PressurePros

Mike, I am the first one to agree with free enterprise. This topic though, maybe because of it's financial affect on me, makes me lean towards government intervention or at the very least, investigation. My hands are tied. I drive to a WaWa where gas is lowest priced and I pay whatever premium they command. I have questions I would like addressed though. Why are profit margins substantially higher than what they were last year? These margins are overcompensatory when rated against inflation and economic indicators. The gas companies all had the highest earnings last year many of them have ever seen in both percentage anmd dolar rise. Why are we having shortages? Spring didn't come any earlier this year. Local usage hasn't dramatically increased. Why weren't numbers factored? Why wasn't an adequate supply rendered while tanks were rotationally cleaned and prepped for the ethanol laden gas? My guess is that every available tank is used to stockpile gas at "old" prices should crude rise. It's not a bad racket, buy at old wholesale and sell at new retail. Cha-ching. I used to do it with cigarettes at my old store. I just heard that a corn shortage is also to blame. I guess now I will paying 200% more for an ear of corn this summer? Without some type of consumer advocacy, we could easily end up paying $5 per gallon of gasoline. I guess the fuel companies could make it more palpable by temporarily raising the price of gas to $6.50 then when they lower it back to $5 we would al breathe a collective sigh of relief and not dare complain again.

I saw the amount of views and postings and having not read the thread , wow, everybody is fired up over the gas prices. I was a little off base. Just as a glimpse back into original topic, I just heard an analyst on CNN say gas prices may reach over $5.00 in the next two months with the assinine, caught-with-your-pants-down manufacturing shortages. Stations all over my area are running out of gas and we all know that lovely rule of supply and demand. This is where greed annoys me. I am capitalistic by nature and choice. But when you have a banner year for profits, how can you drag your feet implemementing new refinement techniques to the point where you end up not being able to meet demand with adequate supply? I am not one to adopt conspiracy theory lightly but this one reeks.

HD-80 is way too strong for vinyl siding.

Deleted for TMI

Thanks Lance, you saved me some typing. Most of my customers have a net worth of about a million and earned it. Like Lance said, more respect and understanding of what it takes to do things.

If you don't have the money for proper chemicals, you absolutely need to re-evaluate your business plan.

Paint it. Rust-o-Leom(sp) makes a product called Painters Touch for metal. Use a very high quality brush. If you take your time and can do long strokes a couple of coats will make it look very good. I got overspray on a door one time and in taking it off with Krud Kyuuter a portion of the paint came with it. I was able to use this and it looked almost as good as an anodized coating.

I thought you hung up your wand for more powerful guns. Good to see ya'

I have had older wood come up cleaner with EFC or HD. The sealer on the floor came up much darker than I would have liked. Of course, five neighbors came up to me and wanted theirs done too. I hate shadow box dividers. Next door asked me what I would charge to just powerwash and I told her, whole job only. It was under $500 and she said, oh I'll rent a washer and do it myself. Good luck. Maybe when she has twenty hours into the job she will realize my cost to her was cheap. The best will be when she follows my lead and puts something from Home Depot over wet wood.

I was unimpressed by my results with bleach. At this point, I'm sure it is due to being inexperienced with using it on wood. I downstreamed 12.5% onto the deck. I ended up with about 2% solution of soap and sodium hypo hitting deck. Took more pressure than I am accustomed to and the dirt from deep in the wood didn't come up. This was my forst forray into Bleachville, so I was tentative. I imagine my dilution was too weak? The same dilution cleans mold of of siding almost on contact. Anywhere here are the less than spectacular results.

You can also use a "more appropriate cleaner", spray it on and wash it off with low pressure. No scrubbing. I love how someone is here less than a month and refuting technique from professionals he knows nothing about. Plain, with all due respect, your technique is antiquated.

It is different all over the country. Are you going to be able to reach the upper heights with your current extensions and nozzles? I wouldn't even take a job this small. If I did, it would be my minimum of $350 I guess.

Rick, you're like me. Thinking bleach may work but not willing to take the plunge. I am doing a deck today that a homeowner wants on the cheap. I explained to her that bleach cleaning would be her least expensive alternative and possibly not the best but she wants to run with it. I'll post some pics tonight.

Lowes = Homeowners. Products sold there probably have an extra edge of liability precaution. Find the Chemical Reactivity Worksheet here http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/resource_catalog.php and download it. It will tell you byproducts produced by mixing specific chemicals.

Behr is absolute junk. I got in a pinch and had to use it and had the same results as you. HD-80 is a product made by Extreme Solutions. You can get it at www.sunbritesupply.com . It was developed exclusively for the removal of finishes. You will need to use a pH balancing brightener after a stripper. I have switched to Citralic™ this year. It is less harsh on the wood and person. The best part is, even with shipping you'll pay about $3 per gallon at it's strongest strength. Most times you can use it at half. $1.50 per gallonis a helluva lot better than $12 per gallon for the Home Depot crap.

Look into downstreaming as a viable alternative for cleaning siding. The X-Jet gets nowhere near the height you can get with the right nozzle.

Around here a PTP first story deck goes for $18-$20 per s.f. Ipe and composites can be up to $35/sf

My advice is to save money by working effeciently. Effeciency is hallmarked by using the right detergents. Take the guesswork, liability and R&D out of the equation and use a product like HD-80 or F-18 for stripping.

Maybe one day we can sell the Middle East crude at $200/barrell Has anyone checked the prices for petro in Korea, China, Germany or England. We get away cheap.

Can't argue with results. Looks excellent, Roger. Technique? Pressure? Dilution?

There really aren't many models to choose from. There are a few franchises I have seen but they are still in infancy. I have explored and included franchising in my long term business plan. This business is a natural for it. Welcome and congrats on going full time.

Nice work, Lance. Marketing is ultimately a numbers game but you have to start slowly and effectively to see what works. I have experienced the same results you described. As you are experiencing now Lance, your market will start to grow exponentially. Establishing the right base is critical. This is the reason I cringe when I see someone suggest starting off with lower paying jobs/customers. Once you open your doors as Walmart it is very hard to change to Neimann Marcus.

Nine times out of ten it is cheaper to just replace the lattice as long as you don't have intricate cuts.

do you want a ready made stripper that works or just sodium hydroxide beads?

I would guess about $1700 for fence. It's easy work. You spray very quickly. The deck I would bid at least $2500 if they wanted the bottom side done. If you have never done that, you are in for a treat. Shane, you charge more to stain than you do to strip? I would think with having to use caustics, an expensive cumbersome machine and hoses, and then having to pH balance stripping would be more. I bid it the other way around.. just curious.