Mike Williamson

Yes, it is a board for beginners also...to learn from professionals. And no, it usually isn't just as easy or effective to build things yourself, even if you know what you're doing, which clearly, based on your questions, you don't in this area. No offense intended, but you came here to ask if you could build a tool that you really don't even understand how it works, or even how to use it. You simply saw the cost (I assume) and said wow, I don't want to spend THAT much! Save the engineering for the engineers and the equipment building to the equipment suppliers, and spend your time learning HOW to use those tools, and HOW to do a professional job...If that's not what you're looking to learn, you've come to the wrong place.

LOL! Perfect!!

What to do with lowballers? Let them be and focus on the jobs and customers that pay. Then you can smile all the way to the bank, knowing you're getting a decent rate while that lowballer is working for peanuts. You'll lose every time if you try to compete with them. You'll get work you regret doing because the entire time you're doing it you know you're not getting paid what the job is worth. Provide a top notch, professional service at a fair price and you'll do fine..you just have to find the right customers. You can't fault the customer...He saved some money on an easy job...face it, cleaning a vinyl fence is hard to screw up...anyone can spray some bleach and rinse it off....someone was just willing to do that cheaper than you were. If you bid your jobs at the same level as a lowballer, then you're no different than they are...you're on their level.

Spend the money on quality equipment and spend your time making money, not trying to reinvent the wheel to save a few bucks. No, you can't make an xjet with hardware store parts, not without a machine shop and a good bit of knowhow...which I imagine you're lacking given your questions about how the Xjet is used. Besides, for housewashing, you don't need an Xjet..Contact Paul Kassander or Bob Williamson, both on this board, and they can set you up with a good downstreamer and the tips you need for considerably less than the Xjet costs. As far as not spending an arm or a leg on equipment, it all depends on whether you want to have the equipment that will allow you to do a quality, professional job in a reasonable time, or whether you want to use the same equipment many of your customers have in their garages but don't use because they found using inferior equipment takes way too long...That's why they call you.

PM me if you have any in Gainesville or surrounding areas you're thinking of subbing.

Check the link at the bottom of my last post in this thread...he's got a hot water skid, a full 250 gallon tank, an extra machine, hose reels, AND spare room in that joker... I'd LOVE a van setup, my only major problem with that is I don't like the idea of driving around in the same room as gas, diesel, chlorine, and other chems...An accident could get really nasty really fast. Here's that link... Stuffed rig photos

I'm like you, John...I have two full time jobs...

Yep, that applies to a surface cleaner too, or anything else you are using with multiple nozzles. If I need a size 6 tip to get 3000psi, and I need to use 3 tips, I use a size 2. 2+2+2=6!

This should give you some ideas... http://www.thegrimescene.com/forums/scrap-book/10020-stuffed-rig-photos.html

Sounds like you need a bigger warehouse. Hey, why not! It's a tax writeoff!! Hey, you'll probably save more in taxes than it costs you! LOL! :rolleyes:

No, John, YOU don't understand business, at least not in this regard. You don't create expenses you don't need in order to get tax write offs UNLESS it is going to get MORE in tax writeoffs than the expense cost you. Simple math, bro...you're just not getting it...you're stuck in the wrong paradigm. :) When Jeff starts making SO much money, and has SO many investments that he actually has to spend money to save MORE in taxes than he spent, then we can talk. He's not there yet, nor are most of us. And buying items that are going to depreciate solely for a tax write-off is pure stupid. Lol...you work "around" the richest people in the world as a cop....doesn't qualify you as a tax accountant... My other job IS accounting, including tax accounting. :) Last point...I didn't say he shouldn't expand...I said he should...But to expand if you DON'T NEED TO simply to spend money in order to not pay taxes is STUPID. Yes, "STUPID". We're taking a couple trailers and machines that will be garbage in 10 years, not a tax shelter or real estate investment. You don't know as much as you "think" you know, John.

I don't know that comparing your increase in prices to that of the oil companies' increase in gas prices is a wise thing to do these days! Many feel the oil companies ARE gouging us with $3.00+ gas prices

Lol...Successful companies do NOT spend money they don't need to in order to save a fraction of what they spend in taxes. That's simply stupid. Bad math. My point is, buy if you need it. If you don't need it, don't buy it simply because it is a tax write off. I see these kinds of silly comments all the time..."I didn't mind buying it...it was a tax writeoff, afterall." as if the item didn't really cost them anything because they could write it off as a business expense. Of course, if you need it, and buy it, then it makes sense to take the tax writeoff....but being a tax writeoff is no reason to do something.

You have the wrong sized tips in your broom...You take whatever size tip you need for full pressure, divide that number by the number of tips in your surfacer/broom, and that's the size tips you need to use to get full pressure.

