Jump to content

LyonsPressureWash

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Content count

    29

  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by LyonsPressureWash

  2. Posted · Report reply

    Looking to replace my extension wand. It doesn't get used often, but it's time. I looked into getting a Coress wand at the end of last year. I was told they went out of business. But then I got a call saying a couple guys are still making them in a garage somewhere. But now I can't get that supplier to email me or call me back. Anybody have any phone number or links to them? Thanks.

  6. Posted · Report reply

    I use the xjet and a 15 gallon drum strapped to a dolly and wheel around the cleaners. I've never downstreamed. My first machine I bought back in 1994, the guy said it wasn't the way to go. So you guys that are downstreaming, do you have to go back to the machine every time you want to start soap/stop soap? I like the remote control idea, but if I remember right, they're pretty salty. Any links?

  7. Posted · Report reply

    Has anyone ever done their own lettering on the truck or trailer?

    I haven't had my newest truck done yet and I hate the idea of handing over 1000 dolars for it (I could get a few tanks of gas for that price). I applied the lettering on my last trailer and it came out fine.

    For the last several weeks I have been doing plenty of research then finally bought my own vinyl cutter/plotter. I watched every Youtube video available about graphics and plotters. I doesn't look very difficult to create your own designs.

    Well, I'll keep you updated. The machine should be here the first week of May.

    We do all of our stuff. Almost everything is reflective vinyl which pops at night big time. Spend time and layout your stuff on the computer first. That's the hardest part.

  11. Posted · Report reply

    Not being able to fully clean a customer's home is rather embarrassing - even if it "can't be done". I recall figuring out how to clean the rubber gaskets around a garage door, and how to properly clean gutter streaks, or remove rust stains. Now that there appears to be a remedy for artillery fungus, I look forward to the day that I can say "remember when...". Jeff, if it truly works, you will earn my vote for the Nobel!

    By the way, while AF most commonly appears around wood mulch, I have seen cases of AF around stone, grass and trees. I have spoken with the Virginia Tech Ag Extension (They don't know how to remove it!) as well as some "experts" and the recommendation is the application of a fungicide in the affected area as well as turning over the mulch.

    What's the trick to clean the weatherseal around garage doors? I only come across that a few times, but it frustrates me when it won't come clean.

  12. Posted · Report reply

    Have it done in the same material that they use to cover city buses. You can see the ad from the outside but if you're sitting inside you can't, however you can still see out the window.

    They'll cover the entire back window and then cut seems where necessary so that your sliding window can still be operated.

    Will look good. trust me.

    Anyone know of a website where they offer this? I really like the look of this.

  13. Posted · Report reply

    I used to work for a nationwide construction company that also used the pay per hour plus incentive for speedy work. Let me tell you, it works and works well. You know you only have so much time to get the job done. If you have a slacker on the crew, the other guys will get him to pick up the slack because they're losing money. And yes we did sign the proper paper work before being hired that allowed them to do so. I will only give one word of advice. Remember that no matter who you have helping you, will not work as hard as you the owner to make sure every job is done the best possible way. And if you can find one that can, pay him well and keep him like a son. Good luck and let us know how you make out.

  16. Posted · Report reply

    I recently washed a house with white vinyl siding, i used an X-jet. A couple days later i got a call about stains on the siding and i went to look and it was where water came out the weep holes in the bottom of the siding. It was mostly towards the top of the house so i imagine it has to do with the angle of the water as it hits the bottom of the siding and the lower your washing you hit the face of the siding head on. I spray with the seams and not into them so i know that is not where it gets in. This all came about after i left the homeowner happy. What did i do wrong and how do you prevent this.

    Great thread guys. Now back to the original post. You know now that what you did wrong (as you put it) was to get water under the siding. Not so much wrong as it sometimes part of the process. Using less pressure obviously helps. But to help minimizing the chances of this happening again, here's a few tips. Even though very simple, some guys don't think about this. Ask my helpers who can't seem to grasp why always want to start in a specific corner. Start by washing at the closest corner of the house near your machine, not using the front as an option ( I always like to do that last). Start washing using your normal procedure of washing and rinsing, and continue washing further away from your machine until you get all the way around the house doing the front last or until you run out of hose, hopefully to the opposite corner. Now when you get to that point, you go back to point one, rinsing again, looking for any dirt seeping out from the weep holes, hence the term double rinsing. The customers love to hear those little catch phrases. It especially helps when they love to come out after you're half done and say you missed a spot. You simply tell them that you'll get it on the way back with the final rinse. But getting back to the point that surprises me....is nobody really seemed to touch on the point of what really may have caused these streaks. I have had this happen on occasion, and on an extreme case that just got the best of my curiosity, I had to find out why. I took my siding tool (and before I get bashed, I was a former construcion foreman and still a handyman) and removed a piece of the vinyl to find out the cause was due to dormant flies. They were everywhere, on the plywood, stuck on the siding and of course laying on the bottom lip of the vinyl siding. What amazed me was that their wasn't any water on the building directly behind the siding. It was only laying in the channel. On occasion, when it happens and I have the time, I'll check to see what causes these streaks. I've also found ladybugs and bees/bees nests to be the culprit. One thing you don't want to do is continue to add more water to the problem. I would reccomend waiting until you've packed everything up, wrap a slightly soaped rag around your brush that is attached to your telescoping pole and hand clean those streaks. If that doesn't work, simply put the cleaner of your choice in a pump sprayer and lightly hit that area direct. A bit of rambling there, but I hope it helps.

