PressurePros

The IRS could audit me tommorrow and I would not lose a wink of sleep. I have an excellent and aggressive acountant who finds every deduction allowable by law. The IRS writes the tax laws, we just interpret them. When I cross the line my accountant says simply, "I won't sign that". It's his azz as well as mine. Deducting off the wall expenses to save a hundred bucks is not worth it. Since the dawn of my working years I figure I have given Uncle Sam about $400,000 in taxes. Am I patriotic enough?

When you say "write off" what you are actually referring to is deducting things from your gross income to reduce your tax bill. You can carry over and amortize expenses as well as use depreciation of equipment as a valid "write off". Example: If you make a gross $10,000 but had legitimate expenses and depreciation of $9000, you would only be taxed on the remaining $1000. Many lay people confuse a "write off" or tax deduction with actual 100% reimbursement. You are only getting back the percentage of your tax bill. Let's say I am down to a $10,000 tax bill. I have no more deductions and it's December 25th. My local church asks me for a donation and the overzealous person says, donate $10,000. it's a 100% write off. If my corporate tax percentage is 20% then I saved 20% of $10,000. I just cost myself $10,000 to save myself $2,000. My oversimplified example above doesn't even scratch the surface. Get yourself a good accountant. PS: Why would you wait to buy equipment? You have all year to accumulate deductions?

Anyone interested in booking your first house wash of the season?

Brian, I am fairly certain he is hiring a company that got to me prior to your post. I sentthe homeonwer your contact info so if things fall through I'm sure he will contact you. Thanks for the reply.

We're winding down now but there is a persistant band of light snow still hanging.. 17 inches and counting..Winter Wonderland..gonna be breaking out the sled in a few hours.

Jon, you're point is valid. In going back to a former post of yours I am beginning to explore the possibility of "longevity" tiers of deck restoration. This is something down the line as Wood Tux Wet does not have iron clad field longevity results. Here is my train of thought. Your crews apply a product like Ready Seal. This would be the least expensive form of application you offer. No guarantees and customer knows it will look like crap and need to be redone in a year. Your Gold or Platinum plan would offer two or three year guarantees on the deck and would be applied by you. JUst thinking out loud, what do you think? Or here is a real revelation.. we actually hire guys that are capable of perfroming the work as directed?

The first machine I ever used was a 4 gpm Karcher. Their commercial machines are decent but their parts are/were proprietary. Many of the fittings etc are European standardized. This can make repairs more costly and can increase down time. I personally would look into an American built machine. I am a Landa fan but many consider the added expense unwarranted. I also think the Pressure-Pro units look very well made.

You're lucky, Limeade. You have the advantage of finding a board like this one. You have the advantage of decades of collective experience to guide you. You have the advantage of being a step ahead of many guys that lost money through trial and error. Do you want to work for someone and give the first four months pay of every year to Uncle Sam or do you want to achieve financial independance at a young enough age to enjoy it thoroughly? Listen, man, there is no other time in your life to get this thing going! You have no bills, no mortgage, no wife and kids to support. You have back up income to keep you afloat. You want motivation? If you want me to fly to Texas and kick your behind I will. If you want to call me and learn some do's and don'ts, thats great too. But if you are looking for someone to tell you it's going to be easy, that's not me. If you want someone to say the whole process is going to be stress free and you are going to be an instant success, that's not me either. Be realistic. Set short term goals. Scrape up $600 and send out 500 professionally designed flyers. You want commercial work and cheap advertising? Go barter with a print/graphics shop and offer them cleaning for reduced rates on advertising mediums like having your truck lettered. Do one job at a time. Know that everything you make this first year should go back into getting you better equipment. When all is said and done, if you break even after the first year and you end up with a customer database, a lettered vehicle, more efficient tools and machinery, a nice logo and some killer business cards you have been completely successful. Don't fart around. If you're season is starting, stop posting and go make some money! Just remember, what you put in, you will get back manyfold.

I never thought those would have enough amperage to sustain a long pump usage. Those types of capacitors are made for quick current release. I was surprised to hear guys say they have good success with them. I use tractor batteries (300 CCA) and keep them on a trickle charger.

extend your hand, touch your pinky to your forefinger, raise your left leg and salute. Now you are officially indoctrined into the hot air club of America!

This is just me personally.. I would not cut it more than 5:1 if the deck I were doing was wet. It can be sprayed through a Deckster right out of the can. If the deck is dry I cut it 5:2. I am a little wary of overcompromising the pigmentation and mildewcides at a 50/50 cut.

Guilty as charged! Funny stuff, Alan.

