PressurePros

Do you folks have water ice and or soft serve ice cream stands in your area? Are they popular?

There are more choices than the above I would consider. I prefer a curing oil hands down over pure paraffinic oil stains. A blend of conditioning oils and curing oils seems to be the Nirvana.

PWS, let me assure you that your closing ratio when performing estimates on the spot will far outweigh and give you greater return than sending out fancy email packages. I've done it both ways. I have to schedule my estimates days in advance during the busy season. This allows me to route estimates together. People have no problem waiting. A side benefit is it lets people have all the other new guys give their estimates first. Its natural for people to shy away from the sales route as we all hate being pressured. You don't have to pressure anyone but, as a business owner, you will have to overcome your fear/apprehension of asking for the sale. I have all the professional graphics, brochures, YouTube channels, references etc. I also have enough command of the English language to put sentences together and convey my points along with a long history of selling and properly wording marketing materials. My closing rate when done via email is about 30%. Closing on face to face sales about 50%. This is just food for thought when considering your options.

Bobby, go to or call PressureTek. For about $500 you can get the pump (5 gpm delevan), gun, 150' of upgraded hose, all your fittings and bulk head in one complete package. Get yourself some 1/2" braided poly hose for an intake, a chem tank and you are ready to rock. When you get into serious roof cleaning you can upgrade to a FatBoy pump (or get it now if budget permits). I'd also recommend a stainless hose reel like the Titan. Bob carries those as well. As far as the marketing, push the benefits of roof cleaning.. longer roof life, savings for cleaning versus replacement, lower energy costs for homeowner. Depending on your market, this is becoming a more mainstream service. I never got any calls for roof cleaning as I never advertised for it. More recently a franchise moved into my area and has been advertising aggressively. His ads are good but people are starting call me about it.

So there are no franchises in the southwest like this one? Rita?s Franchise Company - Cool Treats - Menu - Italian Ice

Just doing a little research. Richard I already feel the chill moving in.

Probably similar to those. Water Ice has a more "infused" flavor. But it may be similar to what you guys call shaved ice or snow cones. Are they popular there?

If you literally mean "paint" then no, it doesn't matter. They are all almost impossible to remove. But there are solid stains that vary in removal difficulty and require different chem strengths and techniques. It always wise to do a test spot on decks.

I give on the spot estimates and ask for the sale. I don't push too hard but my goal is to get them on the schedule and move on. I have way too many estimates to do to email everyone. If the customer hems and haws, I explain that I am not a high pressure person and that I understand they may need to discuss options. What I always do though is let them know I will be following up with them in a few days. I also let them know that at the moment I am talking to them I am booked 6 weeks out. That could be eight weeks by the weekend. (which is true in the spring). My feeling is, you called me, I am qualified and my price is very fair. While I am here, lets get this thing fixed up for you.

I pay $.05 per card. Decent quality. GotPrint

Pressure Treated Pine would be my guess.

Depends on what state of sanity you like to reside in. Nightmare ---> promise the customer a semi transparent and go ahead and strip it. Allot for at least three chemical strips and 4-8 hours of sanding. Happy Place ---> clean and recoat.

Yet has also stayed the same. :lildevil:

Ron Marshal.. now there is a name from the past. :razz:

I totally agree with you, Charlie. I think what you have established is the perfect way to enter this business. Volume comes in time with marketing and advertising. When you charge correctly from the beginning, you have the money to do that advertising. If you can get those prices now, you are golden. Some may not agree but the marker of a successful business is profit. People candy coat it with other things and yes, there are more important things than money like faith and family. But business is an emotionless entity that is only guaged (sp) by a P&L. Now someone help me off this soapbox before I hurt myself.

Charlie has a very limited time that he can accept customers as he is a full time student.

Vision, your comments on insurance, your desire to go lower than even some very old pricing on deck work, the fact that you mentioned several times this is is just a little add-on and not important to you led me to write what I did. If you are a real business owner, suck it up and hear what we are trying to say to you. You are going to sell yourself short the one day you use real technique and real sealing products. Pros don't use Thompson's for a hundred reasons. Hook up with GutterDog, he's a good dude. He will help you along with pricing and technique.

Rick I can hear you saying that "ha!". Thanks for a great forum, Beth and Rod.

You may be of business in no time flat. Do a few decks at those prices and let us know how you make out. You're really coming across as a hack here. PLEASE keep reading. There is a right way to do wood and you are not practicing it.

The pigment is sacrificial. Transoxide pigmentation has the slower slope of degradation versus clay/earth pigments. Trans pigments are finely ground metals that are reflective. Transoxide pigments also allow more of the flaws in the wood/prep show through. With that being said, I have yet to see any sealer that looks good at 3 years. I am not sure what you mean by the other components. I am going to assume one is fungicide. Fungicide will migrate quickly from a non curing product. In the best case scenario with a good quality fungicide package and a curing oil/resin, you can expect 12-18 months of protection. As far as bases go, I prefer oils. They are far kinder to the wood and actually serve to restore versus just carrying and locking pigment (like a waterborne)

LOL. I'd say the error is with the user, not the technique.

I would like to share my own personal experience with you as a business owner of 20+ years and seven in this industry. The machine is inconsequential if your phone is not ringing. My company does a decent amount of wood and most of the machines we use are cold water 4 gpm machines. You can buy a brand new one of those for $1500. What to do with the savings. Make your phone ring via a website, direct mail campaigns and aggressive marketing. If I could be so bold as to recommend your first business investment that will cost you less than $20 and should serve as your bible. Its a book called E-Myth by Michael Gerber.

Those are pro prices that factor experience and high volume machines. I can pretty much guarantee you that you would make about an extra $400 per month or so. The only thing that stands out as ridiculous to me is $1 per linear foot of railing. Did you mean $10? Its a safe bet to factor 7 square feet per linear foot of railing. I am assuming you have been here for awhile and read all of the posts on proper technique, chemicals etc and have insurance. Welcome to the business!

Hahaha, you're welcome, Mike. I shelved the distribution for 2009 while I worked on getting Pressurepros more efficient. I'm glad I kept the website up and ranked. Congrats on the job.

LOL. It was the five Hail Mary's I told you to recite that did the trick. Nice job, Adrian.