rick77

Check this out!

Maybe so, maybe not so, but if I were your congressman I surely would not pull the crap that you saw in the video. What a JERK!!!!!

I saw that on the news that he died today. I hate that he died but I'm glad that he'll no longer be doing the things like in the video clip. The media says he had a "gruff personality" but I think they may be sugar coating it.

Amen to that!!!! Oh yeah, the clubs do suck. I quit drinking during the last few years of playing full time. That's when I had sorta grown up and actually realized that it (the music biz) wasn't really that much fun day in and day out. But there were some really great times, especially in the younger days when all of the girls were so wild. But I'm glad that I'm where I'm at now and would not go back. Gotta keep movin' on.........

Adrian, I can relate to the burnout that you speak of. I was a full time musician for nearly 28 years until I dropped back to freelancing a couple of years ago. I started my window cleaning business (part time) back in 2005 and added power washing in 2008. I don't want to let the music go but it is very hard to keep up with both the music biz and the cleaning biz, especially in the Spring and Fall. I've been trying to find a balance between the two businesses that I love. One thing that has helped is that the music business has slown down to a crawl over the past year. I'm actually enjoying the slowdown after running so hard in that industry for so many years. My hopes are that the economy will get much better in the not so distant future. At that point I hope to be able to take my pick of gigs that come my way in both the cleaning biz and the music biz. I'm finding out that I can't do it all. From here on out I'll be saying no to certain gigs and jobs because I simply don't have the time and/or energy to do it all. Family is the most important thing so you have to have plenty of time and energy for that too. One thing for sure, I don't want to be a full time musician ever again. And certainly not in this economy. A good thing about bouncing back and forth from the music world and the cleaning world is that you get a break from each and still get to make money. I guess the trick is finding the right balance between the two. Good luck with all of your endeavors.

I've been searching for the rectangular five gallon enclosed buckets or pails just like the ones that are sold as the Enclosed X-Jet Pail. I'd like to get two or three more of them for transporting bleach to the job site. Anybody know where I can find them? Thanks!

Hey thanks Adrian! Yeah, the Wal-Mart containers work fine for me too but I like the square/rectangular totes much better because they don't have the cheezy plastic spout. The square plastic totes are just easier to handle and also easier to pour into and out of.

The closest supplier that sells 12.5 % SH in 5 gallon containers is about 50 miles away and they charge $20.00 each per 5'er. I'm not sure if they get a deposit on the container or if it's included in the $20.00 price. Actually $20.00 for 5 gallons of 12.5% wouldn't be bad for a one time purchase if the cost of the container is included. I may check with them & see what the deal is. My local supplier sells SH in 55 gallon drums only.

I've got a couple of those (blue) 7 gallon water containers from Wal-Mart but they have the cheezy spout that is slow and clumsy to work with. The link to US Plastics that Chris gave in his post led me to the 5 gallon rectangular Winpak which is exactly what I need. They have them in blue or solid white for just over 10 bucks each. I think the solid white will help cut down on heat from direct sunlight. Thanks for all the helpful replies!

Hey Chris that's super kind of you. I think Gaston is a couple of hours away from Greenwood so I wouldn't want you to go that far out of the way. But if you are by chance traveling close to Greenwood I'll take you up on that. Thanks!

Thanks for all the helpful replies! Those rectangle buckets are easy to handle and they pour without splashing chems all over the place if you don't pour too fast. I'll order a few of them. Thanks!

The more I downstream the more I like it! I did a hospital this past Monday & Tuesday and the workload was definitely easier not having to muscle the soap cart around and fuss with the extra soap hose. There's no way I'd go back to using the X-Jet M-5.

Micah, the "waxy solution " that you mentioned, do you buy it locally or have to order it. Is it available at the Chemical Connection in Mauldin? What's it called? I'd like to try it out. Oh yeah, does it apply evenly with cold water or do you have to up the temp a bit?

