PressurePros

It is amazing. That's outright fraud. They knew what they were doing. Ken, I would still be very skeptical. You are retrofitting an expensive machine with different parts. Most manufacturers will void their warranty for that. Jeff's advice was dead on. Call Karcher beofre you do anything.

Rod the time factor is irrelevant. What it takes some guy four hours to do I may be able to do in two or vice versa. I charge $5 per linear foot of floor board plus materials. If the existing wood is rotted and nailed down it's more like $7. This includes preparing all of the old wood for disposal.

I know this post is for Russell but I'll just add my two cents because you don't really need technical help for this question it requires more marketing help. Customers buy a stain based on perceived longevity and color choices. Customers hire a contractor based on perceived honesty and integrity, professionalism, reputation and timeliness. I am going to assume you have the contractor portion covered. Cabots, Wolmans et al are manufactured for homeowners. There are often compromises made in the product to allow for user error. A problem you will face is Consumer Reports rated Wolman's and Cabot's as top notch products. Explain to your potential customers that while the above mentioned big name products are decent, they are not contractor grade. Thus the reason the magazine is called Consumer Reports. People understand that the stuff (cleaners etc) they buy in stores doesn't compare to professional products. This should cover the longevity portion of your sales pitch. Color choice is where you will excel. You can offer custom colors that noone else can match. Timeliness, you can complete the average deck in a single day (not recommended if you are stripping cedar). The time factor is very important to most people. When people call my references I have heard many times that the homeonwer wanted to know how accurate I was with my project completion estimates. Call Russell directly and learn some of the science so you will feel confident in selling the product. 15% is nothing. You are right in the ballpark. I am 100% higher than some of the guys around here and I do not miss a beat. For what its worth I was out looking at a couple of WTW decks that have gone through a northeast fall and winter and they look like I sealed them yesterday. WT is not a be all end all product. It has limitations such as a satin finish, more labor to apply than a parrifinic etc.

Russell has the tints. My formulas are coming in at anywhere from 5:1 (red:black) to 9:1 (r:b) Russell will include little plastic pipettes with your order.

Dan, actually you can over do it, so to speak. Gutter Zap is pretty strong stuff. Hd-80 is pretty wicked in itself. Besides playing backyard chemist (which I do all the time) you are making something that will take the paint right off of gutters, drip down and damage siding or windows, instantly kill plant life and finally will burn like hell if it drips down on you. Experimenting is cool if you know what you are mixing, but ince you don't know all the constituents of the HD-80 I might leave that one alone.

I responded via email but i will post here too. I could not view the links.

Go Rick ! :cheers: Great post.

HD-80 mixed at 10 oz per gallon plus Boost (my own chemical equivalent of Boost) coated twice until saturated then covered until the next morning)

I considered that option as well. The amount of floor boards that were cupped and warped, seemed to me, would hinder the use of any type of floor sander. Not only that, that would still leave the rails which were the true pain anyway.

Here are a couple pieces from another post outlining the levels. _____________________________________________________________ Silver Plan - a basic soap on and soap off wash. No gutter brushing or attention to detail. A nice job, house looks better. Excellent for competing against lowballers that advertise ridiculous rates then upsell anyway. Gold Plan - gutter brushing, specialty cleaners on glaring spots of rust or efflorescence, ________ brand polymer/wax, water rinse of driveway, small patios cleaned. Most people will go with this and this is where I have my highest profit margin. Platinum Plan - All of the above plus any of the following extras. 1) Roof Cleaning 2) Brick/Stone restoration 3) Large areas of concrete cleaned with detergent 4) Pool cleaning 5) Concrete/Flagstone staining and sealing 6) Simplified deck cleaning 7) Lawn statues, benches any property ornamentation 8) Screens brightened 9) Interior windows 10) Gutter cleanout 11) Paint prep 12) Landscaping (which I subcontract to a cousin ) ** Anything that can be cleaned without dissolving in detergent, or fall apart with 500 psi is candidate. From a selling perspective you get one shot where the homeowner has his checkbook open and that is when you do the proposal. Walk the property carefully. Discuss with the homeowner all that you have seen that needs addressing. Ultimately he will want to see what the bottom line will be. In explaining all that you can accomplish you appear more professional. In addition, you change his mindset from expecting a $200housewash from some hack to expecting to pay a bit more for comprehensive service. Jon, give this a shot. I close a very high percentage of housewashes. Most of them take a full day and profit structure is way higher than that of wood restoration. _____________________________________________________________ My stock proposal sheet has all three plans listed with basics. Under the plainum plan is a space to write in add-ons. I list a price for all three. Through verbal exploration I find out about other bidders (if there are any) and what level of beautification the homeowner is going for. "So, Michael, if I understand you correctly you are looking not only to remove the mold from your home and walkways, but you are looking for something that will really make your property stand out.. I have broken down our level of service into three levels of plans and it sounds like you may be looking for our Platinum Plan. This is the one that will take the most labor and produce the most dramatic results. Let me explain what it will include" Sees Price: "wow, that added up pretty quick" Me: "It sure does. Why don't we look at the Gold level plan and see if this will fit the bill for you? This is the plan most of my customers opt for. It's like getting the Mercedes for the price of a Volkswagon" ::big smile:: I then take their mind off of price as quickly as possible by breaking out my before/after portfolio. They get time to digest what it is going to cost for a professional job, they sort out in their head which plan they want and by the time I get to my final close... "Okay Mike, let's get this booked for you so we can get you in tip top shape and get rid of those dangerous mold spores. Which plan did you want to go with?" ... he's sold. Out of about 100 proposals, I think I lost 5. Half of the guys that said, let's go for The Gold Plan had their wives cal me back an hour later and say "we want to go with the platinum" This thing works.

