Mike Williamson

:rotfl: Now THAT'S funny

Another idea that would work, if you don't get adequate flow with the 3.8gpm is to use TWO pumps. Not sure if you could use one hose, or if you'd need two.

I was doing roofs the same way...hauling 6+ 2 1/2 gallon jugs of chlorine up the ladder, up to the peak of the roof, dragging the Xjet bucket and the pressure hose, etc...by the time I was set up to go, I was worn out! I decided months ago to try the 12v pump idea. I was going to try to get a decent flow at a cheap price, so I ordered a 4.5gpm 40psi flojet. It sucked. So I kept doing it the Xjet way. Last month I got a smaller, 1.8gpm 80 psi shurflo, and it works great. Takes a bit longer to coat the roof, but there's much more control of chems, and I don't kill myself getting set up. I have my pump mounted on the trailer, with 200' of 3/8 braided hose. You could try using a 3.8gpm shurflo mounted on a cart with a battery...That way, you don't need as much hose, and you may be able to get the 2-3 gpm you need. With chlorine, 1gpm or so is just fine...Takes me about between 30 minutes and an hour to coat a roof on a typical 2000 square foot or so house. Often I don't need to rinse (that's using 10.5% sodium hypchlorite in a 50/50 mix). It's so much easier to just grab the hose and start applying chems. I thought about the roller pump idea, but didn't like the idea of having so much run-off. Using the 1.8gpm, I get very little runoff. If you're concerned about having to shut off the roller pump, you can set it up so it'll bypass back to the chem tank when chems aren't flowing. I just think 7+gpm is too much chem.

The only regret will be that you waited so long to get one! I used to be a skeptic, until I started using it. I'd be lost without it now.

One reason is because y'all were on the NE quadrant of both storms, close to the center...Charley and Frances crossed pathes right over Bartow.

It is tempting! Ivan is now a category 5 hurricane, with 160mp winds, and likely to strengthen. If it doesn't weaken ,and comes this way, I'm heading to relatives house in GA for a couple days. After seeing the damage caused by 45-60mph winds, I have no interest in experiencing 160mph winds. Looks like they got a good bit of flooding in NC and VA...hope everyone up that way is ok. I haven't worked since Friday, and if we get Ivan, it'll knock at least another 2-3 days off the schedule. OUCH! I may have to fly out there and work just to pay the bills! My parents are out there now, on vacation...They're in Morgan Hill right now, headed north, but they've told me how hot it has been. No fun!

Gotcha! Though, if the wind gets to the point where the generator will blow away, there won't be anything left here needing electricity anyway! :) The most recent track for Ivan has it making a beeline for the Port Charlotte area, then Tampa, then me... Makes one wonder if someone in FL has really ticked God off or something! :)

What do you mean sink it into deep concrete, and why? To be honest, this is the worst weather I've ever seen in this part of Florida...The last time a Hurrice came close was Elena in 1985, and that wasn't nearly this bad. The problem was that it took 2 1/2 days for it to pass...Usually a hurricane will come and go in a day or less...This one was very large, and was moving very slow. We started getting weather late Saturday night, and it finally stopped raining yesterday evening. It was the extended period of time with rain and winds that took many trees down, and thus, power lines and all that. So no one here is really experienced in needing back up power. I can't remember the last time the power was out for more than an hour (except when a drunk guy broke the power pole in 1/2 right outside our house and it was down for a few hours). I may not need the generator for another couple years, but I'll have it when I do.

(Mat 5:45 KJV) That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

Yeah, it was so exciting, I wish you'd been here. We lost power at about 8:00 Sunday night, after a good day's rain and wind...lots of limbs and tree debris around. You can't imagine how much I felt like I was living on the wild side sitting around in the house with the rain pouring, the wind blowing, no lights, no tv, no computer, no internet, no phones, no air conditioning, and heating the house up with lanterns and candles. Oh, and having to catch water from the roof in 5 gallon buckets so we could flush the toilet, THAT was exciting!!! Two nights trying to sleep on a small bed (there's a LARGE dying oak tree in the back yard that, if it went, would fall on our bedroom, so we slept in another room) in the pitch black dark sweating. The power didn't come back on until yesterday morning, and the phones came back yesterday evening...and there are still lots of folks with now power. And now that the storm is gone, it is humid and HOT again, with no breeze. It was SOOOOO much fun! And here comes Ivan! You're invited! You can sleep on the couch, since we'll be back in the guest room. I'm buying a generator this week. :)

Yes, too weak! I'm using a 12v pump setup, and I'm using a 5.25% sodium hypochlorite (bleach) mix. I can apply once, and may need a light touch up in a few bad spots, but that's it. No rinsing required. If you're using 6% bleach, I'd put 13 gallons in the 15 gallon drum and top off with water. You CAN rinse with a hose, but I don't if I can help it. It will rinse off with the next rain anyway.