Being a write off is no reason to do anything, unless it costs you less than you save in taxes. You spend $10k on a couple trailers and machines etc, and save maybe $3500 in taxes, IF you're in that high a tax bracket...more like $1500-$2500 for most of us. If you need the equipment and have the funds, buy it. If you don't, a tax write off is certainly no reason to change that. Simple as that!!

Oh just buy the equipment...After you pay 4 guys for a week, you'll still have enough to put together a couple decent cold water rigs...even if you break even, you now have the equipment AND the crew to handle the next job you don't have time for...AND you've made a new PM company very happy. You know that's what you want to do, so just DO it!

I disagree. I have MORE credibility, because I've shown the customer that if I DO run into something I don't know how to do, are aren't quite sure which is the right way to go, etc etc, that I'll take the time to poll OTHER experienced contractors and get some guidance rather than just grabbing a wand and having a go at it like so many of us have done in the past. I have told customers I don't quite know what will take care of a particular situation but that by the time I get there to do the job, I'll have checked with my contractor friends across the country and found a way if one exists.

I agree with everyone else here...This lady suckered you into giving her a discount. If it were me, I'd have simply told her fine, if you want to do it yourself, have at it...my price is my price. The amount I needed to make the job profitable didn't change simply because she learned how to do it herself. Many of my customers know how to do what I'm doing...it isn't rocket science. If they don't know, the information is readily available all over the net. The thing is, most don't WANT to do it themselves... It's the same reason they hire a lawn crew to do their yard even though they have the equipment and knowledge to do it themselves. It's why I get calls from people who started pressurewashing their house or driveway and gave up because they realized it is more work then it looks like, especially without the right equipment and EXPERIENCE. There are always going to be DIY people out there. It isn't a trend. It's just a fact of life. I don't worry about those folks...heck, I'm one myself. I'd much rather save the money and do something myself. If it is something I don't like doing, or don't have the time, I hire someone. Don't sweat it...If you lost a customer because she chose to do it herself, you never really had a customer to begin with...you had a one-time job.

One configuration of the machine I bought was that pump with a that motor with a 12v burner system. The one I have is a 24hp motor with a 120v burner system. Need the extra hp for the generator.

Option 1,2, or 3 works for me. No way that mix downstreamed killed anything, especially if you rinsed. What in the world are you trying to remove from houses up there that you have a mix like that? What is the "liquid deck cleaner" for, and what's in it? Is this a combination you've been using for a while?

I use a cheap, $15.00 downstreamer from espec. It works well for me. I have the chem line running from the downstreamer to my 65 gallon chem tank, in which I keep about 95% pool chlorine and 5% soap. I have several tips that I use. I use a standard gun/wand setup, and simply change tips as needed. I have a 25 degree size 50 tip that I use for most soaping. I don't like the black tips, because their spray pattern is too wide. Other than that, they work just as well. I also have a 3/8" nylon hosebarb screwed into a 1/4" female plug, that I use for soaping areas above the reach of the first tip I mentioned. I also have a zero degree size 30 and size 40 tip that I use to reach really high (30-40') when needed. To rinse, I use a 25 degree size 25 tip (for 8gpm) for most rinsing. For things that require a little more direct pressure (wasp nests, cocoons, etc) or for more stubborn algae on 2nd story gutters and fascia, I use a zero degree size 20 tip (again, on an 8gpm). Those are the only 6 tips I ever use. Same procedure as the Xjet. Soap things down, let it sit, and rinse. The only difference is that instead of turning off a ball valve, I'm swapping a tip. There's still enough chemical hitting the wall, and I can get it just as high or higher than the Xjet. So, same results, less effort!!!

Wow...that's a bit steep!!! I don't know that the added features are worth $400.00 to me!

Agreed, some people try to push the religion angle not because it is who they are, but because they hope to be able to use it to get more work...And that's just wrong. That being said, we're not perfect either. I've been a total ass right here on this board more than once...but that's not who I am most of the time.

I suppose it depends on where you live. Here, it wouldn't alienate many, if any...Unless it was particularly pushy and very overt. A fish on the backside of a card isn't push or overt. I simply says "I am a Christian". And regardless of where you live, for some of us, this is who we are, and I simply cannot separate my business persona from my personal persona. I am who I am all the time, and God is a huge part of my life. I won't hide that nor change who I am simply to win customers. Every customer is, IMO, a blessing from God, and if it were not for Him, I wouldn't be anywhere close to where I am now. If someone is offended by my beliefs, or my incorporation of those into my business or marketing material, that's their problem. I don't push my beliefs on anyone, so if the simple fact that I believe what I believe offends someone, well, they need to get a grip and deal with it.

I used to have one with the Jesus fish eating the Darwin fish. LOL!