. It has been translated through many different languages, has been influenced by popular culture over time (think of the influences the Roman empire had over things as simple as our calendar system), etc. Genesis says the the universe and everything in it (not just earth) was created in 7 days. Evolution theory suggests that it happened over billions of years. I believe that there is a good mix of both. Why is it impossible that God did not create the universe through an evolving process? Humans mature over a a period of 9 months before being born. We see the slow changes of landscape and the motion of the galaxies. To believe that the "7 days" spoken of by Genesis literally means 7 24-hour periods is, in my opinion, absolutely false. I think that is says "days" because that is the best term that fits into our concept today. The original meaning of creation probably more closely meant a very long time comprised of 7 or so distinct periods. Competely discounting evolution is a stupid way of thinking. We see evolution everyday in every population. I think God set some things in motion many (solar) years ago. Many things are allowed to run through a natural course and are doing as they were designed and intended to. We are running through a course of free will. Our degree of faith and what we do with it is up to us. My religion "requires" me to spread the word and not keep quiet about, so I will say it: I am a Christian. That does not mean that I will take a beaten and translated version of the bible and spout blindly everything in it as if it is literal, because I do not think it is. I believe that the bible has many omissions and flaws in it due to the nature of its existance. Sure, the original script may have been either the word of God or the personal account of witnesses, but human beings have the psychological flaws of objectivity and interpretation, and those flaws have a way of making their way into our handiwork. By definition, the only way we can believe in God is to have faith. If we could prove the existance of God, then it wouldn't require faith to believe in him. It is our faith that guides us to try and understand what God wants of us. When we die, presumably we will know whether or not we were "right." "It is easy to prove the existance of anything.....it is absolutely impossible to disprove the existance of anything. If you can't find it, it just means you aren't looking hard enough or in the right place." (is it bad karma to quote onesself???) Ryan H.

I was driving my car with an expired tag (I had the new tag at home, just was too lazy to put it on). I was stopped and given a ticket. Two days later, the officer who pulled me over called and asked if I could meet him somewhere. HE FORGOT TO SIGN THE TICKET!!!! He said that if I took my license and proof that I had the tag beforehand into court, he would request the charges be dropped for my inconvenience. Long story short, things didn't work out like he promised and I had to pay half the fine. Never again will I go out of my way like that again (unless I can sell a fleet cleaning contract to the police dept.!). Ryan H.

How is this??? I remember 13 of them, yet I am (only) 24. Is 24 really THAT old :confused: ???? Onto the point of video games (one of my favorite pasttimes, then and now). You can now download the Nintendo NES games from the internet and play them on an emulator on your computer. I got about 600 of these games a few months back and my wife and I played Super Mario Brothers and Mike Tyson's Punch Out for about six hours before the novelty wore off. I still have one of the older Atari 2400 (I think that's the number, it was one of the first television-based systems) and some games from it. Now I get immersed in the PS2 games, which are as good as movies. IMO, best games ever are Frogger, Asteroids, Defender, and Battle Tanks (this was my favorite). All from my atari. My wife's a NASCAR fan, so any racing game is her favorite. Ryan H.

Yep. Just got married three weeks ago. There were financial reasons and benefits for getting the vehicles; we are NOT in such positions of wealth that we can just buy them for fun (although she would like to have new every year!!!). Maybe I should have jumped on the Cummins. My engine is getting a lousy 11.2 mpg when I pull my trailer, about 11.8 with no trailer. Wife's car gets 16 - 17 mpg, and can pull just 500 lbs less than my truck!!! I use my old 30mpg Honda for my non work-related driving. As for looks, I really like the new F-250s. But, they say image is everything, and so far my customers have been outwardly impressed with my truck. Now, if I could just get a decent looking trailer........... Ryan H.

Just bought one of the '03 Rams (Hemi). Even if it was stolen, I don't think they would make it very far as the gas mileage STINKS!!!! I'm in the process of looking for a couple of those "boots" the cities use now for illegally parked vehicles to put on my truck and trailer. Then the only person I will have to worry about stealing my truck is my WIFE (just married...thank you...thank you). She likes it much more than her '03 Durango (especially since the redesigned '04s came out and made her feel old school on the road :) ) Thanks for the heads up! Ryan H.

