Joel Hawley

Derek, if you are taliking about cleaning the brick you might want to try bidding it by the thousand i.e $30 per 1000 brick cleaned. It will save you allot of time on big projects. Just get with the masons who laid the brick and ask them how many brick they got paid for on that particular job. They will know because they bid the laying of the brick by the 1000. They can also tell you who the manufacture of the brick are so you can call for any specific cleaning instructions. just my .02 I just re-read your post, you were not talking about cleaning the brick. My mistake :D

As allot of you know i am moving to Maryland from Tennessee. To make a long story short. Today i called the moving company to confirm theywould be here tomorrow morning. The lady on the phone said " Oh I am sorry sir we do not have a truck available in the morning" My first thought was OK they may be a few hours late. I asked when can you get a truck? she said " in a week to ten days" I immedialtley asked for my money back and my new plan is, I am leaving for Frostburg around 4:00 am in the morning and taking all of my equipment with me. Then flying back Sunday and loading up the good old U-Haul Monday. Do not ever use the services of A company called MOVEX they have left me in a real bind. I have been on contract with them since April 27 and they tell me the afternoon before they can't find a truck:mad: :confused:

My next door neighbor has the same thing and I couldnt touch it. I tried pressure, scrubbing, keeping i saturated for 45 minutes. The only way I could see was to cut the brick out and replace them but they didn't want to do that.

Thursday was my last day at the Ford Dealership I have worked at for the last 9 years. Here is a pic of me and my boss at a going away party they had for me. Had a great time. On the way home I got to thinking Holly Chit, its all on me now. The only pay check I will be getting is the one I generate. Its all kind of starting to hit home :D

When unloading it and walking it up to my garage I thought about the fact that it has been 11 years since I have had to worry about any serious snow. Then I remembered all of the $$ I used to make back home in Northren Idaho shoveling roofs and clearing driveways and the thought of the cold just sort of melted away.

Thanks for all of the support folks, I appreciate it. Here is a couple of pictures of the going away present the dealership gave me. They bought it new a few years ago and only used it once. When I took it to the Honda dealership to have it serviced because it had been sitting for so long they all laughed because it was the only snow blower they have ever sold here in Nashville. I hope to be able to use it to supplement my income in the winter time.

Folks I can tell you, in Eads TN where Morgan lives you are not going to get top dollar for your service. I could get probably10 to 25% more for the same job in Nashville then Morgan can get in Eads. The folks there are good hard working people who are tight with a dollar and are by no means rich. If you want directions to Eads TN it goes something like " Drive till you get to the end of the earth, Eads is two more miles down the road" Morgan lives in the Country.

Derek, what I paln to do is like Ron said get to know the guy at the lumber yard, also if there is a brick yard in your area I would make a stop there. That is two fold, one they are probably selling the brick you plan on cleaning so they come in contact with all of the contractors+ once you start landing the job you will have a POC to call on the manufatures suggested cleaning on each diffent kind of brick. Also talk with as many of the masonry companies as you can, I know this works from expierience. When I was in the masonry business we were always looking for a dependable company to clean the brick when we were done. Thats how I got started doing new construction years ago the last time I was in this business. Another good source I used was masonry supplie houses, where the guys go and buy there equipment i.e trowes, scaffoling, pointers, masonry saws. They are talking to masons every day. And lastly the way I used to get the majority of my work was to just get in my truck get a pocket full of cards and head to the nearest new sub division being built, go to each house and ask the lead man who was going to clean the brick when they were done. I would usually land a couple of jobs that way.

Paul, how are you doing. I got the letter from you day before yeterday. I haven't had a chance to mess with it much though. As a matter of fact my wife may have packed it up already. I keep telling my daughter not to sit still for to long or her mom might put her in a box and put her in the garage.:D

The moving truck is going to be here on the 31st of this month and we are going to head north on the 1st. The only thing I will have to do when I get there, (besides the unpacking and moving in and all of that) is get my insurance squared away. I am hoping to have better luck with it talking face to face with people instead of over the phone. Having a hard time getting people to call me back. If I can't find a local agent to write me I will go through Joe Walters, Alls I have to do there is pay him.

Its not my Birthday but my daughter turned 11 yesterday. Here is a pic of her and her Grandma (my mother in law) We are having a party at the skating rink for her today. Poor kid alls she got is a lap top for her birthday. Nothing like being an only child. My wife is who is A SR Accountant at a DOT COM co got it from her work it is a re-furbished machine, though only a year old.

