PressurePros

"It is the 545 members of the Lower House of Parliament of India that work for me and you." You gotta love how things on the internet get twisted.

I'll try to help you, but I only recover from about one of every 30 housewashes. Homeowners here don't want to pay for it. Try capturing your rinse water a little further from the rinse spot. I have had situations where I capture straight from a gutter or very near the side I am rinsing and have had the vac looked like the washing machine from the Brady Bunch episode where Bobby tried to wash his own clothes (if you don't understand the reference just breeze over). Try using berms to divert the water to the end of the driveway where it will end up more diluted with water and the suds will be cut down. I also use a rinse aid in my mix and that has cut down on my suds. If you want to start with the simplest solution, use a soap designed to rinse better and not foam up so much. The problem with that is, there goes your dwell time.

I got a call ALREADY to strip the Cabot's SPF48. the people hate the way it dried. I am a little shocked Cabot's put this crap onto the market. My estimate was priced at $4/sf and the people about died. They wouldn't commit and are gonna "talk it over". I really don't want to do it, if they want to pay the exorbitant rate, then I'll tackle it with HD and boost.

This was a psot made at another message board. I hope the person that posted it there doesn';t mind me reposting it here. This is a must read. Lowballing: How to Deal with Those "Low Price" Contractors You've probably lost a job to someone who has come in and undercut the price you presented on a bid. Their credentials were inferior. Their products were not as good. That's "lowballing." Competitors who come in with prices that are substantially lower than yours (or many of your competitors', for that matter) are probably uninformed about the marketplace and will not survive in the long run. But, what they do in the short run is give clients a false impression of the value of service professionals. And that can have a negative effect on you. Warn Customers They "Get What They Pay For" To combat lowballers, you need to promote your own reputation and stability. Present yourself as the minimum standard by which a customer should deal, that using the services of anyone with a smaller degree of professionalism will not be in their best interests. Let customers know that price should not be their sole concern. Advise them if they do take that approach they will probably "get what they pay for." Lowballers can't get their jobs on any other basis than by price. That means that they will probably run out of money if problems arise … and they often do. In going up against lowballers, you can't afford to drop prices, you must remain true to the quality of your services - that is, ultimately, what you are all about. Point Out Your Strengths and Advantages Let your potential customers know what they should expect from a contractor. Demonstrate how you and your staff are certified, licensed professionals. Tell them about your association memberships, community involvement, notable past projects, and your years in the business. Point out your courteous and knowledgeable staff, your clean and modern fleet of vehicles, and your trustworthiness. And then challenge them to find the same qualities in that guy who is coming after them with nothing to offer but a lowball price. Explain How Pricing is Determined Share your numbers with customers. In other words, tell them how many hours a job should take and what your labor costs are. Explain to them how those figures are arrived at. If you are not price gouging, it will be easy for them to see the true cost of doing a job and they will be able to see for themselves how a lowballer will need to cut corners in order to deliver the price he used as bait. When a customer has this understanding of pricing, they will be more likely to choose a bid done to the right specifications. And, when another bidder steps in with a too-good-to-be-true price, they'll understand how the lowballer must either be underestimating labor hours or the amount that labor should cost. If you are going to educate customers about how you arrive at your pricing, then by all means you need to know exactly what your costs are. That includes costs of both labor and materials, and you need to track your expenses very carefully. And when you have a real handle on your numbers, it may well keep you from becoming a lowballer yourself. After all, it can be argued that many lowballers aren't even true lowballers; they simply don't comprehend the value of what they do. They are not lowballing intentionally, they simply don't understand financial or management issues. Shouldn't You Lowball...Sometime? All this said, if you know your true costs and have good estimating and tracking systems, you can provide services at a lower cost. And you wouldn't be lowballing…you'd just be running a more efficient operation. There are instances when underpricing a job may make sense. If you are pricing at a loss to maintain cash flow or are worried about your competition, that's not the time. But if you are looking at the bigger picture - say to expand business in a neighborhood or area where you are already established, or to build a relationship with a customer that might provide more business down the line (where you can make up the costs in volume) - lowballing might actually be a good idea…if you can do so inexpensively. If you want to lower your prices, however, be sure to budget for it. And then, treat that job as your loss leader. Don't give your work away, but price your services down to the lowest margin possible. Rule of thumb: if you back off to meet a price, you look like a fool for offering the higher price to begin with.

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Mark, you are new and I am going to welcome you with both barrells. You say you have cheapo equipment, ok fine everyone has to start somewhere. What about liability insurance? What chemicals do you use to clean? You are copping out to lower pricing to compensate for your unwillingness to sell. Real estate values are at all time highs. Contractor rates are up. The jobless rate is down. You say you are trying to make your business grow with an eye to the future? I contend that if you have guys telling you that you are charging too low, and you refuse to bring your rates up to what your market bears (This is Economics 101 right?) by this time next year you will be posting an ad to sell your equipment. I and everyone here will help you understand why we have the opinions we do and in time you may come around to sharing those opinions once you see what is involved.

Welcome Mark. You've come to the right place.

Me too, Penofin is seriously overrated. Every deck I have seen is either so worn or black from mildew it's hard to tell what it looked like when first done. Tell Rod, I'm comin down there so he can teach me a thing or two about sealing ;) Looks, great Beth

And if it needs any further classification for anyone just tuning in, NaOH is the chemical formula for sodium hydroxide. PS: fantastic job on the fence!

