CCPC

The pressure washer will get you by for a starter, but you're gonna want more gpm as soon as you can swing it. No need for a water broom, just use an 8010 or 9510 tip for rinsing concrete. Its faster, easier, and cheaper. Spend the extra money and buy a good surface cleaner, it will pay for itself in just a few jobs. I bought a whisper wash classic a couple of months ago and have loved it, but there's other good brands as well. I would say its not a bad idea to have an M5 x-jet for certain jobs, but I think you really ought to consider downstreaming for your regular house washing. Do a search, you'll find a lot of information on it. If you plan to keep your washer on the trailer/truck, you'll want at least 200' of hose, and a hose reel to accommodate it. I recommend cox reels. good quality. No pitch witch. I'm sure it has a use?, but not necessary for cleaning roofs. do a search on roof cleaning, its a specialty which to do it right, and be competitive, it will require investing in some different equipment.

One biggie that I see a lot of inexperieced guys destroying is thermo pane windows. Be sure to use no more than a couple hundred psi on these, or you run the risk of blowing the seals and fogging up the window. I've been to houses where the last guy had ruined almost every window on the house and the homeowner had to spend thousands having them replaced.

Yes indeed, this BBS is the only guide you will need to learn the trade, but I would recommend not just looking at it from time to time when you need a piece of information, but to make it a habit to check in at least every couple of days to catch up on new posts. That's when you'll really start to pick up a lot of PW knowledge. By the way, Welcome.

Jags, slow start (as usual), but finished strong. I'm happy.:lgbounces

Good reply Anthony. You show a lot of calm-confidence in what you believe in, which is a great thing. One thing that's always bothered me is when people display somewhat of a belligerent anger when someones beliefs are different from their own (that's how wars are started), and that statement is in no way directed toward anyone on here. I've actually had people come to my door to voice their faith, and then have the nerve to get mad at me because I don't think the same way they do. I hate that.

No offense Mike, just stating a few of my own beliefs and view points. So basically what you're saying here is, its OK to speak your mind as long as it fits the belief system of everyone else? Non-majority view points need not reply? Gotcha. just wanted to be clear about that. In any case, I'm a firm believer in evolution. A few have stated how can it be an accident that the world and environment is so well suited for use humans and other animals. Well.... that answer is simple, after millions of years of changing and evolving, our ultimate goal, as living organisms, is to adapt to our surroundings as best as possible. After all that is what evolution is to began with. The fact that we do perceive the world to be such a suitable place for use is only proof that evolution is working. As the earths conditions change slightly here in there over vast lengths of time, we will change along with it (that is, if our species doesn't end up getting left behind).

6510 is what I use for most lower level rinsing as well, and I also agree about the #10 it use it on exterior cleaning when necessary, but I would be a bit nervous putting it in the hands of an employee (if I had employees). I can use between a 15 and 20 before I start drawing chem, but I almost always cut of the chem flow before rinsing a given section.

I like white because it doesn't show dirt, dings or wear as much as darker colors such as black, but there's something to be said about bold colors. I think I've mentioned this before, but theres a lawn company in my area that drives around in a bright red truck, towing a bright red trailer, and needless to say I see them all the time because they stick out like a sore thumb. The name of the company is now engraved in my memory, and I can see them coming down the road form a 1/2 mile away.

man you guys are old, or as my dad would put it, refined, LOL!

I eyeball residential roofs as well. I find that the biggest factors for me have more to do with whats on the ground and around the house than what I may be missing up on the roof, so I generally don't worry to much if I'm off a bit on my sqft estimate. Gutters/no gutters, landscaping these are the things that I can lose a lot of time on.

I don't think your doing it wrong, but nor do I think I am. You must understand that for my area, my prices aren't even close to cut throat, or lowballer, beleve me, we've got plenty of our share of $99.00 roof cleaning specials. I have a $200 minimum for any roof no matter what the size.

Really cool. Best link I've seen on here in a while.