Thank them both for me also Reed, it is because of men like them that we all have the opportunity to converse the way we do. I bet once they both get home you might even take a day off:D

Jon I promise ya that its not a doctored photo. Jackson TN

I have heard a hundred diffrent answers to this at various sales training classes/seminars and with working with and talking to 100's of very good and not so very good sales people. IMO the one most important never gonna get the sale without it elemnet is......... Ask for the sale!!!!!!!! If you never ask for it you will never get it i\

Here is an example of what we have been dealing with in TN since Sunday night. We have been under flash flood warnings and torando warnings/watches everyday and the first chance of sunshine is supposed to be Monday. I told my wife last night I will be glad to take the snow in MD instead of putting up with this every spring. This picture was in west TN but it is like this all over the state. Some people a have lost evrything to floods others to Tornados.

Steve it funny that you bring this up, here is a good example of what you are talking about. When my wife went to work on Monday her boss came into her office with a band-aid on the back of his hand. My wife asked what happened and the story went something like this. Mr. Do It Yourself decided he was going to clean his house and deck, he went and rented a 3500 PSI machine. As best as I can tell it has so far cost him around $750 + the rental. He first proceeded to tear the hell out of his deck with around A 15 degree tip, he told my wife he has about 20 boards to replace. He tore 3 screens out of the windows of his house plus pulled the chain on the screen door out of the frame when he opened the door and tried to wash the back of it from about 3 feet. He blew the pin stripes off the his Land Rover and somehow broke the front windshield on it while he was washing it. and to top it all off when he figured that he had done enough damage for one day he decided to use this 3500 PSI machine to rinse off his hand. Cut a 1/4 inch gash about 3 inches long on the back of his left hand. When my wife asked him why he didn't just call me and hire me to do it he said..................Drum Roll Please.................. and I quote "Those guys charge to much" This guy makes around $175K to $250K a year and thinks he knows it all. I guess he found out something he doesn't know. I promise you I am not making this up, I told my wife to ask him if I could come take some pictures to use in advertising, he was not amused. __________________

Beth, if guy/gal wanted to help out would we send a few dollars via mail or paypal?

A bee sting kit Sun Block I keep .50 cents taped to the inside for a pay phone incase there is a problem with the cell phone I also have a card saying I am not allergic to anything and my emergency contact #'s in case some one runs across me unconcious on a job site.

Here is the house we will probably buy in Frostburg, an offer was made last night and should get all of the details pounded out today

OTP, not yet. I am waiting to get into the area I will be working to see if there is a demand for it. I will get to MD on June 1st and initially concentrate on the PW side and just keep my ear to the ground for the cleaning side and if it looks like there is market for it then purse it from there.

http://www.vseal.com/vseal/application.php Coverage is approximately 150-250 sq/ft per gallon depending on surface porosity. Most contractors use 175 sq/ft per gallon to bid from $400-$500 sq. ft. / gallon when using as a maintenance mist. Due to the nature of concrete, there are many variables that will determine the amount of coverage. Garage and warehouse floors will get more coverage than landscaping blocks, for instance. I don't understand the whole maintenance mist thing. Also is the $400 to $500 sq ft/gallon a typo on the web site?

I have been toying with the idea of some cleaning work to help keep the wolves away in the winter time. You may have already seen this site but theres allot of info here. I believe Beth is the one who originally gave me the link. Has a pretty cool bid estimator on it to. http://www.bigmop.com/ Oops, never mind, they have changed there format since I was there last. You have to be a paying member to use the bid estimators.

With my very limited expierience 1. The most important thing I have learned is let the chems do the work. 2. I already am starting from scratch so I don't know what I have screwed up yet. 3. 5 years from now I plan on having to go to Home Depot to buy another wheel barrow to get all of the money i am going to make to the bank.

Chuck, tell your brother I said Thank You.

The machine I have now is 2500 PSI 3.5 GPM 16 HP hot/cold unit trailer mounted with a 275 GAL tank. I plan on starting out doing flat work, and residential. I will be a one man operation for the time being. Would it be worth my money to upgrade my machine to A 5+GPM at this point? What would it run to do so? $300-$400 for a pump To date I have the equip mentioned above plus my surface cleaner came in the other day and I am going to get an x-jet from Steve this week. The money tree has just about been picked clean. Will it make me enough in return to upgrade it now or do you think I can get by one season with the 3.5 GPM and change out to a 5+GPM in the off season?