It's been mentioned by Everett and James and I have heard before that the best of all world's is to apply a penetrating oil followed by a film former. A friend of mine John Hyatt, a true deck building craftsman is constantly telling me the way to seal is to build coats of TWP. Perhaps he has stumbled onto something. This guys has been around decks longer than most of us (25+ years) He swears to me that his decks hold up three and four years without needing recoating. I am guessing that by applying wet on dry he is forming a film on the surface. He constantly asks me to try it, he says he knows I will be a believer. Of course eventual stripping might be an issue but we have the chemicals to do it. Check out his decks if you doubt the quality of his work. http://www.deckmastersllc.com/

Finally finished this whopper project. Customer had applied former finish so heavy it formed a thick coating which was not easy to strip. This customer opted for a hand rubbed finish so this entire deck was stained by rag! Some closeups first: The original color is Mahogany Flame Stripped and dried Australian Oil - Honey Teak

Most hardware store sell oxalic powder. Might be called "wood bleach" Just be careful it isn't sodium percarbonate.

I agree the deck has to be cleaned and maintained. I've never used TWP and I am skeptical as to the layering on of *any* product. But one can't argue with results. Just food for thought.

I have a few decks coming up in Jersey. I could add a fourth if he is in reasonable travel distance and it isn't too big. Any specifics, Beth? Location, etc...

Way too many dead links, invalid phone number (at least I couldn't get it to work from PA). Also, when I clicked on "about us" I got some type of weird effect from the Java or flash and it just got stuck in a horizontal jump. In your FAQ, I agree with the above assessments. In addition, do you really want to tell someone you can wash a house in 1.5 hours? Even if I knew the rates of the industry as a homeowner, I would figure you would be the guys to call for the $149 housewash. Graphically the site design is outstanding.

It's amusing to me how all over the place pricing is when it comes to washing. Shopping cart $3, Car $2.50... I imagine you could do a ton of these in very short time. For you guys that do them.. Do you have to spearate the carts or can they all be cleaned at one time? I guess you would have to separate them at some point to take the trash out of them? Do you have to inspect each one for damage?

So let me guess, you're not a big fan of Aussie Oil? LOL. I am not a fan of using bleach, but that's just because of the rhetoric forced down everyone's throat about bleach being bad for wood. I would not use it on untreated wood, but if a deck is sealed, I think using it in proper dilution would not be a bad thing. James, how much 12% per gal for a deck clean do you use and what type of surfactant?

Just a few questions for you. This is a nice gig, you can make a quick buck moving at three per day. Is this a soap on/soap off job, meaning no gutter scrubbing or rust removing from the concrete? How many rigs are you using? Reason I ask is I was curious as to why you would go with three guys. Using just what I see and assuming no special treatment for gutters, one laborer, vinyl siding, and easy access I would go $250 apiece.

This was posted on Delco's board and cracked me up. A guy wants $60k for his PW biz and this was the reply as to why it was maybe worth it. Maybe this is how someone can make that kind of money in four months? "Yea, but what he forgot to mention was that he lives on an island where he is the only person with a pressure washer the island has 2000 homes 50 commercial buildings, and a freighter passes by the island once a month opens its cargo doos and realease's 5 tons of of a phosphate fertilizer into the air just when the wind is blowing towards the island, and then just like clock work it rains the next day to help promote growth, and all of the lawn sprinklers on the island are tapped into a high iron content well and the spray everybodys home with that delicious "red mess", as well everyones car leaks oil on thier driveways and there is an ordinance prohibiting dirty driveyways. And not to mention that his brother is the mayor of the island and he made a law that no new occupational liscenes will be issued for pressure whashers. So keep this in mind"

April was a very nice month for PP's residential. May has been phenomenal, this is the first week I have had a single rain out day. The deck business is tough to calculate monthly because I only collect 50% at the end of the strip portion and the seal job may well go into the next month. Adding April and May together should bring me close to 26k, but the calls have slowed down, seems like the frenetic spring rush is almost over, which is fine cuz I am about sick of six and seven day work weeks.

I'm curious too. Could you elaborate Jon? Is your reluctance because of the damage to plant life, employee liability or other? Also Beth/Rod, I have to admit to being green enough to wonder why someone would need to stock two kinds of hydroxide strippers? Is F-18 better suited to remove certain types of sealer? I haven't come acrossed a sealer that HD hasn't been able to break though some I have had to work on a little more than others. Need input...

Thanks James...Fall, very mild percarb cleaning $500. Spring- more aggressive percarb cleaning with a recoat on the horizontals $1200. I have them in my schedule for October 17th and April 3rd, 2006. I always try to schedule mainetence right when I get the check. Hardwoods definitely require more upkeep and recoat so in Spring 2007 I'll recoat the whole thing then it should be good for awhile.

Thanks, Brian. 40 hours went into this one. I made my rate.

I put a clear down on a PTP deck last May. By September it was visibly gray. When I went back this year for maintenance cleaning she wanted it stripped off as it was completely gray.

All of what you mention is true until the customer says "I don't like the grey" Then you have to strip the seal coat to get the grey off. In the end it costs the customer more because you are performing a major strip much more often. If they like the grey look, why anyone would I don't know, then your plan is a good one.