PressurePros

Uggh.. 40% chance of thunderstorms this afternoon. To stain or not to stain.. Trying to get this bear done today.

It has the variable speeds. I'd jump on it.

I would. I prefer a lower speed as not to burnish (is that the right word?) the wood.

Richard, I think those are spinning at too high of an RPM. (are they adjustable?) I don't like spinning Osborne brushes over 1500 rpm.

Rick, you need one of these.

I don't even think you would need a 0 degree. A 1540 would reach. You may have to hold the wand up but coverage would be very fast.

If you are just looking for a quickie fix, recoat it. If its 15 year old asphalt it has to look faded anyway. There are sealing products at Home Cheapo you can apply with a pump up sprayer. PS: there is a DIY forum on this BBS for non-contractor postings.

I would love to compete in a bid against someone thinking they need a lift for this job. With the right equipment and chems, one crew could do three (or more) of those buildings in a day including manually scrubbing the outside of the gutters. The information you need is all contained in the archives of this BBS.

I understand everything is not for everybody. I'm not offended. This is good dialogue. Warranties are part of an overall package. I look at the objectively from a business standpoint. My only moral obligation is to honor them, and I do. I am numbers guy and statistically, warranties work. They are similar to rebates. A manufacturer can offer much greater savings with a rebate than it could just lowering the price at retail. A manufacturer hedges its bets and uses statistics to know that most people will not mail it in. I hedge my bets against an expected callback ratio (Dan, I hate to tell you, so do the hacks) My mold growth warranty on house washes is at the right number for me at two years. That's what my climate dictates. The reason for the ten foot clause is because many people have trees and shrubs that will accelerate growth. I tell customers this and they know how to remedy it. I don't give people a Sham-Wow or Billy Mays presentation when it comes to warranty. It doesn't need to be hyped that much.

A tail light warranty is a whole 'nother story. People like warranties. You have to look at the real reason people ask for them. They don't plan on cashing in on it. They are saying to you "I want assurance that you stand behind your work, that you are confident in your work, and that you are not a fly-by-nighter." For some reason warranties parlay that to some people.

Let it sit for sixty days. Clean with a sodium percarbonate based cleaner and then an acidic pH balancing cleaner. Apply your choice of stain. To give you a heads up warning, you will probably have to do a maintenance staning in one year or less. Dan is right on the money with newer PTP.

It gets exposed to about 60% of the sun and elements so I am not using it to guage A/C on ipe. I've used up the last of my other choice product for ipe, so I'll be trying the AC on future projects. I don't have any ipe maintenance or new work on the books right now.