I often wonder about the folks who make all the shockwave and flash and all the other video stuff you can find everywhere on the net...this stuff can't be all that quick to put together...Don't they have a life? I barely have time to check email and read the boards....

Because everyone started as a newbie, and many of us would still be stumbling around in the dark were it not for these boards.

And are much more aggressive. Another thing to remember is that if you can help it, don't step on them or squish them...They give off a scent that essentially says "Come help!!!". If there's a nest close by, you may have more than you bargained for.

I was talking about wasps under the eaves, etc...I wasn't thinking about decks, since I do so few of them!

Housewash mix with chlorine works well too. :)

The ones I really hate are the paper wasps...especially the small ones...They build their nests everywhere, and it always seems to be where I didn't check, especially in the shrubbery!

I agree there...The forecast track early Friday had it coming straight through this area...basically over my house. We weren't too worried...the house is build very solid, and there are areas we can go that are protected in case things got really nasty...but we figured hey, a category 1 is no big deal. However, had it stayed on track and come ashore where it was supposed to, it may well have still been a category 4 when it hit our house...We're only 40 miles inland. It may even have strengthened further in the 2-3 more hours it would have stayed over water on it's way here. In retrospect, we should have prepared much more. We didn't have anything boarded up or anything. We'd likely have lost some windows and had at minimum a good bit of water damage coming in through the windows. A lesson learned for next time.

I agree on the used rig thing...Of course, it depends on how much start-up money you have to work with. In addition to the rig, you'll need more pressure hose, supply hose, extra wands, tips, chems, tools like an xjet, extension wand, ladders, spare parts (even if the machine is under warranty, it is worth the cost of smaller spare parts to keep you up and running), and many other things I've likely left out. Then there's all the expense related to advertising like business cards, any professionally printed material, newspaper ads, phone book ads, etc etc etc. I bought my rig slightly used (145 hours on the machine, and the trailer probably had less than 5000 miles on it) at the end of 2002, and saved around $5k over putting the same rig together new. The other benefit to buying a slightly used rig is that you often get many accessories with it. Mine came with ladders, an Xjet, quite a bit of chems, a lot of spares, tools, extra hoses, tool boxes, etc. It was basically ready to go wash something. Granted, I've spent a good bit of time since then modifying the setup to get it the way I want it, but it was well worth the money I spent. The other thing I don't like is the lower gpm on this machine. I'd go with at least a 5.6gpm machine. I realize that's only .8gpm more, but that does make a difference. I drove from Florida to Indiana to get my trailer...It was a couple days well spent.

Jon: YOu don't want anything to do with being up close with a category 4 or 5 hurricane...

No, you just need a license to do it for hire for others....Just like a homeowner can do just about anything he pleases regarding repairs inside his home, but I can't get paid by him to do much of it because I'm not licensed.

What brand machines are they?

Exactly what I'm talking about, except with me, it is only bees/wasps etc. Other flying things don't bother me...Even biting flies like yellow flies don't bring out that reaction. Hell, I've started getting out of a moving truck because one got inside. It is a totally irrational, and almost uncontrollable reaction.

Any pics, or a website, so we can look to see what he's offering?

Be careful with wasp spray near the roof...I seem to remember reading something about it being damaging to shingles. I can't imagine losing 2 hours on nests. I can walk a house and spray all the nests in less than 5 minutes. We get a lot of paper wasp nests, and mud daubers. I've only run into yellow jacket/hornet nests twice, and both times I referred them to a pest control company...these are the nests where you can stand there and count dozens of yellow jackets coming and going in the span of a minute...meaning there are hundreds, if not thousands, in the nest. Both times the nests were inside the attic, and they were accessing through a gap between the fascia and siding. Those jokers HURT when they sting...not like a regular bee or wasp sting! It isn't the wasp nests on the houses that bother me...it is the ones in the bushes that you can't see until your climbing through them to get to a window you need to clean, or to get to the gutters... I have a totally irrational fear of bees/wasps/etc. I know it isn't that bad to get stung, been stung plenty...But let me get near one, especially in an enclosed area, and I'll get a bit nuts. Here's how irrational it is...Even knowing that male carpenter bees can't sting since they have no stinger, I still let them chase me all over roofs. Do they make an epi-pen for irrational fears?