John Doherty

Had a woman who saw my surface cleaner ask me if I cut lawns.

Jeff, Check your email. John

Find a compelling reason for the trash co to pay you to do it. If they'll replace the cans as a value added service, maybe they'd be interested in cleaning also. One invoice, and you follow the pick up route of the truck, that's 20-40 cans per street all in one place to keep the expenses down. Now that's economy of scale. Just a thought, John

I'm in for the contribution, for the info I receive here it's a bargain!!! Keep the banner ads too, I'll be happy to do a few click throughs whenever I have the time. Best Regards, John

I've seen one post here where someone said they used a vac to clean out gutters. I don't want to have to lug one up on a roof though. I'm thinking of the using the Nikro dual motor vac, or maybe upgrading to the tri-motor. Anyone have any thoughts? JD

Jeff, Which ever you decide on (I had a Generac 5000w) call around to pawn shops. Mine was still new, in the box, never even had the oil in it, got it for $225. JD

I have 10/24-28 and 10/31-11/4 available and I need to learn house washing first hand. If anyone has the work, I'm available, and I'll buy lunch every day!!! I'm going to be in central NJ (Monmouth County), but if no one close is interested I'm willing to travel a few hours if there is enough work. Thanks JD

Jeff, Bring it on!! I'm really looking forward to it, a roof job would be great, I'm flying on the 27th and 31st so you'll have me for 3 full days on the 28th 29th and 30th. I'll give you a call next week as we get closer to it. JD

Thanks all! Flight, hotel etc booked, I'm really looking forward to meeting Jeff and learning from his experience! Celeste, Thanks for the offer, unfortunately the dates conflict with my move date. Ken, Thanks for checking your sched. I'm not sure how your off season is looking but maybe we can get together some time for lunch or a few beers. Thanks again!!! JD

Celeste, Thank you! please keep me posted, and of course I'll help with whatever else you guys are working on too. I'm still in Denver until 11-10, my plan was to fly back to NJ see my Dad for a weekend, then go where ever to work. Since nobody close by seems to have work, I'll just fly to where it is, come Nov I'll be able to see my Dad all the time anyway! Thanks again, JD

OK I was worried it was getting kind of late in the season, let me cast my net a little farther. I'm available anytime from 10-24 to 11-6, anywhere from Maine to Florida, I'd like to do at least 5 house washes. Thanks, JD

Adrian, Don't know much about this subject, but a DUNs # can come in handy for many things so it's good to get one. Best of luck and keep us posted, we close on the sale of my biz on Fri, so who knows?? JD

Ryan, Don and Lance have it, it boils down to these things or maybe a 1' x 5' piece of cardboard. The answer is really practice, practice, practice, you'll get it sooner than you think. JD

Home builders work on thin margins and pay accordingly. Time is money!! How long would it take to clean up a basement floor with that carpet thing? How often do you stop to empty it out etc? How about power? I'm in new homes everyday, what if the electrician is there and there's no power? You need to spend no more than 1 hr at these homes, it should take 45 minutes on average. If you spend any more time, you will make McDonalds money. Good luck and always think about time, the more time you spend the more $ you lose. JD

It's not as difficult as you think, sump pump and a long handled squeege. I do new construction flatwork all day, you can do this pretty cheaply. The only problem you have is that cold water unit. In my opinion you can not do this kind of work with cold water.

The reason the stations jack up the price of what's in the ground already is so they can have the cash flow to pay the new price for what they will need. It's not right but that's why they do it. I've seen this boycott stuff and it's foolish, not buying for one day will not work if consumtion stays the same. Now a day when everyone doesn't drive would work!! If you really want to hurt these guys it's easier then you think, buy only gas (or diesel) from them. Anything you buy in their store is a bonus for them, gas only would be a real pinch for them, think about it! JD

Don, I was wondering if the vacs would be powerful enough. The Nikro is super powerful (I lift containment water onto my trailer with 50' of hose, some guys use 100' plus). I was thinking 150' of hose. Have you tried that attachment? How did it work? Something like that seems like it would be unwieldly (is that a word) to use.

Cujo, They expect the house exterior done also? For that price? We don't have that Ga clay here, so it can be done with no acids or soap, garage must be cleaned out and swept and water must be avail. when we get there. These take about 45 mins ea. but we only do the flatwork. Anything that adds more time we charge for. If we had to spray down the exterior I'd probably want $150-$200, I don't even know how much if they wanted a full exterior wash.

Ok, back on tropic, I do these all day long, hot water is a must. Here in CO that's all you need, I've heard of guys in Ga dealing with that mud using muriatic. Remember, these sites must have a NPDES permit and are open to random inspection, you must recover or contain! A $10k fine is a bummer and it's twice as bad when they give it to you and the builder, then the builder comes after you for their fine. JD

Here is the ad running around by my Dad in Central NJ Powerwashing of any house, single family, up to 3,000 sqft - $175, Reg $300, includes free gutter cleaning (add'l charge to remove gutter screens). In biz since 1989, etc... So do you think this is a 'keep the guys busy during the slowest summer month' or is there maybe some kind of upsell, or???? That's gotta be a real tough price to stay in business with, any comments? JD

Thanks Rod, that's what I was thinking.JD

I didn't think I'd make it home on Wed. 105 degrees, although I was fully hydrated, just too hot! Massive headache, nausea, it was terrible. Thanks for posting this Mike, I hope all heed the advice. JD

Sounds like they may have been burned in the past by someone with a HD special? That's about the only thing I can think of.

I guess you finally found a local source for your drums. Thankfully they aren't too expensive. Hhhmmm a seperate waste tank, now that's got me thinking. That filter sock captures the large stuff, but that sediment is a real PITA to clean out. The wheels are starting to turn (which can be dangerous). Thanks for sharing that thought!!! JD

First time I ever went I was about 10 yrs old, my uncle got a hole in one, boy did that mess up my perception of the game!! JD