John Doherty

Henry, Let me clarify, I do new home flatwork for home builders, price is per home, contracted for say 500-1000 homes a yr. (hope to do 2000-3000 next yr., contracted for 1700 right now). Every job is virtualy identcal, no chemicals, hot water only, jobs are 45mins.-1 hr. (if you spend more than an hr. something is seriously wrong and additional hourly billing applies). The margin is tight, but the work is steady, easy to train, less dangerous (no chems), advertising expense is nill (I really don't advertise at all, no # on my rig, no yellow pages or mailers). My expenses are fuel, equiment, time and insurance (not in that order). These guys pay every 2 weeks so my net is 15-30 days max. They have me on automated pay systems so I don't even have to invoice, just track payment so none get missed. Most of the guys schedule a month in advance. One of the things I really like are the expectations of my customers, these guys know what can and can't be done, so no crazy requests and no complaints to deal with. I also really like that it is daytime and year round, with some slow down in Jan. and Feb. but with the #s these guys push in December (15% of the year's volume), I need and can afford the slow down. For 2005 I want to capture a greater % of the construction market (3800 would be 10% of the projected market in CO), for 2006 I would love to broaden to more commercial and industrial work with construction paying all the bills and the other stuff making some real money. I'm happy to suffer the margin for now! By the way this is an excellent thread!!

125' fill, 150' pressure, and 125' waste water discharge.

I started at the other end of the spectrum I was a HIGH baller. I bought my biz existing, it had 2 accounts w/ home builders and was part time. One builder was custom home, 30-40 homes a year, the other is the largest in the state and it was for one project of $700k+ homes. My idea was to go after the larger homes and offer lots of service (cleaning materials out of the garage etc). I was getting $150 per home, for the flatwork only. I found that the semi and custom builders don't seem to be able to pay their bills, and in mid 2002 the market for anything over $300k completely tanked. I needed to completely rethink my strategy! Now I still do flatwork and the key is volume. I get a bit more than half what I used to, but manage it with a limited scope of work. I know a guy who started out planning to do house washes, did tons of research which was great but the internet is global, there is NO market for that type of work in his part of the country, he's smart so he adapted. Now his main focus is on decks, which is huge where he is, and he's on track to a great 2005. I guess my point is you may start out with a pricing strategy or one type of service in mind, but as they say, 'men plan and God laughs' if you can't stay nimble you will be out of business. If you come in by price you will probably go out by price. I keep very close track of my unit cost to do a job and know exactly where my price points are, my service quality stays very high, and my guys don't want to go with anyone else. If someone comes in and offers say $10 lower per house, the quality and reliability is going to save me, $15 or more lower and they may go for it, but I know I'd be back because there's no way to make any money that low. I know the type of work I do gives me a more level playing field, you must be insured or you're gone, and my audience is smaller, selling to a few guys for the work as opposed to 1000s of homeowners, but I think the principle remains the same. Just my .48 cents worth, JD

I hate it too. Between it and the cold it kills the possible work hours we have. This is a real pain for new construction flat work. Can't start before 8:00 for us and need a temp of 35 or higher. Start at 8:00 because you don't want to be the one trade on site that is ticking off the neighbors, and 35 degrees because we do the homes the day before the walk through, finish one at 4:30 or 5:00 and the temp drops, the liability for a slip or fall the next morning is too great. JD

Lou, I've inquired about a rig or two on ebay, ask them if they have a PW shop close by and if they'll take it in to have it checked out. The shop I use does a full check out everytime you bring it in, PSI, GPM, Burner Temp, generator output, general condition of hoses, wands etc. When I bought mine used they did this same check out for me, it was around $60.00. Of the two I've asked about on Ebay one guy had a similar check out sheet, the other didn't and wouldn't. I'd shoot the seller a question and see if they have or will get one. It's by no means a gaurantee, but does offer some peace of mind. Good Luck, JD

I saw this link Alan posted a while ago and I got one. I have no idea how to wire this thing. It's 20 v and 14 amps, it has only a pos and neg wire, no ground. I wired it to a plug and added a wire to ground it (attached a wire to a bolt between the pump housing and mounting bracket and to the ground connection in the plug) with no luck. Anyone have any electrical expertise they can share? This has to be simple right? Thanks, JD http://www.shurflo.com/pages/Marine/marine_product_sum/marine_sum_docs/general_purpose/aqua_tiger.html

Not necessarily the event, but the people. Posted in memory of my cousin Lt.Tim Higgins, Special Operations Group, FDNY. We Will Never Forget! http://www.bravestmemorial.com/html/members/higgins_timothy_lt_soc.html

Replaced the fuse, (thank god it's there to protect idiots like me!), pump works fine, the real question is how have I gotten through 39 years of life being as stupid as I am sometimes. For my next trick I will be filling my diesel tank with gas, I'll let you all know how that works out for me! Best Regards, JD aka Sparky

The specs are off the plate on the housing. Boy did I really screw the pooch on this one.