I can't concern myself on what MY market COULD bear because unfortunately I don't have the capital to try and single handedly change the local market value for roof cleaning over the course of 15 years, what I can do is use my sales skills and intelligence to make the most out of what is available, which I believe I do quite well. Keep in mind that homes, and the general cost of living in Jax. is still quite a bit cheaper than in most other major cities in FL, so the price differences are somewhat relative to other more expensive markets such as Tampa where you are. As for the gas station analogy, I do charge what the market will bear as long as I'm staying in my 60-80% job closing rate. If I fall below that I'm making less money even if my per job average is higher. If I go above that, I'm not charging enough and I'm losing money.

I did forget about the tile roof part, which would drive the price up a bit. As for killing the roof market, says who? If I can turn, what I consider an acceptable profit, then its of no concern to me what others are charging. In business the strategy for bringing in the most profit is to balance yourself in between higher profit margins per job and yet still achieving a high closing rate. If I tried to charge $800 for a 3,200 sqft asphalt shingle roof in my area I'd get most doors slammed in my face and find myself out of business in a couple of months. My typical price for standard, walkable, one story with bonus room, 3,200 sq ft would be around 350-400. I work by myself, and I can clean it, keep landscaping wet, and rinse it, in a few hours.

That price would be a bit high for my area as well, and in all honesty, I could make a killing on that per hour even if I charged $800-$900.

I'm with Ken, right when I first read "Grease Pirates of the Caribbean" I was hooked!! LOL! I love it. If I was a restaurant owner thumbing through the yellow pages and for a kitchen exhaust company and ran across that name it would grab my attention immediately, and possibly give me a bit of a chuckle. As Ken said the marketing possibilities with that name are endless. There's nothing wrong with "Enviroclean", but its much more bland, and much more forgettable than the Grease Pirates. That's one thing I've always regretted about the name of my company, it's just to bland and plain. If I could do it over again I would use something with a bit more snap, crackle and pop.

I was born and raised here, and I suppose I'm just used to it because I don't know any different. The heat has never been an issue for me. I'll work on roofs no matter what the temps, all day long as long as I have plenty of water. I can go through as much as 3 gallons of water in a work day and still be a little thirsty (which I know isn't good). I've also got a thin build which probably helps a bit. Everyone stay safe and well hydrated.

LOL! I think we've all experienced that, give a price, and they jump on it like its 1/2 of what they expected to pay, and then you think to yourself, damn could have charged a little more.

Hey Ken, looks really good! but I wouldn't expect anything less from the TGS marketing guru. By the way, I'm trying to access the the page to provide my information, but I've been unable to access it??

I would use a standard house wash mix containing a little chlorine and detergent and downstream em' and rinse them with no more than about 300-500 psi.

In some cases it does, but with your machine in would probably decrease the distance becasue the oriffice would be just to large for the gpm your machine is able to put out.

While on vacation last week in TN, My dad, brothers, and I played a few games of golf. I'd never really played before, but I believe I'm hooked now. I went down and bought a set of clubs the other day, and have been hitting at the driving range a few times since. Who ever knew golf was so damn difficult. I've always been a very agile, and coordinated person, so I figured it wouldn't take any time at all just to get my swing down, boy was I wrong. I think that's why it's so addicting, because it's not easy. Anyone else play golf around here?

What's up Barry. I've been around, just haven't felt much like posting lately. I've been preoccupied with some other ideas I've been working on. July is pretty slow for me, which kinda gets me thinking outside of the pressure washing world for a spell. How are things around your neck? Oh yeah, I'm also 4 days in to trying to quite smoking again. I've been going at it cold turkey with very few problems, accept for eating twice as much. Everyone wish me luck, I'm gonna kick this thing if it kills me.

Congrats on the vacation. I'll be leaving for a well deserved vacation myself on Saturday (first real vacation in 3 years). We'll be spending a week up in the Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg area of Tennessee. Of course I probably won't have a moment to relax because my sister in law is one of those type people that has to plan every last second of every day throughout the vacation. Oh well, I'll just have to come home and start working to recover from the vacation.

For those of you that have done large commercial jobs, do any of you ever collect a percentage up front? I have a large roof job I'm putting a proposal together for, but not sure whether this is something that is commonly done, or whether it is expected that all payments are due upon completion. There will be thousands of dollars in resources that will need to be obtained to do the job, and I would hate to put myself at risk with so much at stake.