I live about 15 min south of Atlanta and have to drive through it everyday for school (GA Tech). Sadly, about 95% of your post is correct. I would change the fact about GA 400 being equivalent to the Autobahn......the fastest you will be moving between 2pm and 9pm is even less than your car can move in "drive" with no gas applied. And the snowflake thing? One of the colleges around here actually *cancelled* classes because the weather guys were sure there was going to be snow the next day. I woke up the next morning to 45 degrees and sunny. Any my AK-47 is too large and noisy to handle while driving (I *do* have one, btw), but my Glock is as close as my cell phone, which, as a rule in Atlanta, must be no farther than elbow length away at all times. And I haven't visited a Waffle House in years (but there are 3 within walking distance of my house). Cheers and good times! Ryan H.

Being a chemical engineer myself, I can certainly attest to the fact that simply knowing the active ingredients listed in a chemical can NOT tell you how to reproduce it. It can, however, go a long way towards helping you to find alternates. For example, many of the roof cleaners I see in stores have the same active ingredients in them as common household bleach. The difference has already been stated: the roof cleaner may contain a surfactant or other detergent to help loosen the dirt. That being said, there is a certain benefit to knowing how to mix your own chemicals. You may find a certain optimal strength in a chemical for a particular task you are performing. A very good example of this is in gutter cleaning. I have read about many people using many chemicals, but I found something called Purple Power to be very good. It had a few drawbacks, however. It had a tendency to remove weak or old paint. I then tried Greased Lightning. EXCELLENT STUFF!!! However, it costs twice as much as the purple power. So, I played around with a mixture of both and water until I found a strength that worked and cost me about the same amount as before. Now, if I were to really research the components of both solutions, I could probably identify the stuff that actually cleaned the gutters and buy that and mix with water. That way I'm not spending $7 per gallon for a solution that works well on gutters, but also acts as a good degreaser, stain remover (clothing), blood remover, etc. They say that knowledge is power, and in this business I am learning that knowledge is far more powerful and useful than ignorance. Ryan H.

Here (metro Atlanta, GA) I see no company advertising reclamation methods. I can see using that as a HUGE selling point. Can somebody point me in the right direction to learn about reclamation (equipment, methods, what to do with the reclaimed water, etc.)? I would really appreciate learning about this. Ryan H borgwiser@hotmail.com

:D YES YES YES!!!! That's me all the way (especially with the crab-walking). I had a painter (in his late 50's) the other day, whom was also on the jobsite, show me how to get onto and around on roofs. No ladder for this guy....he went upstairs, out on a balcony and just climbed up onto the roof. Made me look like a 24-year old baby. BUT, I did learn some things and am *slightly* less afraid. I'm off today to buy a safety harness and rigging supplies. I'm getting married in two weeks and my better half wants me to atleast be able to walk myself to the altar. Ryan

Generally, I offer just a standard cleaning of the outside of the gutters. If a customer wants, I will clean the debris (leaves, grit from the roof, etc.) out for an additional charge. My standard charge is $0.50 per linear foot of gutter and includes removal of the black streaks / dirt / algae. It also includes me cleaning the outside windows of the house since they get streaked with whatever comes off the gutters (usually I get alot of oxidation of the gutters and white streaks appear on the windows). This price also applies to the downspounts. Working by myself, I can usually make an average of $50 per hour with gutters (and windows). I am particularly fearful of ladders on high spaces, and I really hate having to go up and down many many many times to clean gutters out, so if I do have to clean the gunk out, I get on the roof and blast it out with my wand then rake the stuff up from the yard.

Oneness: You are right about being able to start out at a low price. I started out with a $1000 unit from Home Depot and a borrowed trailer from a friend. I reinvested every dollar I earned from cleaning and bought some things to speed up my time (extension wands instead of having to climb ladders, back-pack sprayers to apply chemicals full strength to high places, more hoses so I didn't have to drag the unit around, etc.). I currently have around $1900 invested in my setup. Personally, I don't think it looks extremely professional because my trailer is only a 4x8 and I have a 275 gallon tote in it, but my customers are thrilled with my work and I am currently bringing in around (average) $800 per week, part time (around 15-20 hours per week). As I earn more and can invest in better products, I predict this income will increase dramatically. But, like it has been said previously in this thread, it took time and initiative to make it happen. I jumped in with both feet without knowing if it would work or not. I spent MANY hours reading information on fine boards such as this one to learn as many tips / necessities as possible to do a good job. I have one semester of college left and have people asking me "what will do when graduate?" I usually say something along the lines of "improve and increase my business." And with the great individuals here whom have helped me thus far, I have no doubt that I can make it happen!