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Sparklean

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Posts posted by Sparklean

  1. Posted · Report reply

    I know Scott Davis (I think he only goes to ***) has mentioned wanting to get a meeting set up for the Houston guys, but he might have changed his mind. I know Guidance at one point had said he'd like to meet with other Houston area guys, so if everyone is still up for it, that makes.

    Adrian

    Gene

    Guidance (not sure his real name)

    Scott

    Shane

    Myself

    Anyone else in the Houston area want to meet up?

  3. Posted · Report reply

    Apple: The text you posted claims the Constitution is a "godless" document.

    Well, the Constitution itself may not mention "God" or "Creator," but the Declaration of Independence sure does. In fact, it mentions both "God" and "Creator."

    This was drafted by Thomas Jefferson.

    When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

    We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

  4. Posted · Report reply

    The constitution is free to read, perhaps you should try doing so some time.

    You're erroneously mis-applying what was written in this letter as if it were written into the constitution.

    What is in the constitution, via amendment (Bill of Rights) is: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

    That mentions nothing of separating the Church and the State. What it does state is that congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. That is, by my interpretation, and that of millions of others, is that the government cannot declare a certain religion/faith or multiple religions/faiths to be the "official" religion. The architects of the constitution were not stupid men. They were quite intelligent. Had they meant for the Church and State to be completely separated as so many suggest, they would have stated such.

    But the constitution does provide for a separation between Church and State.

  6. Posted · Report reply

    It might work, and I know many non-Christian companies are in the Christian directories, but I find it unethical for a business owner to advertise in this manner if he is not a Christian.

    Christians (like myself) use those directories to find other Christians to do the work. Part of it is helping out a fellow Christian and the other part is thinking that surely a Christian won't cheat me. Unfortunately, not all Christians live up to God's word and not all those that are listed in the Christian directories are Christian.

    Back when I was new at this, I worked out a trade.

    I cleaned a mans roof who owned a small Christian Newspaper serving the Tampa Bay area.

    I traded my work for advertising.

    It was just a little newspaper, dropped off at restaurants, laundry mats, etc, etc.

    Suprisingly, I got LOTS of work out of it.

    Here is another, full blown Yellow Pages aimed right at Christians shepherdsguide.com - Christian Business Directory - Christian Yellow Pages

    This might work for some of you just starting out, and needing low cost advertising maybe ?

  8. Posted · Report reply

    It might not be truly commercial-grade (and definitely not industrial-grade) but to call it consumer-grade seems like an insult, as I believe it is a good quality machine. Perhaps the term light-commercial would better identify the target for that machine.

    They build them pumps for home owners...Thats why its 800-1000

  9. Posted · Report reply

    If I'm not mistaken, that machine has a General pump and from what I've heard, General makes a good pump (no personal experience w/ General, my machine has a Cat). The HD by my house had the $999 pressure washer on sale a few months ago for $799. Not sure, but I believe it was 3700, 3750 or 3800 psi, one of the three, with 4 GPM flow-rate. Pretty decent specs, especially for $800 and even still decent at $1,000.

    HD has a dewalt PW with a Honda engine and a cat pump for 999.00 I PW about 200 hours a year, and have been using a Kartcher 2.8 GPM 3000psi for the last few years. I only do flat work (sidewalks dumpster pads in restaurants)

    Has anyone tried this model?

    Any feed back would be great.

    thanks

  11. Posted · Report reply

    Sometimes you have to put the shoe on the other foot. I've been on the other end of this too, when I've "seen" something that the other guy didn't. I know he saw it. He knew it saw it. He just didn't want to make it "right." I'm not saying you're being like he was, I'm just saying sometimes there is "something" there. Just up your chems a bit and re-spray it. Then send them a letter letting them know you appreciate their calling to your attention something that you had missed. You take pride in your work and you respect those that bring it to your attention when something is overlooked. Offer them 10% off their next house-wash as a "thank you." You may think it's the "cheapos" that are always the most difficult to deal with--and that's normally true--but, those same "cheapos" will come back to you again and again if you make them feel appreciated and that they received excellent service. Next time they won't even mind paying a bit more for the peace of mind it brings knowing you care and they don't have worry about the job being done correctly.

    That's what I think, but whatever floats your boat.

