PressurePros

No, for $75 you get a 40 oz cup that is attached to the sprayer (like a true HVLP sprayer you see in a paint shop)

The bleach heads say no brightener is needed but I am unsure why they say this as pH balancing is just as important as making something look clean. I will tell you, too strong of a mix of acid will whiten the wood also. I have cut my dilutions of Citralic wayyyyyy down.

Stephen, I think you are going to be unhappy with your results. Here is why.. a) Even with Rod's suggestion (a good one for the strongest possible product) and a little dish soap your cling will be nowhere near long enough to take away heavy mold. You may be looking at 3-4 applications of EFC to get it all melted enough to wash away. b) You have to wash every inch of siding by hand.. as in, up close and personal. The X-Jet is going to give you amateur results. It may be okay to apply chemical but you can't rinse with it on this type of job. A two million dollar home should have a high quality restoration. Something of that caliber in the 4000 s/f range you would need to charge $8,000 + for a clean and seal. A housewash might be $800. Totally different jobs obviously. If the shakes are in good shape and you are not sealing, AND customer won't mind slightly whited out siding, you are better of spraying bleach on them.

Cody, also watch your moisture content with an oil selaer. Wood should be 15% or lower. Most stains are thin enough for use with a pump up. I recommend getting yourself a Wagner Control HVLP Sprayer from Home Depot. 75 bucks and you will thank me when you aren't walking around pumping up a sprayer over and over and splashing overspray on everything.

1) Semi transparent, penetrating oil. Go to a paint store (not home depot or lowes) and look for products like Cabot's, Sikkens SRD, Deckscapes, Cabots, etc. 2) If you nozzle correctly, I guess you could. I think it's a waste of time getting it set up on a deck but if you already have it out for the flawork, you can try it. 3) Sprayer with one of your guys following you and backbrushing the selaer in. This creates uniform coverage and gives you a quick idea if you have applied enough. Keep an eye on knots, especially on cedar, they are like black holes that suck up sealer and leave white wood showing as sealer cures. You're in for a treat. Estimate your time higher than you think it will really take. Unless this is a splash and spray job, deck work is labor intensive.

How about Jamika? Definitely kidding. Congrats on the girl. Mine will be 13 this year. ::groan::

Those Lancaster guys are always cranky. Must be from having to drive around those Amish buggies and powerwashing horse maneure(sp) all the time :lgkick: Bill are you looking for the best chemicals as wel as customer service or just mediocre stuff, cheap prices and LOUSY customer service. I can't stand espec, their staff or their attitude. I'll pay double for anything before I ever purchase anything from them again.

After a bunch of tests filling buckets I get a 6:1 dilution through my D'ser. I think you can definitely find a better housewash than sodium hydroxide though it will work.

Thank you, C, cool idea.... ever read the old column "Hints From Heloise"?

Everyone has a method/tool they love. Having done both methods I prefer downstreaming. I have probably 40 housewashes on my current downstreamer/SS couplers/hose/O-Rings and not a single problem. I say that and tommorrow everything will start leaking. Doug, with a 00250 nozzle (0 degree, number 25 orifice) you can get a nice 40 ft long stream on a 4 gpm machine. On a 5.5 gpm with a slightly bigger orifice you can hit 50 plus. It's all in your detergents. I use four gallons of pure 12.5% sodium hypo, one gallon of my housecleaning concentrate and a full bottle of high quality carwash with wax. The detergents work synergistically and I get very nice rinsing, sparkling windows, positive color shift and a nice sheen on all my house washes

I was just teasing you, Paul. I couldn't see it either. Try it again. The picture may have been too large to post.

Bingo.

Be careful what you promise. My guess is anything that will take off the sealer will also remove the almost always oxidized paint from the aluminum. Their only recourse might be to paint over it (which will be a tough match) Why isn't the other contractor there fixing the problem? Let me guess. Weekend warrior lowballer who won't return calls? I would positively decline this work. You are begging for it if you take the job.

Looks great! :razz:

Yep, one pail of each. If I like it I may think about being a distibutor.

I haven't been back to my office today but the two pails I ordered are supposed to be there. I am going to do this job on Sunday. The results of the Gray Away seem very consistent.. and if I can order product on Tuesday and have it by Friday that makes me a happy camper.

Adrian, you downstreamed right? Just kidding. I know.. I love my X-Jet

Laughing over here.. I'm thorough if nothing else. Plants were probably screaming for oxygen but this lady was insistent and her flowers were all exotics.

I'd like one too. Russell, you out there?

Very very sweet job. Baker's Gray Away?

I'm sorry Doug, I didn't realize your question was a bit more indepth. Yes the keys are rinsing and when neccessary.. see pic below.

Use HD-80 instead.

Yes. Develop your sales abilities. Take seminars on closing a sale and how to market your business effectively. Target people whom choose quality work over price. Build your reputation one job at a time. Be the highest level proffesional. Get logo'd gear. Be on time. Build your knowlege and prepare a presentation based upon key terms. The list goes on and on. What you can't do is sit home and worry about what the next bonehead is out there doing. If you do, you soon will drop your pants on price and you will be yet another set of bones in a field of pressure washing business failure.

I would imagine R&D is factored in before net margin but I could be wrong. I understand they need to have dollars to continuosly develop effeciency and refinement strategy. I do understand business (Bachelor of Science degree in economics from U of Penn) My point was not really to denegrate the profit structure of petroleum processing companies but to comment upon how net margin is usually lower than 15% in any business that operates with bricks and mortar and uses a volume trade business model. There was a windfall tax during the 70's. It targeted oil companies as a amtter of fact. I believe most of it was phased out during the Reagan years (go figure) You are right, it is not effective. If anyone should be targeted for any type of gov't control (which I disgaree with altogether) it is Pharmaceutical companies. They also have tons of R&D and operate under the benign guise of saving lives. They along with banks are flat out whores, imo.

Absolute sacrilege. I'm glad you cleared up the "trading sugar" thing. I wasn't sure what I was reading. Hang in there, man. You get to start fresh tommorrow. Gimme a call sometime soon. We haven't chatted in awhile and I wanted to trade some info (I'm out of sugar) 610-662-4036