I only did it for one season. I worked for a subcontractor doing collections. Easy work and with the bucket truck I made quick work of actual disconnects. My lowest weekly check was $750 my highest was $2,100. The pay rate varies and I know doing installs doesn't pay anywhere near as well.

If the stains aren't too old, a concrete cleaner like F-18 will work nicely.

I don't want to step on Russell's toes but I will share my experience. Wood Tux is not like anything else you have worked with. It is an oil. It somehow mixes with water and stays suspended (eventually it will separate so stirring is neccessary on a larger project) My experience (confirmed by conversations with Extreme Solutions) is that you can apply to saturated wood. We brush the standind puddles and go to town. The water helps the product penetrate. I am going 85% Wood Tux this year. If I get decent results with it on hardwoods like ipe I will use it exclusively. The tinting system is not the curse some may think. It allows you to offer custom colors. It's also very easy to mix. The best part is when a neighbor comes by and comments what a beautiful color is on the deck you just used, you can confedently respond that it is exclusive to your company.

I have other things I work on in the winter. If I relied on PW'ing I wouldn't make a dime. One thing you can look into is subcontracting for cable companies. You can make betwen $1000-$1500 per week. Not exactly a windfall but it keeps you afloat the slow months.

Brian, you have to get me your contact info ASAP. He has several estimates from local contractors. pressurepros@mail.com Full, ancient Chinese secret ;-)

This is definitely an area dependant issue. If I spent $2500 per month on advertisng I would need six crews to keep pace. In my area the Yellow Pages gets a 5000% (yes as in fifty fold) gross return rate. It's a no brainer. My Yellow pages ads run under $200 per month. Steve it sounds like you have solid business sense. Call me sometime. I would like to share thoughts on our area and business potential. I can provide what I have learned about the northeast market. 610-662-4036

Some days I feel so confident I can address a room of a 300 CEO's and never miss a beat. Some days I get in front of a group of five guys that are listening to me expectantly and my mind wanders off and I feel like a tongue tied idiot. Daily meditation ('meditation' not 'medication') helps. I also find that preparation, knowing your "spiel" and working on self confidence through daily affirmation works well when having to speak publicly. I think everyone goes through phases of feeling insecurity. Like John mentioned above, it can also be from a chemical imbalance. In my early twenties when I was given a position of authority over guys twice my age I became a nervous wreck. I went on one of the SSRI's and it helped a bit. I'm not a big fan of meds because you get addicted to them..expecially the benzodiazepenes. The body is a system of checks and balances. If you are artificially supplementing a neurotransmitter the brain thinks it doesn't need to produce that chemical anymore and that makes it hard to get off of them. If this helps, every person I have ever admired that I witnessed public speaking I went up to. Every one of them told me there isn't a single time they don't get the public speaking jitters. That made me feel better. All said and done, i will take a one on one conversation over speaking to multiple people any day of the week.

I'm glad so many of you enjoyed reading this. I love to write and I live business so something like this is a good outlet for me to give back to the community and to the new guy. Beth, I would be happy to have this in the library. If you wouldn't mind doing that for me I'd appreciate it as I am not sure what that entails? Jon Fife, It's hard to speculate as to what is possible. I know one example I have is a guy that started a carpet cleaning business about 20 years ago. He has a single truck and crew. I don't know how many guys he uses. Through maximising his market, tweaking every last ounce of efficiency his one truck grosses back the amount mentioned. Put that into perspective with his $$ per ticket. The average carpet cleaning invoice has to be lower than the average cleaning/restoration invoice. It's a lofty goal, and there are a bunch of cynics (myself as well when I hear bloated claims) but obviously the hard work and proper marketing can pay off.

thanks Steve, that's what I figured.

I must be tired I am not undersanding your nomenclature.. 13 by 4? 13 horse engine?

Daily paydays don't tell the story though. It's probably more accurate to average it over the course of a month. Now if someone is making two grand per day and is booked 5-6 days per weeek that is ni$e money. I will immediately retract my above statement and start hawking commercial jobs. I consider $600 net per day (consistent) per crew good moolah That's about where I would like to be. Disclaimer to homeowners, out of work painters and landscapers and those that think they can run a business because Home Depot sells pressure washers: It takes a few years, some sleepless nights, working six and seven days per week and about $50,000 invested in your biz to get there. And lest I forget.. business sense, staying power, integrity and a ton of prayers

John, thanks for being candid about your experience. Most guys wouldn't have the guts to admit a costly mistake, but you may have saved many from future heart ache.

I think a good soap adds synergistically to the effects of sodium hypochlorite. My final solution hitting most siding is in the 1.5-2% range and I have not had any problems whatsoever removing fairly heavy growth.