Yes I did, and luckily the fuse blew! What should I have done???

Considering getting a Vacu-Boom, the thing that will lock the purchase is if it will pick up water against a curb. I've seen loads of pictures but none picking up at a gutter against a curb. I need to prevent water from running along the gutter, the curbs run from 90 to 120 degrees. Anyone use one like this? Best Regards, JD

Looking at generators 5k to 6k, anyone have one, and what should I know in my search? Best Regards, JD

I just picked up a contract with a builder for new const. flatwork, 800 a yr, will bring my total to over 2000 for next yr. I NEED MONEY!!!! I can handle this myself until we lose daylight in Oct. (with the help of some good subcontractors when it gets too crazy). Tweaking my business plan, and went to an SBA workshop last week, will be hitting a few banks this week. My bank only lends money to people who don't need it! I'm going to concentrate on banks that are based in my state, I like the idea of local service and understanding of the local business climate. Some quick history, bought the biz existing in April 02, was a part time venture w/1 builder project, built it to 12 by late 03 and now about 25 projects (worked a full time night job the first year). I've turned a healthy profit every year, I have zero debt, paid cash for my truck and the biz in 02. Anyone with any experience getting any type of biz finance who would like to share their experience would be appreciated. JD

Wow, that looks great! I seem to remember seeing something like that before and I think it's done with an acid. That would be a whole line of work in itself. I found this link a while ago http://www.acidstainconcrete.com/ not any kind of endorsement, I have no idea who this person is. JD

That's almost what I was thinking for the boom set up. I'm still researching vacs, need one that will provide continuous and simultaneous pick up and pump out. Thanks!, JD

Thanks Alan, If you can get a picture that would be great. I was thinking you could run a boom or 2, parallel to the curb (against the curb on the gutter), not across the gutter (from the curb to the street, on the gutter). Thanks again to you and Jon for taking the time to help me and others out! JD

Thanks for the info. Jon! To clarify, the waste water runs down a driveway, to the street (the gutter) and along the curb to a dam at the low grade end of the property line. Now what I want to do is pick the water up and move it 50' to 100'. I want to place a boom here and not a dam, (heavy to pick up and put down 5 times a day!). What I'm wondering is will the water get around the boom where the curb and gutter meet. Thanks Again, JD

Second time for this issue, 09/03 and this week. The insulation around my burner coil seems to settle towards the bottom over time. This causes the burner to overheat, last yr it melted my float tank! I let the shop handle this one; I stopped by while they were putting the burner coil back in yesterday, 4 guys and the forklift! What a nightmare, and the labor is a killer. Anyone have any thoughts on preventing this, better suspension on the trailer, etc. The unit is a Landa 5/3500, trailer mount. Year to date I have 11,000 miles on the trailer, 400 hrs on the unit. I hate the downtime, let alone the cost!! Appreciate any advice. Thanks, JD

Seems like they list all low end units, max was 4 gpm, and there were only 5 or 6 of those. Looks like Sears, Walmart etc. wanted to be able to have a sticker on their box, PWMA Certified. What a racket!

One more thing to check into. State tax rebates for off road fuel use. I'm about to send my application into Co. They give you a quarterly rebate, which is a % of the State tax you pay on fuel for any non vehicle fuel expenses. They won't tell me the multiple until they get the app, but they did say PW has one of the higher multiples. May not be very much but every bit helps! Best Regards, JD

Anyone know of a good product to remove tar from concrete? Hot water and pressure usually get this up for me, but not this one. It's the stuff they use to waterproof building foundations with, looks like it spilled and someone tried to clean it off with a rag. Any help appreciated. Best Regards, JD

Used some diesel and the tar came right up, now how do I get up the diesel stain?

Any recommendations on sumps or utility/trash pumps? Using Flowtec 1/4 sumps, they're good for about 2 weeks, then slow down and I replace them about every 2 months. Looking for a min 10 gpm, and a run dry would be great. (I don't let them run dry now). Thanks in advance. Best Regards, JD

Thanks Alan!, All of the auto on/off I've been seeing are ball valve type and have too high an on/off level (5" on 2" off etc). I'll keep looking. Thanks, JD

Thanks for the info. I've never had a problem w/ it before but this time it doesn't seem to want to come up w/ the heat. JD