  17. Posted · Report reply

    I read somewhere if you land all of your estimates, you're not charging enough. If you're not landing very many, then you're overpriced. I thought long and hard about this after reading it and I decided to put it to work (during my busy season of course). Anyways, my backlog was better then usual this year, so I tried this theory out. I measured the house as usual, then started adding 10% to the total bill. I was still landing 8 out of 10. So then I added 20% to the job totals. I was still landing about 6 out of ten. This was still a good percentage due to the backlog. I figured I could cold call them late in the season and give them a discount if I needed the work. It never happened as the backlog was still strong and total income grew nicely this season. As far as charging for estimates, I often think about doing that. Think about it, if you want to weed out the price shoppers and the wanna be's, a ten dollar estimate fee will at least cover your gas. If I was a real customer (ready for cleaning now and have the money to do so) and I was told that their is a ten dollar estimate fee, but will be waived if you go ahead with the cleaning, what would be the big deal? But if you're a price shopper, or just wondering what your neighbor just paid, and you're told about a ten dollar estimate fee, they'll lose interest quickly. But that's ok because that just saved me mileage on the truck, two dollars a gallon for fuel, time, and hassle. What I'll never understand is how some professions come together and charge as a whole, like my lawyer has a breakdown of what it costs per phone call, what it costs to go to court, what it costs to send out each piece of mail. If I sit down with him and have a consult, it costs me big time. He gets paid for EVERYTHING THAT IS DONE OUT OF THAT OFFICE. You call a plumber and they have a service charge of xxx amount of dollars no matter how long they are there. Call Sears and ask them what they charge to come look at your fridge. I think these other professions at one point were on the fence like we are now and came together as one to start charging. Why can't we come together as a group and set up our charges as a whole? I've been told several times this year (after the job was done and they did the math per hour) that I was making hourly rates like what they were paying their lawyers. I always look them straight in the eye and chuckle, saying at least with us you got something out of the deal. Look at your house, it looks like new again and you can enjoy it for years to come. With your lawyer, you probably just got a consult that didn't do much for you anyways. They usually respond with yeah you got that right. OK getting off topic a bit, but let's do another poll and ask, if we came together as a whole, what would you charge for an estimate, 1. still nothing because I'm scared to get reimbursed for my time, money and maintenance costs. 2. still nothing because that's how I have always done it. 3. nothing because that's how everybody else is doing it. 4. I'd like to get paid for my time and I would try charging $5 5. $10 6. $15. 7. $20 8. More then $20

    Don't get me wrong, I'm still not charging for my estimates, but after setting up a Saturday to do my estimates and running a full tank of fuel (over $50) it makes you wonder about charging.

  18. Posted · Report reply

    Great thread....To go back to the original question. Get the x jet for applying soap to houses. Flojet or shurflo pump for applying cleaners if you want full strength. I held off getting an x jet because I thought $159 bucks was a lot for a nozzle and a short hose. Well now that I"ve used one, I kick myself in the backside because I didn't do it sooner. I've cut my time almost in half. Most houses are now done in two hours, that's cleaned up and in the truck. I'll be ordering another before next spring, just in case this one somehow gets broke. No way do I want to go back to the old way of applying cleaners with flojet. I still use the flojet for roof cleaning, but only because I don't think the x jet will apply it strong enough. But then again, I haven't tried it yet. Still learning on the roof cleaning part. But have had great results lately without rinsing (thanks to heavy rain).

  19. Posted · Report reply

    The strangest thing we've washed has to be Christmas trees. The tree farm was along the river and the high waters brought in everything from cans, shoes and packed in mud. Hauling 500 gallons around, up and over tree stumps was interesting. The owners said they looked so good they didn't have to spray them with their coloring spray. I didn't know they did such a thing. They spray a green mix on the trees to make them look more appealing before Christmas time. After washing those grease filled quarry trucks, we stood arms out and cleaned each other off. Thank goodness we no longer do those anymore.

×