    I went back and checked today - and I am literally stumped. I think I may buy one of those hose attachment house cleaners - and give that side a dousing, instead of a hauling a trailer for nothing. I swear to god some of these folks think it's all fun and games - that it's absolutely free for me haul a 1600lb trailer plus equipment. And I noticed it's the 'cheapos' too - they're the worst - they'll see stuff that isn't even there. My guess is that the sap/green stains on the north side protected the vinyl from oxidation - so with the right time of day and the sun hitting it right - you can probably see a difference in sheen. I looked this morning - literally stumped as to what they're seeing.

  12. Posted · Report reply

    What's your minimum price to do a job--any job, even if it's to clean a mailbox?

    $150 for a 1,200 sqft house isn't too little, IMO, if it were ONLY the house, but this guy "throws in" the driveway too. I doubt he's using anything other than pressure and what type of insurance does he have? Auto insurance?

  14. Posted · Report reply

    OK. I think I got it.

    The format is actually [##]{###}, where I had assumed [##]{##}.

    So, say my machine is 4.0 GPM, I use a [00]{040} nozzle, but if I wanted

    50 PSI, I would use [00]{400} nozzle. So, 0040, is just the short form for 00400. So a 3.5 GPM machine spraying at 4,000 PSI would use a 00035 nozzle, but a 3.5 GPM machine spraying at ~50 PSI would use 00350, or, shortened to 0035.

    Now the math makes sense, assuming the FCPWLLC was using a machine that uses ~4.5 GPM

  15. Posted · Report reply

    How are you determining the stream to be 40-50 PSI? How many GPM are you using? To achieve 50 PSI with a 0040 nozzle you're only using ~0.45 GPM. Either I'm making a gross miscalculation, or you're using an incredibly small amount of water when you're downstreaming. Please help me figure out my error.

    My figures come from:

    GPM = NOZ# * sqrt(PSI/4000)

    GPM = 4.0 * sqrt(50/4000)

    GPM = 4.0 * sqrt(.0125)

    GPM = 4.0 * .1118

    GPM = .4472

    That stream is only 40-50 psi. There is no pressure so the soap pulls perfectly. It is the tip we use.... 0040 tips will allow you to pull chem and still shoot far. Flow is what helps aid in the distance that you can shoot, not the pressure.

  17. Posted · Report reply

    Yep. I can also say litigious society.

    Seriously, though. If you're hurt, you should definitely sue. Since you and your co-worker went to the ER, I'm thinking a lawsuit might be in order. I was in a van one time when an guy blew a red light and plowed right into us. That was just over 8 or 9 years ago and I am still paying for it with all my back and neck problems. I hate lawsuits more than most people, but some times suing is the only way to get what you deserve, and even then you normally don't fully get it (I only had medical covered . . . nothing for all my continuous suffering).

    Can You Say GENE-Mart?............

  21. Posted · Report reply

    I've seen on many boards people recommending to mix 12% or 12.5% Sodium Hypochlorite (SH) in with surfactants for a house mix. From what I've gathered (mainly via wikipedia, and we all know wikipedia is infallible (sarcasm)) Calcium Hypochlorite is the same thing as Sodium Hypochlorite except CH is a power and SH is a liquid. Depending on the amount I buy I can get this stuff for $1.50 a pound or even less. It's a 72% mixture, so 1 pound would make six gallons (seems like it to me. 72 / 12 = 6). That comes out to $.25 a gallon, plus whatever the water costs . . . say $.30 a gallon. Is there any reason I would want to purchase SH over CH?

    Also, safety is a major concern with CH. The guy at the pool store told me a lady left the top off her 100 pound bucket of CH and the rain caused the bucket to explode, melting her pool and burning down her backyard. Not that SH is anything to "play" around with, but would I need to use the same level of precaution with SH as would need to be used with CH?

    Your input would be greatly appreciated. Also, what else do you personally mix with SH (or do you not use SH) for your house mix? I'm mainly concerned with wood, brick, hardiplank and stucco/DryVit as that is much more common in Houston than aluminum or vinyl.

  22. Posted · Report reply

    Those that are doing it on computer: Do you have a spreadsheet that you type item information in and the value, or do you have a program designed for pressure washing estimates?

    I just use Excel for my computer estimates. I type in what it is (Clean eaves, brick, hardiplank, whatever) then I list the quanity, X sqft or X lnft, then the unit price, then the total price for each item. Then I total it all up. I think it looks decent, but definitely could be improved upon greatly. Anyone proud enough of their estimate sheets to share with us that have sheets we're not all that happy with?

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