PressurePros

I think it is important to look professional in every way and having a neat organized truck goes a long way towards this. As far as benefit to the consumer seeing the equipment, what purpose does it serve? What customer knows the difference between a CAT 8 gpm pump or a General 4 gpm or for that matter which one is better? I had a customer amaze over what he called a "hover craft". He told me when we unloaded the surface cleaner he thought it was something to make moving patio furniture easier.

The rain should not really have had a bearing on drying time. Is it possible you over applied the product? I have had it rain one hour after laying down aussie oil with no ill effects and water beading up like a champ.

Contractor or homeowner, I would advise you to change your plan of attack. You wil not get latex paint off of a deck without using very expensive chemicals

Just a question for those of you with one or more full timers working for you.. Does your attention to detail drive them crazy? I have one guy that shares my anal retentive nature and another that says "get 'er done". My problem with guy number two is, his philosophy is, if the customer doesn't see it, it doesn't need to be addressed. What do you think?

Hey Ron, no offense taken, you're just off the path. I offer the best service out there, period. Not a bold statement, no overconfidence, just a fact. It is highly unlikely you would follow any of my jobs and be able to point out many missed details to my customers (which is a questionable way of making a sale in my opinion, I prefer to point out what I do right, not what others do wrong) I think perhaps you misread my post. This guy is a hard worker, he just needs guidance. His complimentation to my crew is his ability to keep things on schedule. If you have an abundance of perfect work machines that show up and are on time and do things exactly as you would do them every single time, please send some my way.

I use Sunfrog's sealer formulated for composites.

Oil/Alkyd sealers also penetrate more effectively into a wood enviroment that runs slightly acidic.

Okay, I need anyone that has done a full on residential restoration to offer their input. The project is a 90 year old house that runs approx 60'x35'. The facade is 90 percent porous brick The builder wants the house magazine ready. he is going to try to get it featured in one of the Philadelphia architectural digests. My plan is to use a two step process. Their is significant mold growth so a wash with caustic and sod hypochlorite followed by and acid wash to restore brick luster and clean adjoining limestone. I am leaning towards using SafeRestore because I have heard good things about it.

Because there is a ton of profit margin and they have nothing to lose. The damage is cumulative so noone can really point to the bleach as being the culprit. Shane there is no arguing with your results or experience.. all of your work is top notch. I can usualy tell when a homeowner has used hypochlorite cleaners regularly. Their decks are always more brittle looking.

double posted

I agree with you, Rod, I don't like the look of bleach on exposed wood. What's your opinion of using it for maintenance? More directly, will it affect sealer I applied?

Looks great to me.. Nice job, Rick

It's a bad idea. The bleach needs to be thoroughly rinsed. It's probably a smart idea to neutralize it as well though I am unsure if the bleach guys do this step.

I prefer to work in sections so I do not get over dwelling. If the deck floor measures under 400 sf and it's PTP or a hardwood, then I coat the whole thing and mist it from time to time with water to keep it wet.

Ken, put down the wand and get out of the sun... NOW! ::laughing::: maybe there IS more than meets the eye here.

wtf? That was just done???

When you get the chills on a 110 degree deck, it's time to take a break. Great post, Mike

What do you charge to apply the plexmaster and how do you put it on? I offer it in my platinum level wash. There are many guys from Cleaner Network that put wax right in the housewash mix. I cannot understand the chemistry of that though. I would think the caustics in the mix whether they be butyl or sodium metasilicate would dissolve the wax or at the very least alter it chemically. I must be missing something.

I don't know of any products that have both oxalic and sodium percarbonate though many products do advertise sodium percarbonate as a wood brightener. Specifically, what commercial product has both?

Having a job is dead end. Period. You will never ever achieve finacial independance working for someone, I don't care if you make 250k/year. I'm realistic, I understand bills still need to be paid and for many a gradual transition to running a full time business is more prudent. Having said this, having a full time job with some degree of stability and health benefits and doing this for extra money may be the best of both worlds if you can stand the hours and workload. To elaborate more, I agree with Jon 100% . Pressure washing/exterior cleaning is not the lucrative cash cow some may believe it is. This end of the business is a foot in the door for me. Having done the commercial end for several years and now the residential for a couple more I am ready to find my niche. Talking with Bob Port over at Restoration Direct has enlightened me as to what end I may like to pursue. Consultation, sales outsourcing and franchising are also areas I am exploring. I love cleaning houses and restoring decks but it's feast or famine in the northeast. July will end up around 28k .. November 30-Feb 28th will be zero.

Great story, David..nice reading. I share your philosophy completely. In my early days as a corporate wannabe bigshot, I had a hard time delegating duties as my overly inflated ego would not let me believe anyone could do the job as well as I could. Talk about stress, I did the job four people were hired to do and in retrospect I didn't even complete the jobs as well because of having too much on my plate. A very cool marketing VP took me into his office one day and told me something that has never failed me. He said, "If you believe someone can complete a task 80% as well as you could do it yourself, you should delegate that task" I followed his advice and became very proficient. I don't want to be out kneeling over decks with sweat dripping off of my nose too much longer. My future business plans positively include crew leaders and a business manager. I still tend to micromanage, but that's just the way I am.