Your making assumptions again, Dan. My Gold plan comes with a two year warranty against mold regrowth occurring 10'+ from the ground. My warranty callbacks to date.. zero. Change your perspective. If a customer calls me and says, "yeah Ken, we have a little mold growing by the second story window", I am ecstatic. That gives us an opportunity to be in front of the customer again and create an absolute indelible impression of superior customer service. It doesn't stop there. I have records of everything that is on a customer's property. I pull their file, notice they are do for a flagstone sealing and when I call back to tell them we'll be out, I offer a 10% discount on the sealing since we'll be out there anyway. ****************************************** I needed to be reminded but taking care of problems right away insures customers for life as well as referrals. Excerpt from a customer's email that had some issues after my guys left a house wash. To: Pressure Pros <pressurepros@****.com> CC: Subject: RE: Dzu--- pics Date: Wed, 5 Aug 2009 16:12:21 -0400 Show Full Headers Back To [iNBOX] Thanks for taking care of it, I really appreciate it. That’s what I call GREAT customer service. If you ever need a reference, feel free to provide my e-mail address. I will certainly keep you in mind and mention you to any home owning friends if I learn they are looking (or if I notice their house is dirty!). Take care, Mike From:Pressure Pros [mailto:pressurepros@----.com] Sent: Wednesday, August 05, 2009 3:58 PM To: Mike Dzu--- Subject: RE: Dzu--- pics I have no idea what that was, Mike. 7 years and probably 600 house washes, that was a first. I know it wasn't there when we left. I'm guessing there was a gap somewhere that wet the building paper and the colorant came from that. I applied a cleaner via brush and rinsed with the garden hose. It came off almost everywhere but one spot where it was real blue under a siding edge. I spent ten minutes on it and it is much lighter. You can't see it looking directly at the house. You have to stand right under it and look up. The house and concrete dried up beautiful. Thank you very much for the opportunity. I look forward to working with you again in the near future. Keep us in mind for referrals. Wood work and decks are our specialty. Talk soon and enjoy the rest of the summer and your holidays! Ken ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mike Dzu---" To: "Pressure Pros" Subject: RE: Dzu--- pics Date: Tue, 4 Aug 2009 20:27:43 -0400 Thanks Ken, if you need to call me during the day feel free to use my office 610 -------- or cell ------------ Mike From:Pressure Pros [pressurepros@----.com] Sent: Tuesday, August 04, 2009 7:43 PM To: Mike Dzubow Subject: Re: Dzubow pics Mike my first instinct was that it was something from the shutters.. often they have cheap paint that is oxidized. But the picture showing the blue around the weep holes makes me question that. I'll have to look at it in person. I'll swing by and look at it tomorrow afternoon. Ken ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mike Dzu---" To: "Pressure Pros" Subject: Dzu--- pics Date: Tue, 4 Aug 2009 08:37:16 -0400 Hi Ken, Please see attached. There are also some "lighter" stains in the same area that unfortunately I had a tough time capturing on my camera because I couldn't get my flash to go off since there was "enough light" although not enough to see them. But these should give you an idea. Thanks! Mike

Concrats! ;)

Even less than that Jim. I have some customers in Malvern but they are 2000+ square foot ipe decks. The closest I have gotten to you was a commercial bid I did in Avondale. I cover Western Delaware County and some portions of the Main Line. I was in Villanova (13 miles from me) today. Most of my outta town leads come in the spring. Anything that comes through my wire out west, I'll shoot your way.

Rick, this is a covered porch so not the most accurate portrayal versus a high stress environment.

For what its worth, I had to run out to a customer's house and look at a new fence. Here is a closeup picture of A/C super cedar on ipe.. was done the first or second week of May.

LOL.. I was only asking because I get RFQ's out in Chester County that i can pass to Jim if he wanted them. Rick, were you prophesizing in your last sentence?

Andy, it takes a good three years for the ball to get really rolling.

Wow, Mike. Your website.. no. If you and I were speaking on the phone I'd probably let slip a few curse words, talk like I would to another guy and not worry about how grammatically perfect my speech was. But when it comes to presentation to the public, especially in print, you have to put your game face on. Your website has misspellings, your speech flow is casual and unprofessional, and overall you come across as a backwoods guy that owns a pressure washer. That's not going to land you high end work. My recommendation is to skip over learning chems and technique for now and read through the sales and marketing forums. As for your guys that are selling $99 decks. Look closer at the fine print. Chemicals - extra Sealing - extra Staining materials - extra Larger decks - extra This is a marketing ruse older than both of us put together. Carpet guys do it all the time. I think its an unethical way to advertise but it works or they wouldn't do it.

About frikkin' time. How far east you comin?

Ugggh, Dan. I'm sorry. There is nothing worse. Been there so I know you're pain. Now multiply every day you spent there times at least $800. Was that level of restoration worth it for you?

Jim, that second deck is what I would call perfection and what every customer would flip over. It almost looks like a composite. One thing about the A/C line is the tone variance. I don't know what causes it, but age and porosity seem to have a major effect on how the color shows. That woodland brown looks like Behr-o-bismal. Well not quite that bad but something tells me that is not the way it turned out in person or that it would look markedly different on newer construction.

I would never do a job for a renter unless I had cash in hand before we unwound a hose. When I said "one owner" I also meant owner occupied units. Tenants are not permitted to upgrade properties without owner authorization. In PA that would include pressure washing.

Have you ever encountered that scenario, Dan? Most duplexes are single owner. Though I do have ownership in a duplex that is not. We split costs right down the middle for anything related to the exterior of the property.