I didn't even come close to thinking about that. That just may be it. I think the area is on the northern side of the house. Another possibility may be that there was mold & mildew on the 4x4 area which shielded the area from sun whereas the rest of the wall was exposed to the sun or visa versa. The area covered with mold & mildew did not oxidize since it was shielded from the sun. Once the mold & mildew was removed the two areas look different since one area is oxidized and the other area is not oxidized. Could this happen on a North wall of a house?

FWIW the housewash I used was 3 gallons of 6% bleach, 10 oz. of Simple Cherry, a shot of Dawn in a fiver topped off with water. This was X-jetted with the M-5 before I recently switched to downstreaming. The rest of the house looks fine. The one area I mentioned looks faded but I rinsed the whole area really well. The soffits above and all areas beside and below look fine. Just an area about 4'x4' that looks faded or oxidized.

If an area of hardyplank is not rinsed thoroughly and a bit of housewash mix is left on it what will happen to the paint. Will it fade or turn color. I always rinse rinse rinse but there is a section on a house I did previously that is apx. 4'x4' and the paint looks oxidized or faded. I know I rinsed this area because I had shot mix all around the faded area and all around that area the paint looks fine. This faded area is on the second story. I didn't notice this faded area until several weeks later when I was PW'ing the house next door. This small area that is faded may have already been oxidized before I washed the house. The house is probably 4 or 5 years old at the most. Any feedback appreciated.

I hope this thread isn't going to be as lame and drawn out as the thread promising to have a great method of removing shotgun fungus from houses.

Call Bob at Pressure Tek and order a J Rod 4 way nozzle holder. He'll walk you through ordering the right downstreaming nozzles for your machine. You'll need a low rinse and a high rinse nozzle, and a low soap and a high soap nozzle. These nozzles will outdo the X-Jet any day of the week. It can't get any simpler than having Bob talk you through your order. I wish I would've made the switch from X-Jet to downstreaming a long time ago. The large houses I do are very intricate with massive decks, screened porches, balconies, dormers, etc. Not having to drag the soap bucket/cart around makes the job quicker and easier.

Well, nobody here twisted my arm but I finally got around to trying out downstreaming back in September. All I do is house washing and after switching from X-Jetting to downstreaming I have to say I much prefer downstreaming. Obviously not having to carry the soap bucket is a plus but I'm finding the downstream method to have a more efficient spray for both soaping and rinsing. I had planned to keep on using my X-Jet for rinsing but I like the high and low rinse nozzles in my J Rod 4 way nozzle holder better than the X-Jet. I wonder what the X-Jet vs. Downstreaming poll results would look like if a brand new poll was taken today. I bet a lot of people have switched over to downstreaming from X-Jet. I still have my X-Jet for backup but don't plan to use it unless I have to.

Call Bob at Pressure Tek and he can set you up with four nozzles that cost under $16.00 that you can downstream with. You'll be able to shoot chems and rinse higher than you can with the X-Jet. No need to go back to the trailer or truck to turn the valve off on your downstream injector so you can rinse. Switching the nozzles takes care of that for you. I now see the rave about downstreaming. It makes toting the bucket around look so ridiculous. You've got the machine, all you need is 4 nozzles.

I always pour Simple Cherry into a small bucket of water and let it disolve first, then pour it into the five gallon bucket that already has bleach and water in it. Do any of you just pour the Simple Cherry powder straight into the five gallon bucket that already has bleach (and water) in it?

Great tip! Thanks!

Thanks! I'll save time by doing it that way from now on.

Gutterdog, I may be missing something myself but I don't exactly understand what you are saying.

I've used it numerous times to clean hard water stains off of exterior windows. I've even used it to get hard water stains off of the interior of shower enclosures but you have to run a garden hose through a window (for rinsing well) and wear a respirator so I normally don't use Safe Restore in this situation. But on exterior it works great as long as you're careful of surrounding surfaces. Pre-wet surrounding surfaces then spray Safe Restore on the window, scrub with white pad then rinse thoroughly. A second application and sometimes a third may be necessary. Of course the final step is to clean the window with your regular window cleaning solution and squeegee it off. Do not use Safe Restore on hot glass and don't over-extend the dwell time. Wear gloves, eye protection and respirator.