This is not to brag about how much I can charge so please read on..My normal lowest priced soap on/soap off wash runs $350 for a two story house with 3000 sq ft interior space. That same house with gutter brushing, gutter cleanout, sidewalk, patio and driveway cleaning, concrete rust removal and paver sealing can go up over $1000. Florida guys please read on with an open mind. Are people shocked when I tell them the price? Often they are, but only because they don't know the level of quality work and effort that can go into doing a house. You have to sell them the value. I don't bash other contractors or try to scare the homeowner into believing another contractor will cause damage because I don't know that to be true. What I do is point out the potential hazards (pressure damage, etched glass, effloresence, destroyed landscaping, weep hole runout, streaking, paint removal, water getting under the siding causing mold and substrate damage etc) and every precaution we take to prevent those things from occurring. I also point out the value of their home and the relatively small percentage it costs to keep it clean. Even in an area where houses are lower priced you need to point out the right things to a homeowner. Ask them if they have their car washed and then ask them why. You already know what their answer is going to be..some form of ownership pride and preventitive maintenace. Ask them how often they get it done. An average carwash around here is $20. Multiply that by 12 and you get $240. Most people wash their car more than once a month but it's a fair starting number. Most people will spend 1% of the value of their new car keeping it clean. Do the math and equate that to your average customer's house value. Housewash done once a year on a cheap house (100k) leaves a budget of $1000. If the customer answers they wash their car because they like to keep it clean and new looking, then you are three quarters of the way towards your sale. Tell them you understand why they keep their car clean. Relate it to how more people should take pride in cleanliness. Tell them how a pressure washer that is going to do their house for one third of what you are charging has to cut corners somewhere. You are worried that an inferior wash may leave a ton of mold spores to quickly regrow on the house. Hand them your brochure that explains the dangers of mold and mildew. I am so tired of hearing "People in my area only care about price". There are a ton of people that care about quality over price. If everything was about price, everyone would live in a shack, in the inner city, drive a beater, buy everything generic from some dollar store, never go out to eat or see a movie. Look at what things cost. People pay $40 to take their family out for the privilige of sitting in a dark room, eat popcorn and watch some hour and half piece of crap movie. Why do they do that? Because they know the price going in. They understand the value of what they are paying for even if the return is low. We LET the customers percieve us as hacks every time we bend to their pricing demands. Of course a person is going to want the best deal. Why does this mean we have to sacrifice our souls to give it to them? You are offering outstanding value and very cheaply. People pay a painter $500 to paint a single room and never blink an eye. Why do you think that is? To me, any fool can grab a brush and a roller and paint a room..no expensive equipment or extensive training required. Yet here we come day after day complaining about rates and lowballers driving us out of business. We drive ourselves out of business with defeatist attitudes. I feel bad for guys that thought buying an expensive rig with all the bells and whistles would make them successful. I've said this before and I stand by it.. You have to sell value. You aren't selling a housewash. You are selling value. You are selling pride, cleanliness, health and freedom from worry about achieving those things. You're telling me someone can't part with $350 for a housewash? They can't part with 96 cents a day to have their property look the finest on the block? Ninety six cents to keep their children and pets free from inhaling harmful mold spores?

Excerpt from an unrelated conversation on another board between some guy KleenFreak or something and Mike W Do you even have one?? Have you ever even used one? It is not a ball valve. Like I said in my prior post (which you either didn't read or think I'm full of it), the Xjet is superior to a downstreamer in several ways, the most important of which is draw rate. I could never clean roofs in the time I do with a downstreamer...I'd be putting down at BEST 1.5% sodium hypchlorite, half the strength that I currently get with the Xjet. I've tried roofs with that strength...it just doesn't work well. Much more time re-applying, and much more time rinsing as a higher pressure than I am comfortable with. Tell you what. You put together a downstreamer completely made out of SS (and NO ball to corrode and stop working) that will give me a 2.2:1 ratio with a 5.5gpm machine and that will shoot chems 30' in the air, and that can be quickly adjusted to a fan spray with one twist of the valve, and I'll buy it from you for $159.00. Bottom line, you don't know what the hell you're talking about here. LMAO LMAO LMAO LMAO __________________ Mike Williamson North Florida Pressure Washing 352-213-7765 mike@northfloridapressurewashing.com www.gainesvillepressurewash.com Mike, I take it you have found the holy grail of downstreamers you sought?

Has anyone used a 110 ft articulating boom ? I have never gone this route. Any heads up on a good rental price? I have used 40 footers plenty of times but this thing is HUGE. I cannot get a standard lift onto this property due to steps so i have to do it from the street. If anyone has alternate ideas, I'd appreciate input.

Yeah, it should eat up the mold (and the lignin in the wood) I can understand your reluctance to spend more on proper deck cleaning chemicals, but underbidding is not a reason to half ass the job (IMO). This is not meant as any disrepect to you personally or to the guys whom swear by bleach as an effective wood cleaner. The problem is, you are new to deck restoration and you better get your dilution right or you are going to end up with an unnatural white toned and spotted deck that won't readily absorb sealer. If you are going to use sodium hypochlorite, you should talk to Shane or Jim. They have been doing this a long time and can offer better advice on using bleach.