Brent, I do see and agree with your point about determining cause but I guess what I was really getting at in that statement was more or less what Rick reiterated.. eventually you will have to strip this product even if it doesn't fail prematurely). Then again before I go on, I ask Kevin to step in... can you just keep layering on coat after coat of acrylic year after year without ever stripping it? Do you need to wet the acylic when you put a maintenance coat on? I have done a few of these strip jobs and homeowners aren't thrilled to find out it will cost them $3000 because they listened to hype and rhetoric.

What company (ies) did you work for, Kevin? How come you gave it up?

Brent, just add this (™) next time lol Okay, here is the only issue I have... if it does fail or if and when the time does come to have to strip it, what does one do then? A medium sized deck with multilayered acrylic can tie you up for two full days just stripping it.

I can't speak for the homeonwers that have used the product as their prep was probably incorrect. But here is a point. It's a homeonwer product. I think Cabot's has been around long enough to know homeowners rarely follow directions. The moon has to be aligned with Jupiter, the cat has to be sleeping with one paw in the air, the deck has to have 100 cfm of under deck cross ventialtion and make sure you wet the deck before you apply it. I followed the directions to a tee on the one deck it is on and I have been watching it carefully. Deck furniture moves... scraaape.. up it comes. fugeddaboutit, not for me. I am really tired and cranky so don't take this the wrong way, but to the guys that are afraid of a tint system... :banghead: are you a professional? Are you willing to set yourself apart? Those that aren't growing and learning are stagnant. If you have done wood restoration you know your colors. Don't be afraid to learn something new. You fill a pipette with black... Squirt.. You fill up four with red... squirt, squit, squirt, squirt...stir.

I agree with John. DR-60 is excellent but at $32 per gallon with shipping you will have to charge almost $.20 per s.f just for chemicals. With other fixed expenses and the small amount of concrete on drivethrus I would have to come in at around $.30 per s/f. Even if you go $.25 per s.f you are still 250% higher than the going rate for commercial flatwork up here. In York the rate is probably even cheaper than $.10 per s.f. on average. You can always offer it to homeowners as a premium service to set you apart but I would reconsider stocking it for everyday use.

I think you may be looking a little short sighted. The Cabot's retails for $42+ per gallon. With a contractor account you may pay $33 after sales tax. The prices are the same (Wood Tux is less actually) and the quality of product is not even in the same league. I'm not trying to dash your thoughts on this but please listen to a person that has had experience with the product. This rep may have liked getting decks done in a day and may even get a short time longer than a year before it is a peeling, flaking mess, but the product was just introduced last year so there isn't a track record. Of course the same can be argued of Wood Tux, but I trust the science of WTW a bit more. Your call.

I bid four times the rate of a normal strip job and only had two takers. I used a product from ABR (it's a potassium hydroxide based gel) hand brushed and rolled on with a two hour dwell time and it was still a nightmare. I only do these types of jobs pre or post peak season. I have a customer that insisted I use it and like an idiot I caved in. I coated the deck once last June, the floorboards once again in late October and I will be back again in May this year to touch up again. I committed to the job so I will honor my guarantee but NEVER AGAIN.

Horrible product, peels within a year. I have had at least 15 homeowner's call me to strip it off. I have another forum on which I answer questions from homeowners on deck care. Several people got the same advice from Cabot's and less han one year later they all regret following over zealous advice. I would recommend stering clear and looking into using Wood Tux Wet if you want to complete a deck in one day.

That's just wrong but I'll shut my mouth.

Lance I can see how including it like you do and making the customer aware that is a premium service and that you do not charge for it can be a selling point. I guess I am stuborn because I like to stay competetive with lowballer guys and by offering a silver "wash on wash off" plan customers don't look at me like I am nuts when I tell them a complete house wash is going to cost them $$$$

I agree, your truck depreciates 50% the first 3-4 years. Let someone else pay that depreciation. Look around, Jeff. There are 2002 trucks that look like they just rolled off the lot with 50k miles on them. If you have to have new, lease it. That way you are still only paying the depreciation and you aren't stuck trying to sell a truck in 5 years when you want to upgrade.

I know this isn't the question you asked but with those type of dilution ratios why not consider downstreaming. You wouldn't have to shut off the downstreamer, you just switch to the X-Jet to rinse. OOPS, posted before I read the above.

I'm glad someone gets it (no disrespect to the guys that include brushing I just think its silly not to upcharge for it) You can get gutters 70% clean without brushing so they will not detract from a housewash but a dirty roof can make the whole job look like crap.

I have a transport company that is looking to have lime dust removed from 3500 sf of asphalt. They also have a 10'x6' deck/entry that needs to be prepped for sealer (they will seal). Last minute bonus: If you can get to me by six pm and start the job tommorow (Weds 3/8) they also have a lime conveyor they want cleaned. The reason for the rush is the unit is getting transported tommorow (I just got this info) I am not subbing this out so you tell me a price and its yours (if they accept your bid) I have not quoted a price though I doubt you will get beyond $.10 per sf on the asphalt. The asphalt needs a rinse so a cold water 4+ gpm machine will be fine. NOTE: Closest water supply is over 500 ft away so you will need a tote.

I would set my estimate to include it (another reason quoting one-size-fits all pricing over the phone or on a website is a bad idea) If it was not visible from the ground, I would ask the owner if he would like to add it in for an extra cost.